Guest blog by Nick Martin
Calls of swifts screaming around roof tops has always been a familiar sound of summer. These migrants fly thousands of miles from African wintering grounds to breed in the UK sleeping and feeding on the wing non-stop for months on end. In fact, the only time they do touch down is to alight at their nest sites usually in the eaves of buildings.
In recent years though, times have become tough for swifts. Changes in the countryside and climate mean that insects have become fewer and the birds have to work harder to raise young. A further challenge comes from traditional nesting sites becoming blocked or difficult to access. Swifts love our roof lines but as new soffits and facias are fitted, the small gaps that once provided a secure nest are often closed.
Swifts are social nesters drawn to the same site year on year. If nests are not available they may not be able to breed and numbers fall. In recent years this decline has played out across the UK with the RSPB stating that numbers have dropped by over 60% in the last 30 years. At the current rate of decline we might lose the screaming sound of swifts from our summer skies in the next few years.
There is some good news though. Swifts are not that secretive and so identifying nest sites is possible and they can be protected. They will also readily use special swift nest boxes or swift bricks which are easily installed near to existing nest sites giving colonies greater resilience.
Using the principles of identifying and protecting existing nests whilst providing new opportunities swift projects have been very successful in other towns and villages such as Stratford, Henley-in-Arden and Shipston-on-Stour.
And the best news is that swifts still breed here in Knowle and flocks can be seen racing around our skyline in the summer evenings. We know where some of the nests are and we can help protect and expand colonies. With your help we can find more sites (I suspect that there are at least two or three colonies) and protect these too.
So here it is; a call to action to Save Knowles Swifts before it is too late. Do you have swifts nesting in your building or do you know where they do? Please let us know so we can map out the current colonies and ensure that they are considered during any development. Would you be willing to host a swift box in your eves? We can get boxes built to order and advise on how to site them for the best conditions for successful nesting. (Note that swifts are very clean and carry their poo away from the nest so no dirty walls or cleaning out required!)
Would you like to find out more about how to see swifts and work out where they nest? I will be leading a couple of walks around the village soon so that once the swifts arrive back we can monitor them and make further plans to protect and expand their colonies. I will explain what to look out for and how to identify active nest sites. I will also show what a swift box looks like and explain how to site it.
If the answer is yes to any of the above then please drop us a line to find out more or tell us what you know. The email address is environment @knowlesociety.org.uk and we would love to hear from you so we can all champion our swifts together.
