Wildlife nest tower installed in local nature reserve

15 March 2024

An impressive nest tower, providing homes for different species of wildlife, is now in place within the Llandrindod Wells Lake Local Nature Reserve.

Provide nesting places for swifts, house martins and other small birds, the tower will also be a perfect roosting space for bats.

Swifts and house martins were both added to the Red List of Threatened Species for the first time in 2021 due to worsening declines in breeding populations and the 12 species of bat found in Powys are all protected and of the highest conservation priority.

The decline in these different species is due to various factors including a lack of nesting sites, loss of habitat and declines in insects which are a vital food source. This new nesting tower will help by providing nesting places for birds and roosting opportunities for bats such as the Common Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle.

It may take time for birds to start using the nest tower. Swifts, martins and swallows are loyal to their previous nest sites so it is likely, in time that juvenile birds will find the nest sites and start to use them. A solar powered Swift Caller system, which you may hear, will help to attract swifts to the new nest tower as they look for nesting sites in May for later in the year. They usually look for breeding places in areas already established by another flock.

An information panel detailing the species that will use the nesting tower has also been installed in the meadow alongside Grosvenor Road.

"Despite its abundance of countryside and open spaces, even in our idyllic and rural county of Powys the decline in nature and wildlife is still a huge issue." Explains Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys.

"It is estimated that 1 in 6 of Wales' species are at risk of extinction and that over the past 50 years 73 species have already become extinct and a further 666 species are threatened with extinction.

"We must do all we can to help reduce this decline and the installation of this nesting tower in Llandrindod Wells is just one of the ways that the Powys Nature Partnership is taking action and supporting nature recovery in Powys."

The Powys Nature Partnership is a group of organisations and individuals working together to coordinate nature recovery actions in Powys with the aim of halting and reversing declines in biodiversity across the county. Biodiversity staff at the council have designed the tower and information panel with funds provided by The Welsh Government's Local Places for Nature fund.