Farm records

[amandakillip]

Hello! 

We have a good swift year here in Askrigg, Wensleydale (yes, near where the cheese is made!). Our final chicks fledged three days ago and in addition we have in excess of 150 swallows and 100 martins gathering in the afternoons for social chats, flying practice etc, it's lovely. I was at a funeral this afternoon, the church was rammed so the doors left open, and swallows were feeding chicks in the porch roof during the service. Very fitting for the man whose funeral it was. 

Anyway, I hope you can see two photos attached and that they are of interest. Mr Hodgson from the bottom of the village is a hugely supportive elderly farmer who has given me much quiet, moral support. He visited yesterday with the attached list of 'firsts' which his grand daughter had helped extract from his father's and his farm diaries. He said they weren't special entries, just usually recorded as part of farm life. To me this is poignant and moving. Since then I have spoken with other people who have notebooks and diaries and we are going to try and fill in some gaps.

Interestingly from 1948 to 1987 no swifts seemed to arrive earlier than they did this year, April 30th.

Yesterday we put up two more swift boxes on a cottage in Moor Rd. That's 29 new nesting sites in the village this season. We are still hoping to put some in the Holiday Property Bond site. I estimate we have 20-25 nesting pairs in the village (with around 40 juveniles) so we are hoping we are now in a good place to stabilise and grow the colonies. 

Best wishes lovely swift people

Amanda

[Tony Croft]

Good to hear...

Best Regards
Tony

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[Heidi Collishaw]

Thanks for this Amanda. What a lovely, historical resource, and important data too! This and your description of the funeral really moved me. People come and go, but life goes on.

Your observations and collaboration with your farmer neighbour illustrate the importance of social (human) engagement  in our quest to support swifts and other wildlife. Having hard data is not enough to effect change; we need to be able to take the people with us (and you clearly are). Thanks for sharing, and thanks to everyone working with you to help these gorgeous little birds.

Heidi

On Mon, 18 Aug 2025, 16:27 amandakillip, <amanda...@gmail.com> wrote: