Following on from yesterday's blog about insects and insect-eaters, Jenny James, committee member for the RSPB Woodbridge local group, has written today's guest blog highlighting the work that the group are doing to help these declining birds.
Our Woodbridge Swifts group is up and running.
We have our first swift nestbox on a public building in Woodbridge – Woodbridge Tide Mill. Look up as you pass by the main door and you will see it under the small gabled lucam, through which the sacks of grain were hoisted.
The swift box beneath the eaves of the Woodbridge Tide Mill. Photo by Jenny James.
We are hoping that the swifts which nest nearby will find it so that we can increase the number of swifts nesting around the harbour. We want as many people as possible to experience the thrill of swooping and calling swifts as they circle around the rooftops. Swifts are the sound of summer and we don’t want to lose them.
Sadly swifts are declining. These marvellous birds spend most of their life on the wing, feeding, sleeping and even mating. They land only on their nests. When they return to the UK from Africa in early May, they seek out their previous year’s nest site. One of the reasons for their decline is that as home owners repair their roofs they may block up holes which the swifts use to enter the roof spaces where they nest.
From our 2015 survey we had reports of 15 nesting sites of swifts, in roofs, in Woodbridge and the surrounding villages. We also heard about several successful nestboxes where the young swifts had been observed leaving the nest.
We are now concentrating our publicity around these ‘swift hotspots’. We have distributed leaflets encouraging people to put nestboxes under their eaves and to explain about the need to leave access to roofs for swifts when doing roof repairs.
Now we need your help for our 2016 survey. We are looking for swift nest sites in either roofs or nestboxes. Between early May and early August if you see swifts flying at roof level, particularly around the eaves, this could be a nest site.
You may see them flying directly into a hole or through a loose tile, with food for the young. If it is your house, you may hear them from the upstairs rooms. Another sign of breeding swifts is ‘screaming parties’. These are juvenile birds which fly around in a tight group at, or just above roof top height. If you have a nestbox, especially if you are playing the swift calls CD, they may investigate that for next year.
Swift by Jenny James
We would like to hear about nest sites and screaming parties. So please send us your records with your name, address and postcode of the nest site. For screaming parties please tell us your name, the date, the address and postcode.
For further information go to, www.rspb.org.uk/groups/woodbridge
Please send the information to woodbridge-swifts2015@outlook.com.
For swift sightings in Ipswich please contact Chris Courtney www.rspb.co.uk/groups/ipswich or email chrisc.courtney@yahoo.co.uk