Support for the Totley Swift Group
Birds on the Brink is pleased to have awarded a grant to the Totley Swift Group in Sheffield, part of the Friends of Gillfield Wood. The money will allow the team to expand the provision of nest boxes in the area. Specifically, the grant will support the purchase and installation of 10 double Swift Nest Boxes, each with a ‘bat back’ that benefits the birds’ nocturnal mammalian counterparts.
Swift nest box schemes provide nest sites in urban areas where birds are excluded by modern housing. Photo ©Paul Sterry/Nature Photographers Ltd
As elsewhere in modern Britain, the provision of Swift nest boxes in Sheffield helps reverse the fortunes of the species in areas where the reduction in suitable nest sites is a factor in its decline.
The Totley Swift Group was set up in Spring 2020 and in the past has received funds from Sheffield City Council. That money helped purchase Swift Nest Boxes and kickstart the scheme, and their endeavours were further supported by local house owners in Totley who purchased boxes of their own.
A Totley Swift Nestbox ready for installation by Michalel Warwiick (left ) and Lester Hartman of Peak Boxes (right). Photo ©Michael Warwick/Totley Swift Group
The success of the project and the Swifts themselves will be monitored by the team and they will engage with two local primary schools and their pupils with a plan to install Swift Nest Boxes on each school.
It is hoped that collateral conservation benefits of further box installation will include community engagement with more Swifts being around. The team plan to build on their work by talking to local schools and providing guided walks in the future.
Members of the Totley Swift Group installing Nestboxes. Photo ©Michael Warwick/Totley Swift Group
The BOTB-funded boxes will be installed this autumn, in preparation for the return of the Swifts in spring 2022.
Some of the Totley Swift Group members, from left to right: Chris Measures, Sally Goldsmith, Julie Gay and Chris Brewster. Photo ©Michael Warwick/Totley Swift Group