The Ely Swifts Group

The British Trust for Ornithology estimates that Swifts declined in East Anglia by 33% from 1994 to 2007 St Margarets' Chippenham - a nest box site! This decline is getting steadily worse as new and renovated buildings cannot host Swifts. Quite soon there may be nowhere for Swifts to nest	Swifts are Beautiful! Sleek, streamlined, incredibly fast flyers, wonderful acrobats in the air, they can bring life and drama to any built environment	Success so far has been encouraging! In 2007 twelve nest places in the boxes installed at St Mary's Ely were used. This is double the number used in 2006, a very welcome sign. Elsewhere, Swifts are being attracted to the churches at Chippenham, Haddenham and St Neots by the Swift Calls CD's that we play Of nine churches fitted with Swift nest boxes, three now host breeders. while birds are checking out some of the others
	Our latest project is at All Saints Church, Worlington, near Mildenhall Swifts nesting in a nearby cottage are to be evicted by its demolition, so Ely Swifts members Judith Wakelam, Dick Newell, Bob Tonks & Bill Murrells, put up some replacement homes for them in the nearby Church. The boxes are on the left, in the cutting from the East Anglian newspaper	Swifts need your help! Our churches, historically popular with these birds, are in an excellent position to provide that help They are often the only place left in a village where Swifts still nest Several years ago participants from the Ely Diocese, London's Swifts, Action for Swifts, the Cambridge Greenbelt Project and the Cambs & Peterborough Biological Records Centre got together to help Ely's Swifts We decided to find suitable churches in areas where Swifts were still present, and, using our expertise, develop them as sites for new Swift colonies, replacing ones that had been lost or looked likely to disappear
Our surveys of the churches of the Diocese plus essential local knowledge, give us an idea of Swifts' presence, location and numbers. Not surprisingly, we find many places which once housed Swifts no longer hold any A Swift overhead on a grey day - note how dark they look. Swifts have a pale patch under their chins, rarely visible. Otherwise they are a dark brown-black. The juveniles are paler Photo Derek Brown	In 2008 Swift nestboxes were fitted in the church at Oakington, (where at least one pair of Swifts is nesting in a small and vulnerable crevice in the stonework) and extra boxes were made for St Mary's Ely. The churches where we hope, subject to agreement, to fit Swift nest boxes over the next couple of years now include Arrington, Elton, Fordham, Fowlmere & Ramsey St Thomas a Becket If you would like to help us with our projects please do get in touch See foot of this page for links	A Swifts nest is made from saliva, feathers and airborne debris. Note the dead chick at bottom right. Swift chicks may starve if the weather is cold and their insect food supply diminishes Photo GBN-Nederland
All Saints, Landbeach- the new Swift boxes are in the Tower, behind the louvres. Swifts love these sites, and here they can breed in peace, out of the way	Special boxes are designed for special sites; here the entrances are formed to be inserted between the ornamental stone grilles of the tower windows. Photos of church & boxes Dick Newell	Dick Newell and Mark Hawkes (on the left) install Swift nest boxes behind the louvres in All Saints, Landbeach
Swifts are trouble-free tenants! They do not want to nest inside the Church, just in the eaves or under roof tiles, within a few inches of a safe exit to the outside. Unlike other birds, they don't usually leave piles of droppings under their nest places. A migrant that spends much of the year in southern Africa, Swifts are only in the UK from late April to August, and only spend about 10 to 12 weeks in their nests.		Below - Swift boxes before fitting - there's space here for 16 pairs of Swifts - a big colony that will make a real difference to their future in Fenland. Left - Swift boxes after fitting Not much if anything can be seen from the ground, and the new wood of the boxes can be stained dark to further obscure it.
Above, ideal nest places for Swifts have been made behind these church tower louvres at Chippenham, out of sight and out of trouble. Only Swifts can access the nest boxes, netting behind the other louvres stops pigeons from gaining access, and they are much too big to get into the Swifts' boxes. Photo Dick Newell	How to take part! If you have a site fit for Swifts, have a word with Dick Newell (click on the "Help with Projects" link bottom right). Click here for ideas and examples that will inspire you! There's lots more to find out!	If your Church has a tower with windows... You may be able to fit nest boxes. Their great advantages are that they are safe and easy to fit and inspect from the interior of the tower, and fully contain the birds so they don't get into the building or interfere with bellringers' activities or maintenance access. The boxes are only fitted to selected apertures, (on the North and West facades) so should not reduce the sound of the bells.
Above, cabinets providing multiple nest places for Swifts were specially made for St Mary the Virgin, St Neots Photo Dick Newell A speaker system has been installed to play the Swift Conservation Swifts calls CD to attract the birds to nest in the new boxes	This fossilised Swift died 49 million years ago, in the shallow tropical seas that are now the Rhineland, in Germany. It is remarkably similar to our Swifts. It would be terrible to let such birds become extinct just because we have removed all their potential nestplaces.	Above, Bob Tonks, Bill Murrells and Dick Newell installed these Swift nest cabinets at St Mary the Virgin, St Neots. Netting prevents Pigeons from entering the open louvres seen beneath the boxes. Photo Dick Newell Would you like to help the Ely Swifts Group? Contact Dick Newell & his friends via the link below if you would like to help to save Swifts
Below - a Swift bringing food back to the nest, note the full throat pouch Photo � David Moreton		Ely is not alone! On the left, the Bethlehem Church in Hannover, Germany Local Swift enthusiasts have placed nest boxes behind the many ventilation holes in the towers, creating perfect nest places for Swifts, very similar to the famous colony at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford This shows what ingenuity and some small internal adaptations can do to help Swifts survive and thrive Photo � Rosie Shultz
Useful Leaflets please "click" above!	Find Out Lots More about Swifts! *"Click"on the logo below to* and please "click" below to ask for More Information Please note that the material on this web page is Copyright The heading photo is by Erich Kaiser Site last updated 14th May 2012 Dell.com	Help With Projects please "click" above!