Brief Report of the Trieste Swift Conference - the 7th International Biennial Swift Conference

[Edward Mayer]

The 7^th International Biennial Swift Conference was held in the Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, between 29^th April and 1^st June this year, in weather conditions that were about as abnormal as could be, with frequent wintry squalls and heavy rain. Notwithstanding this meteorological gloom, the local Swifts emerged between storms to enliven the aerial scene. Organisation of the conference was smooth and efficient, the technical side worked very effectively and the special events were excellently managed.

126 delegates from 16 countries and regions including Argentina, China, Cuba, Europe, Iran, Ukraine, the UK and the USA, contributed to and participated in three days of lectures and talks. There was an exhibition area showcasing the work of various groups and also examples of Swift bricks and artificial nests, available from the companies Natur Protection (Italy), Impeckable (UK) and Nat’H – Nature Harmonie (France). Wildlife watching trips were organised in the adjacent countryside.

Talks ranged widely in subject matter, but were of uniformly high quality and abiding interest, contributing greatly to the current knowledge of Swifts and their secretive lives. The Conference began with a plenary talk from Susanna Åkesson, of Lund University in Sweden, which brought together the huge amount of information we have learned about the lives of Common Swifts (Apus apus) and their migration through the use of data loggers.The world-wide reach of the Common Swift was highlighted through two presentations, the first by Abraham Shokouhi, of Teheran on Common Swift and Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus) conservation in Iran using citizen science. The second presentation, from Terry Townshend in China, was on The Beijing Swift Apus pekinensis) and how monitoring work by citizens there is leading the environmental awakening in China. In both countries it was noticeable how much young people are involved in assembling new information and engaging with wider society.

Swifts from the New World were also represented with up-to-date reports of work in support of Vaux's Swifts (Chaetura vauxi) and White-fronted Swifts (Chypseloides storeri) in the USA and Mexico, and a poster from Rosalina Montes on Nest-site reuse by the White-collared Swift, (Streptoprocne zonaris), in south-central Cuba stood out for its subject matter and its provenance.

There was a focus on Alpine Swifts (Tachymarptis melba) with talks from Cloe Hadjadji on Metal Trace Element Concentrations in Feathers of Nestling and Adult Alpine Swifts in Switzerland, and from Pia Cigler on Avian trypanosomiasis, an emerging disease in the Swiss Alpine Swift populations.

The monitoring of colonies of Swifts continues to reveal interesting information with Marcel Jacquat reporting on his long-term project of monitoring of a colony of Common Swifts in the Jura Mountains at 1005m altitude, and Tanya and Edmund Hoare’s presentation on Swifts sleeping on the wing was an example of how much we still need to find out about Swifts’ lives and behaviour. There were a number of presentations describing the great work being done across Europe in saving and creating nest places for Swifts. A brilliant example was the work in Toulon in France led by Katherine Dubourg which has created, preserved and monitored a huge number of nesting sites in old, new and restored buildings across the city.

The Conference was brought to a close by Edward Mayer of Swift Conservation UK, who asked delegates to call out “Greenwashing”, notably schemes aimed at helping Swifts but which are ill-conceived and not based on knowledge of the birds. There was still a huge amount of work to do to get the right messages to the right people, using good examples of successful methods for increasing nest sites.

Delegates were entertained with a farewell dinner at the Birreria Forst, and with two wildlife watching outings, the first to the Isola della Cona Reserve at the mouth of the River Isonzo. This is a wetland which was drained and converted to agricultural use in the 20^th century, but has since been returned to nature, and now teems with bird life, particularly migratory birds. Not only birds but also some amphibians and reptiles were spotted during the visit.

After the conference, a second excursion was organized to two avian rescue centres in Friuli. The Quadris Oasis rescues White Storks and Northern Bald Ibises, while the Cornino Lake Nature Reserve cares for Griffon Vultures and other large birds of prey. A feeding station is located there, and the birds were observed as they fed.

This was a Conference notable for its rich and varied programme. Everyone will have learnt something valuable and new, many old friendships were revived, and new ones made. These conferences have been running for 14 years now and it was great to see that new, younger people are attracted to participate as older ones retire. This signals great hopes for the future of Swift study and conservation action.

It was agreed that the next Conference would be held in County Mayo, In Ireland, in 2026.

Full details of the Conference, and abstracts of the talks are available at the Conference website https://triesteswift.it/. In the near future, many of the presentations will also be available on the website.

 

 

 

 

 

[Amanda Randall]

I was unfortunately unable to attend the march on Saturday as I am away, but I was looking forward to seeing media coverage and also your photos here, from those of you able to take part.  However, I have been shocked that the BBC news website has absolutely nothing about it, and as far as I know, only the Guardian has given it some space. I feel so upset that such an important event has apparently been overlooked and our voices totally ignored.

I hope the day went well for you all.

Amanda

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[Nick Brown]

Hi Amanda – I too was unable to go but watched the speeches live on YouTube.
In fact Channel 4, ITV and Sky News did cover the rally that evening as did some Sunday papers and a search on YT brings up some of the coverage the rally received. Here’s just one:
Over 60,000 people march to parliament to demand politicians Restore Nature Now | The Wildlife Trusts 

The BBC news that evening was very short but I agree, they really should have covered the story online.
 

Nick

Derbyshire
Ps There were many shots of the huge crowd but I didn’t spot any swift banners sadly…..

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[Gill Stacey]

Hi Nick and Amanda

I was there, along with a couple of other people from our swift group, plus Cherry from Cirencester Swifts. We’d already arranged through WhatsApp to meet up with other swift people. I know there were more people that we didn’t manage to find, but it was a big march! The numbers were probably more in the region of 80,000 +.

It was a wonderful day. I’m in awe of Chris Packham for his total dedication to the cause. The BBC has been a total let-down in its lack of coverage of the event (even the Express had some brief coverage) and I think they are going to get quite a few complaints. It was a large and important march, but perhaps because it was completely peaceful, they didn’t regard it as newsworthy. If only Stella Bravermann had popped along and called it a hate march!

The fragile state of nature in this country, plus the effects of climate change, have had so little coverage from the mainstream parties (apart from the Greens). It’s so disappointing.

I will try to post some photos of swift people and their banners.

Gill

Stroud Swift Group

Full details of the Conference, and abstracts of the talks are available at the Conference websitehttps://triesteswift.it/. In the near future, many of the presentations will also be available on the website. 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Ann Dowling]

Please complain to the BBC with its on-line form regarding the lack of coverage, it only takes a couple of minutes.Perhaps we should have sprayed some orange cornflower about - they seem to like that.

Annie Dowling

Wilbarston Swifts

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[Tiscali]

I feel exactly the same Amanda…..why was such a large important event not reported on by the bbc…absolutely disgusted, shame on you bbc 

Sharon

Bridgwater 

Sent from my iPad

[Amanda Randall]

Thank you, Nick, I didn't think to look on YT. I'll take a look when I return to the UK later today.  I've been visiting family and life has been a bit full on!

I fear that you are right about about the fact that this was a peaceful occasion, Gill. So depressing that this would affect its newsworthiness. Thanks for sharing the photos. The bird puppet is brilliant. 

It must have been a great feeling to be amongst so many like-minded, impassioned people on the day.

Ann, I will indeed complete a complaint form on the BBC. Perhaps others who feel the same as me will do so, too.

All the best to everyone organising Swift Awareness Week activities.

Amanda 

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[Tiscali]

I did complain to the bbc regarding lack of coverage, below is the reply I received 

Dear Mrs Turnbull-Yeo 

Thank you for getting in touch with us about our coverage of the Restore Nature Now march, which took place on the 22nd June.

BBC News did cover this story in some of our output, including on BBC Breakfast, the online live page and on radio.

Many marches take place around the UK every day, and unfortunately it isn’t possible to cover each one. Whether we provide coverage of a particular march depends on editorial decisions over the day, looking at factors such as breaking news stories or an update to a recent news story.

However we appreciate that some of our audience members would have preferred for this particular march to have received more coverage.

Thank you again for getting in touch.


Kind regards, 

BBC Complaints Team
www.bbc.co.uk/complaints

Sent from my iPad

On 25 Jun 2024, at 13:40, Amanda Randall <a.l.ran...@gmail.com> wrote:



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