DÚLRA’S not sure if nature gives political endorsements, but a family of house martins have set up home at the constituency office of Sinn Fein MLA Carál Ní Chuilín.
Dúlra was passing by the Cliftonville Road building this week when he stopped to enjoy the aerial artistes as they were building their mud dome home – they magically manage to attach it to the underside of a building.
House martins fly thousands of miles to nest here – and you’re truly blessed if they choose your home. Not everyone sees it like that of course – Dúlra has seen two people over the years using brush handles to remove the nest, thankfully during winter; but the birds got the message and never returned to breed there.
It’s so shortsighted. Yes, these birds have droppings – don’t we all? But it’s a small price to pay to give them a home and in return they’ll provide thrilling displays of aerial dexterity, brightening up your life and the life of the neighbourhood.
Carál is delighted to have them nest at her office in an area which is a hotspot for house martins, gabhlán binne in Irish. The nearby Waterworks may be one of the reasons, as they all seem to gather there at dusk to feed on the countless flies that emerge from the water.
“They are lovely birds and it’s an honour to have them nest on my office,” Carál said. “They brighten up the area and we all have to do our bit to help the environment at a time when nature is under pressure.”
Dúlra has been trying to coax house martins to his own house for two years now not but to no avail. He put plastic nest cups under his eaves – surely these purpose-build nests are a step-up from the mud ones?
And they’re a lot safer – sometimes their nests fall, spelling disaster for the whole family. But these plastic ones are screwed to the roof. And then Dúlra blasts their calls into the air so that any passing birds will hopefully be attracted.
But house martins are unfathomable.
We don’t really know what attracts them to one house but not to the next door neighbour. White walls are always an advantage – that's one of the reasons they flock to Hawthorn Glen in Hannahstown. Perhaps they resemble the white cliffs they used to nest in.
And they love a peaked roof like in Carál’s office, where it’s easier to get support for their nest from two sides.
But even bird supremo Mark Smyth – who has scores of swifts nesting at his Antrim home and pioneered the call system to attract breeders – has drawn a blank with house martins.
Any readers who are lucky enough to be chosen by these beautiful birds to build their nests at their home are blessed.
Dúlra would argue that as a reward they should get a few quid knocked off their rates – but I’m not sure if Carál would be able to use her political clout to pull that one off.
In this fine weather, the house martins and swifts of Belfast certainly add to the skyline. Swifts in particular are facing population collapse because of the difficulty in finding safe nesting spots in roof cavities. The house martin, however, has a whole city of welcoming eaves to choose from – and political parties.
• The advance of the pine marten – cat crainn – is well under way. First discovered breeding on the remotest and wildest corner of the Black Mountain a few years ago, this native Irish mammal was on the verge of extinction.
But readers now report that it has ventured down from the mountain and is now living among us. One reader spotted one a few weeks back on a footpath in Gransha, now another reader reports that one ran in front of his car in Poleglass. “It ran straight in front of my car from one side of the road to the other. I’m ecstatic seeing a pine marten,” said Anto, adding that it was at the top end of Colinbrook.
It’s an animal that Dúlra has never had the pleasure to come across – although he might be lucky yet. Pine martens make short work of the invasive grey squirrels – of which there are many in Dúlra’s garden, forever eating sunflower hearts left out for the birds. So finally there’s something good about having grey squirrels – they attract pine martens!
• If you’ve seen or photographed anything interesting, or have any nature questions, you can text Dúlra on 07801 414804.
