THE ENGINEER
Dick Newell, Landbeach, Cambridgeshire
Swifts are my obsession. After retiring from running a software company in 2002, I turned my hand to designing swift nestboxes and nest bricks, making them easier for builders and DIY projects. My background in computer-aided design has been a huge help.
Our house hosted 11 pairs of swifts last year, some monitored by CCTV, and one of our swifts was among the earliest to be fitted with a geolocator logger as part of a BTO study. My wife Vida and I find it awe-inspiring to know the amazing journeys made by birds nesting right above our heads.
I’ve helped to install many nestbox projects across East Anglia, and also give advice to people all over the country – many hear of me through the Action for Swifts blog.
Another project has been the ‘Swift Tower’ art installation at Logan’s Meadow in Cambridge. It looks fabulous, but has only attracted three pairs of swifts so far – the jury is out on whether free-standing swift towers are cost-effective. One of our great successes has been churches – the towers are already there! Worlington’s church tower in Suffolk has over 40 swift nestboxes, with over 30 pairs in 2017, and we have 60 boxes at St John’s church in Bury St Edmunds. A lot of other churches now want to get on board.
groups of 50 swifts and they are very fastmoving. Next year we arranged a brilliant talk by Edward Mayer, who runs the website Swift Conservation. There was a record audience and Edward galvanised us all into action. He was the catalyst. We’ve never looked back.”
Today the swift group divides its time between making swift nestboxes, scouring the area for potential new sites for nest bricks (the built-in alternative), lobbying building owners, keeping an eye on adverse planning applications, carrying out surveys and organising talks and guided walks for the public. Meeting some of the group at an outdoor cafe – near a banner declaring “Bradford Welcomes Back the Swifts: Help us help them” – it is impossible not to be full of admiration for what they have achieved.
“We’re an unlikely bunch,” Rowena admits modestly. “But we are practical and determined too,” adds Jean Grayshon. “We’ve got a lot of skills between us.” Jean’s husband Pete is part of the nestbox-construction team, along with Roger Beckett, who handily is a part-time carpenter. “I’ve got scouts who keep an eye out for suitable bits of wood in skips,” he grins. “The boxes cost us hardly anything.” Meanwhile, Kate Nicholls happens also to be a member of this picturesque town’s preservation society, which comes in useful when getting agreement for more nestboxes.
BOXING CLEVER
Later, we stroll round the town to inspect the group’s handiwork. We see nest bricks in the gable ends of a new-build terrace, so neat the owners may not realise they exist (“We ought to pop a friendly note through their doors one day,” Jean says). There’s a historic dovecote where the too-large openings have been adapted to make them swift-friendly. There are several wooden nestboxes, again barely noticeable from street level. “See that ugly yellow burglar alarm box?” asks Kate. “That’s more obtrusive than any swift nestbox.”
Most impressive of all are the multiple boxes hidden away behind the louvres in the tower of Holy Trinity Church, beside the River Avon. As one of the highest buildings in the town, it is ideal for swifts. “Dealing with the church authorities took two years,” says Rowena. “But the vicar was lovely, so helpful.”
The group are hopeful that the first boxes in the church tower will be occupied this summer, especially as Newtown, a nearby
THIS JUNE IS THE FIRST SWIFT AWARENESS WEEK. NATURE RESERVES DON’T SAVE SWIFTS; PEOPLE DO. PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
street, is an existing swift hotspot with 10–12 pairs nesting in natural cavities under heavy stone roof tiles. “Last year we played swiftattraction calls from the tower at dawn and dusk,” explains Roger. “After just two days, we saw swifts veer towards it and fly around for a closer look.” Playback is a tried-and-tested way of boosting the likelihood of colonisation.
One unexpected problem was a pair of peregrines that also investigated the tower. Who do you help: peregrines or swifts? In the end a decision was made not to encourage the falcons by providing a nesting platform like those on other churches. However, there may not actually be a conflict, since these raptors don’t usually hunt so close to their own nest.
WINNING HEARTS AND MINDS
Getting developers onside is more of an issue. Swifts are site-faithful, so if a nest is blocked up, that pair is lost. This is true even if the obstruction is temporary – scaffolding, for instance. Once gone, swifts don’t come back. “My biggest bugbear is developers not putting in swift bricks,” says Jean. “It’s so easy.” But builders can be cooperative. “Once we talked to some scaffolders who took our leaflets and were really interested,” says Rowena.
One of the most striking things about Bradford-on-Avon’s swift group is how they share knowhow with like-minded souls from Lewes to Leeds, Hackney to Helmsley, Sedbergh to Suffolk. This is conservation by text message, blog post and online forum discussion, rather than by spreadsheets, targets and strategy documents.
“We learned how to do a proper swift count after reading a message on the Swifts Local Network,” says Rowena. “The SLN is a godsend. It was started in 2014 after a conference organised by Action for Swifts, and is great for passing on information.” Meanwhile, Daniel Kronenberg, who set up Salisbury’s swift group, is visiting Bradford to help advise on surveying techniques. “He’s fantastic at spotting nests,” Rowena says.
This June the informal network holds its first swift awareness week. Jean points out that “an awful lot of people can’t tell the difference between swifts, swallows and martins. They get them mixed up, or call them all swallows.” If you can’t even name a bird, how can you understand its needs?
Nature reserves don’t save swifts; people do. People like you. The Bradford group’s latest idea to win hearts and minds is persuading a brewery to produce swift-branded beer mats and ale. It would certainly bring new meaning to getting in a couple of ‘swift ones’.