On a Sunday morning at the end of July, I arrived home to see scaffolding going up on a house down the road. This is a house where I’d seen swifts nesting, so I was really concerned. I had to wait half an hour for the scaffolders to finish, which gave me time to think about what to do. Even though I had no idea who lived there, I decided to knock on the door anyway, braced for a negative response. Fortunately, the owner was happy to talk to me and interested in wildlife. They hadn’t known swifts nested there, but reassured me they would make sure the birds could still get in. I hadn’t seen any swifts around the area for a few days, so I felt reasonably confident they’d already left to return to Africa.
I contacted Hampshire Swifts to ask for advice, and had a chat with Catharine Gale, who sent me some leaflets. I went back to the house with the one about swift-friendly renovations, and again received a warm welcome. I resolved to start knocking on more doors, though it is a gamble. A part of me wonders if it might better not to tell someone, in case they’re not happy and block up the holes.
Early in August, scaffolding went up on another house, almost opposite the first one, and also a known nesting site (though I couldn’t confirm nesting this year). Before I’d had a chance to call round,work began on the roof. It’s now complete, and from what I can see, the soffit boards on the front of the house haven’t been touched.
It’s been almost a month since the swifts left, but I still miss them. I’ve been thinking about them a lot, planning how to raise awareness of them in the local area. Through social media, I’ve connected with a few other swift followers and found out about other possible nest sites. Swiftmapper shows some of these, but I need to encourage more people to use it and get them all on there. This will help me to plan some swift walks for next year. I hope to do some during Swift Awareness week, which usually takes place in the first week of July.
I’ve written a short article for a local news magazine, hoping to catch the eye of a few more people – especially any that might be thinking of renovating their houses.
My plan is to use these swiftless months to learn more and do more. I’ve already added my records to both Swiftmapper and the Hampshire Swift Survey . Recently, I’ve also read a couple of inspiring books, one of them by the author of this blog, Sarah Gibson. These, and that scaffolding, have made me want to do more, before it’s too late.
As well as talking to my neighbours and others with nest sites, I’ll organise getting a swift caller installed in my nest box. This should increase the chances of it being used next year. It was installed in 2022 by Hampshire Swifts, but hasn’t been occupied yet – at least, as far as I know. This summer, I didn’t monitor it as much as I could have. Next year, I want to make more effort to check sites that have previously been used, as well as ones where I’ve seen banging this year. That’s when younger birds check out potential sites for future use.
But I won’t spend all my time thinking about swifts. There are starlings to be appreciated – and the possibility of winter murmurations!
Dandelion Nature 