One of our most recognisable and iconic summer visitors – swifts spend just three months of the year
in Britain, they arrive in early May and depart again in August. They generally spend their winters in
sub-Saharan Africa or West Asia and, apart from their nesting period, spend their whole lives on the
wing – covering a flying distance of approximately 14000 miles per year.
In the last 25years swift numbers have declined by over 65 percent and are now on the UK’s Red List
of Birds of Conservation Concern. To put it into context – for every 10 swifts that we saw flying 25
years ago – there are now only 3.
Over the last few years, the RVCWG have been trying to monitor local population hot-spots and
understand their nesting behaviours and trying to capture vital information that will aid in the
protection and conservation of this important species.
This year the group visited Hanwood and Ford villages where over 25 people took part in the
engaging and informative walks led by Siobhan, Carol (swift champion), Kat and Laura. At each
location there were several nests found, with Ford providing a particularly impressive display of swift
screaming parties flying low over attendees’ heads. We were also lucky enough at Ford to see a
fantastic amount of house martin nests too.
The information that we gather is submitted onto the ‘SwiftMapper’ App and sent to the Shropshire
Council to help inform levels of protection from future development.
