Last Saturday passed in the spirit of some concrete nature conservation action carried out by volunteers of DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia. Sand Martins are on the way to their breeding grounds along the river Drava, so it was time to prepare the steep sandy river banks for their arrival. In the village of Dolane 19 volunteers gathered and in just three hours cleared more than 70 meters of steep river banks. In the previous year 64 pairs of Sand Martins bred here for the first time. During works kingfisher was spotted nearby. These measures don’t create suitable breeding structures just for Sand Martin, but for Kingfisher aswell.
Many thanks to all volunters who devoted their time and energy for this great cause. We believe Sand Martins will return this year aswell and we will monitor their success really closely.
Voluntary action was organized as a part of a project LIVEDRAVA, Riparian Ecosystem Restoration of the Lower Drava River in Slovenia (LIFE11 NAT/SI/882).
