How to protect nesting swifts?
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helensshelfordhistory
Jun 27, 2026, 5:03:08 AM (6 days ago) Jun 27
to swiftslocalnetwork
Dear All,
I have been (as have we all) following the whole sorry saga of the Dorking Swifts. I admire Annie and Barrie’s guts and drive in pursuing this. I haven’t got the same guts, but I find myself wondering what small things can be done to shift this woeful status quo. I was thinking that a training course for ecologists doing surveys might be a start in addressing ignorance about how to survey for swifts and martins as part of their ecological survey (and not just bats and newts), and so I thought I might contact Kieron at Biological Recording Company with the suggestion that he offers one of his training webinars for ecologists on the subject. The company is well-respected and has good take-up.
It’s always good to offer a solution along with a suggestion, so I wonder - is there anyone in this group who feels qualfied to do such a webinar and is willing to do it? Might even get paid - you never know.
My other thought - and this is just pie in the sky really - is that we really, as a swift community, need to educate the building trade, but this clearly is a huge, huge undertaking with very uncertain rewards. There’s a Considerate Constructor Scheme which these days is plastered on every hoarding. It claims, “We fight for best practice in worker wellbeing, community relations and environmental impact”. I wouldn’t like to say how far it’s provisions are honoured in practice. But maybe it’s worth contacting them.
I have been (as have we all) following the whole sorry saga of the Dorking Swifts. I admire Annie and Barrie’s guts and drive in pursuing this. I haven’t got the same guts, but I find myself wondering what small things can be done to shift this woeful status quo. I was thinking that a training course for ecologists doing surveys might be a start in addressing ignorance about how to survey for swifts and martins as part of their ecological survey (and not just bats and newts), and so I thought I might contact Kieron at Biological Recording Company with the suggestion that he offers one of his training webinars for ecologists on the subject. The company is well-respected and has good take-up.
It’s always good to offer a solution along with a suggestion, so I wonder - is there anyone in this group who feels qualfied to do such a webinar and is willing to do it? Might even get paid - you never know.
My other thought - and this is just pie in the sky really - is that we really, as a swift community, need to educate the building trade, but this clearly is a huge, huge undertaking with very uncertain rewards. There’s a Considerate Constructor Scheme which these days is plastered on every hoarding. It claims, “We fight for best practice in worker wellbeing, community relations and environmental impact”. I wouldn’t like to say how far it’s provisions are honoured in practice. But maybe it’s worth contacting them.
One thing Annie said was that this no longer felt like a safe space. I wonder if you are all aware that discussion on the group appears in a Google search? It is not a private group.
Best regards,
Helen,
CamSwift
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