CHOGGERS

CHRISTCHURCH AND BOURNEMOUTH SWIFTS NEED OUR HELP!

By Gregg Lambe

We will be releasing an article to the Bournemouth and Dorset Echo in the coming months with a request to the general public to assist us with a project we will be undertaking. We want to inform you of this project first and ask for your help.

Nesting in the eaves of our buildings and other small gaps in our homes, Swifts make the return journey from sub-Saharan Africa each year to breed in Dorset and the wider UK. These enigmatic birds which are the fastest bird in level flight, who eat, sleep and mate on the wing, not touching the ground for years at a time, need our help.

The UK population of Swifts has fallen alarmingly. In just 20 years more than half of these birds have disappeared. This is mirrored in the BCP area!

An important contributing factor to this decline is the loss of nest sites on our buildings. This is due to changes in the way we build and maintain our houses and other suitable nest site structures. Whereas Swifts were previously able to find a crack or a hole to get into and build a nest, many of these access points have disappeared. Because of this, and as they return from Africa to the same spot each year, many discover that their nest site is no longer there, and being loyal to their traditional nest sites, they are not able to breed and our Swift population declines further.

We want to reverse this trend and will be working with Birds of Poole Harbour (BoPH) and Dorset Birds to achieve it. We at CHOG want our members to report Swift sightings. In particular we are interested to know:

• Where groups of Swifts are flying at speed around roof height, often calling out loudly, as this means they’re likely to be breeding nearby.

• Swifts entering holes and gaps in buildings as this is evidence of a nest or nesting attempt.

We prefer not to have reports of Swifts flying high in the sky, feeding over water or fields, or away from settlements as these birds could have travelled long distances and may not be local breeding birds.

The best time to look for nesting swifts will be from late May to late July, around dusk on warm still evenings or early in the morning. All you need to do is to look out of your window, go into your garden, or take a walk and look for Swifts displaying the above behaviour.

By reporting these sightings, you will help to build a picture of where current swift nest sites need to be protected and where it would be best to provide new nest sites in the future.

If you would like to play an active role in helping to reverse the decline of these birds in our area you will be able to report your sightings, when the Swifts return at the end of April / beginning of May, to sightings@chog.org.uk. Please include your name, the name of the road where you saw the Swifts, and what they were doing.

We look forward to working with you to increase our Swift population and will give you more details as we get closer to the return of these delightful birds. To join CHOG please visit the website CHOG.org.uk