Swift response to bird appeal
Swift response to bird appeal
5:10pm Thursday 2nd September 2010
SWIFTS in Oxfordshire have been given a helping hand on to the property ladder after volunteers built them new homes.
Chris Mason, who runs the Cherwell Swift Conservation Project, has co-ordinated a scheme to help the visiting birds nest, following concerns over their declining numbers in the county.
The father-of-one said: "Every year swifts visit Oxfordshire for the summer to nest, but their numbers have dropped significantly in the past 15 to 20 years.
"They are losing their nest sites in Europe.
"It may be partly due to weather conditions during their migration, or changes that have occurred where they winter in Africa."
Swifts generally tend to nest inside the walls of buildings, so when alterations are made the birds have nowhere to go.Mr Mason said: "We have been putting up boxes near other nesting swifts – hoping that young swifts looking for a nest place will find them."
Fifteen nesting boxes have been installed by Mr Mason and two other volunteers around the Cherwell estate and Church Lane in Kidlington.
Each can house one pair of birds and although there were no visitors this year Chris says they hope the boxes will attract swifts in the future.
He added: "We didn't really expect any in the first year, but every year there are young birds on the look-out for nest sites which they will use in future years."
The project has a network of 20 to 30 volunteers who notify Mr Mason of the locations of swift nests they spot in the area.
They then try to ensure that the nest space is left undisturbed, even if building work has to be done.
A similar campaign was launched in Abingdon in July, when the Save Radley Lakes and Abingdon Naturalists groups banded together.
The Oxford Mail reported that they had started a project to find out where swifts were nesting, and encourage people to preserve the sites.
Radley Lakes, near Abingdon, is traditionally a favoured gathering site for nesting swifts, but a decline in numbers has also been noted there.
Anyone who has information on the location of nesting swifts in the Cherwell district, can email Mr Mason at mason@cando.eclipse.co.uk
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