Comm Swift Project

[mark smyth]

If the eaves are deep and give good shade then south is OK other than that you'll have to make do with east. It's took late for main land European breeding now but you will attract non breeders who will use the boxes now for roosting. Boxes can be bought from
http://www.schwegler-nature.com/Nests&Buildings/index.htm

[Armin]

Mark, thank you for the advices.

[mark smyth]

I've just finished adding two more boxes to my gable. It's a real pain in the _ _ _ because my walls are poured concrete. None of my boxes are straight.

[mark smyth]

they would look so much better in a  straight line

[David Nicholson]

Don't blame the concrete, it was the installer who drilled the holes!!

[mark smyth]

  

[mark smyth]

looking in the attic just now the walls are just stones covered in a small layer of cement so how does the house stand?

Here is a short clip of swifts inspecting a nest box


Good luck this guy had a web cam. The released swift didnt return for a few days


swift roosting in a tree by hanging on to two birch leaves

[David Nicholson]

do you mean un-mortered stones?

[mark smyth]

I should have taken a photo. The walls were shuttered and the mix poured in. The stones range from gravel size to the size of daff bulbs

[David Nicholson]

s'wonderful what you can do with gravity

[mark smyth]

LISTEN OUT FOR THE SCREAMING NEIGHBOURS, ASKS RSPB

Public called Upon to participate in swift survey

Since the earliest human occupation of Britain and Northern Ireland, the swift has been living alongside man: first in caves; then on castles and churches; and finally in our homes. Recently, however, there have been worries that the fortunes of one of our oldest neighbours may be declining.

Swifts like to nest in old buildings, but renovation and development may be evicting the swift from some areas it formerly thrived.

To understand more about our swift population, the RSPB has launched a UK-wide online survey asking people to provide details of the birds either in their homes or in their neighbourhoods.

Swifts are often confused with swallows and house martins, but the all-black birds are easily identified, especially when groups of swifts fly at speed in noisy formations around nesting sites. These flocks are known as ‘screaming parties’.

The online questionnaire will ask people to state whether swifts are nesting on properties or whether people have heard swift ‘screaming parties’ around their properties.

The survey can be found at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/swiftsurvey

[mark smyth]

I took this, rubbish, photo this moring when the non breeding swifts were playing knock and run. The resident bird siiting at the entrance to claim the nest box for him/herself

[mark smyth]

just got this shot of a silent swift looking for a nest site

[mark smyth]

Here's a photo I meant to show a few weeks back. This is the tower above the Oxford Natural History Museum. Inside each air vent are two next boxes for swifts - 100 in total. Along the lowest part of the tower base you can see what looks like the end of pipes. These all lead to a nest box on the floor of the tower

[mark smyth]

I'm a proud father!