Re: [SLN] Digest for swiftslocalnetwork@googlegroups.com - 8 updates in 5 topics

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Clair Amos

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Mar 4, 2026, 3:42:04 AM (3 days ago) Mar 4
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Fascinating Chris 
Clair swift friends wyre forest 
From: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: 04 March 2026 06:58
To: Digest recipients <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [SLN] Digest for swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com - 8 updates in 5 topics
 
Chris Mason <chrism...@gmail.com>: Mar 03 09:55PM

In the summer of 2016 I was told about a private garden in Hook Norton,
Oxfordshire where Swifts were nesting in an Ash tree. I visited on 21st
July and watched the Swifts taking food in to the young birds. The attached
photo shows (I hope!) the nest hole in the large upwards facing branch off
the main trunk. The Swifts had taken over the hole after a family of
Starlings had fledged. We are not certain whether the young Swifts fledged
successfully because the owners of the house went on holiday soon after my
visit.
 
That autumn we spent a lot of time planning for the following summer –
 
- should we block off the hole until the swifts returned?
 
- could we create more similar nests nearby?
 
- what should we do about publicising such an unusual nest place?
 
In the end the discussion proved academic because the tree was badly
damaged in a winter storm and the nest hole was lost.
 
The house owners now have 2 occupied nest boxes on their house, and
doubtless the Swifts are safer from predation there than they would have
been in the tree hole, and the story confirms that swifts might still opt
for these ‘natural’ nest places.
 
Chris Mason
 
Cherwell Swifts
 
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On Sat, 28 Feb 2026 at 08:36, 'B CAHALANE' via swiftslocalnetwork <
johnswil...@blueyonder.co.uk: Mar 03 04:35PM

"Briefing document for Vets"

There is full advice om hand rearing by Enric Fusté on http://falciotnegre.com/
and I recall Gillian Westray produced a disk of guidance.

John Wilson

 
johnswil...@blueyonder.co.uk: Mar 03 04:29PM

Nesting in trees

On 30 September 2010 Desmond Dugan, Manager, RSPB Abernethy National Nature Reserve, took me deep into the Abernethy forest to see one of the five or six areas on the edge of the forest where Swifts use nest cavities made by great spotted woodpeckers in dead trees. Andy Amphlett, Reserves Ecologist, at Abernethy, added at the time that there was evidence of this use in 2009, but no recent population estimates.

The BBC Springwatch 2019 item confirms continued nesting by Swifts in trees in the Caledonian pine forest at Abernethy.

On comments about secrecy or that the RSPB “keep the location under wraps,” that may be because of a desire to protect capercaillie and other grouse species. Before I went I made contact to arrange my visit. I recommend doing that if you want to visit. Make sure you take waterproof strong boots – my guided visit was not on paths.

Monitoring by the RSPB may be limited. It is not easy to reach the areas concerned, nor I expect visiting at the best time of day and long enough to see Swifts.

There was a short note by Ron Summers of RSPB on Swifts nesting in the Abernethy Forest in “Scottish Birds,” Autumn 1999. If you go down to near the end on Edward’s “Swift Conservation News” content you will see one of my photographs of Abernethy.

John Wilson
 
amboyce...@gmail.com <amboyce...@gmail.com>: Mar 03 12:21AM -0800

Dear Brian
 
Thanks so much for this advice. It is really helpful and I am going to use
it.
 
The SE facing, that's a relief as the other two sides were tiled and not
really accessible to us.
 
One more consideration I have on another couple of sites:
If you have a flat roof, say a garage beneath a nest box sighting on a
house, what would you say should be the minimum distance between the two? I
think I have good distance, at least the equivalent of 1 storey of a house,
but is having a garage or canopy meters beneath offering a banquet table to
predators?
 
I also have a row of flat roofed garages next to another house, with a
footpath in between, but that house has good height, or is this risky?
 
Thanks again,
 
Annie, Banstead Swifts
 
On Saturday, 28 February 2026 at 08:47:31 UTC briancahalane wrote:
 
amboyce...@gmail.com <amboyce...@gmail.com>: Mar 03 12:36AM -0800

Good morning Edward
 
Thanks for this helpful advice.
 
Yes, the shadowing due to proximity of other buildings and overhangs is
relative. On one site a blue tit box was placed on a SE facing wall and not
occupied. It was then moved to a SW wall and became occupied, I think
because it has a little more shading from the adjacent building.This had
flagged up my concern, though this was on the SE boundary wall of the SW
facing garden at the rear.
 
I think some sites are hard calls without visiting in the swift season to
gauge the height of the sun and depth of shading available.
 
Thanks again for your helpful advice.
 
Best wishes
Annie, Banstead Swifts
 
On Sunday, 1 March 2026 at 21:00:01 UTC Edward Mayer - Swift Conservation
wrote:
 
B CAHALANE <brianc...@btinternet.com>: Mar 03 08:41AM

Dear Annie,
                the flat roofs you mention will pose no problems as
regards access, i would make sure the boxes have horizontal
entrances.All swift nesting sites are a trade off and there is no
perfect site.We have many examples in Nr Ireland similar to what you are
describing  and all survive year after year ,some have flat roofs less
than two meters from the boxes.I am sure an odd swift is lost to a
predator but if more survive then the population grows.
                                     Regards,
                                              Brian.
------ Original Message ------
From: amboyce...@gmail.com
To: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 3rd 2026, 08:21
Subject: Re: [SLN] Swiftbox positioning
Dear Brian
 
Thanks so much for this advice. It is really helpful and I am going to
use it. 
 
The SE facing, that's a relief as the other two sides were tiled and not
really accessible to us. 
 
One more consideration I have on another couple of sites: 
If you have a flat roof, say a garage beneath a nest box sighting on a
house, what would you say should be the minimum distance between the
two? I think I have good distance, at least the equivalent of 1 storey
of a house, but is having a garage or canopy meters beneath offering a
banquet table to predators?
 
I also have a row of flat roofed garages next to another house, with a
footpath in between, but that house has good height, or is this risky? 
 
Thanks again,
 
Annie, Banstead Swifts
 
 
On Saturday, 28 February 2026 at 08:47:31 UTC briancahalane wrote:
 
I would fit them on the brickwork above the main window if all were in
agreement ,but making sure they have a sloping roof.The other
alternative is at the apex above the brick work.I would keep them well
away from the two down pipes as the curved parts near the top of them
are ideal perching spots for predators.
                                        Brian ,Crumlin, Nr Ireland. 
------ Original Message ------
From: banstea...@gmail.com
To: swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Saturday, February 28th 2026, 08:25
Subject: [SLN] Swiftbox positioning
 
Hi all
 
I have two queries that I'd appreciate some advice on:
 
1. I have a lovely resident who has two natural nest sites in gaps in
the eaves, either side of a bay window.
 
We will be fitting 2 x twin chamber nest boxes for her under our nest
box scheme.
 
Could we fit these beneath the existing sites, each side of the bay
window, and if so what would be the recommended gap left from the top of
the box to the natural nest entry site? I have attached a photo, the
green lines point to the natural nest sites .
 
Any suggestions on the best spots to locate on this frontage are
welcome. 
 
My concern is to not create any obstructions to the existing nesters in
the eaves.
 
2. A south facing position is a no go for a nest box, but is a south
east wall possible? (For another property). 
 
Best regards, thanks in advance, 
 
Annie & Barry
 
 
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Mike Priaulx <michael...@yahoo.com>: Mar 03 07:27AM

Hi Pat,
 
I have such a case coming up, where unfortunately the resident (a council tenant) didn't contact me until after the roof was complete, so it was too late to retain the nest sites within the eaves.
 
(In some cases you could cut an entrance hole in the horizontal soffit board in the original location so you could create a nest space that way,
 
but my case is an open eaves style roof so that's not possible.)
 
I'm putting boxes as close to the original locations as possible.
 
I'm mostly using Peak Boxes bottom-entrance boxes as from my limited experience these are the best ones for fast take-up, as Model 30s do get used but take an extra year or two.
 
I'll suggest they play calls from a speaker trapped by a window beneath the boxes, as I find they just go to the speaker if it's too close to the boxes. (A speaker inside the boxes hasn't ever worked for me.)
 
That's just my personal experience, others may well suggest differently and equally valid!
 
All the best,
Mike
 
Islington and Hackney Swifts Groups
 
+++
 
 
best advice to give to home owners?
 
 
Aylsham Swift Group <aylsha...@gmail.com>: Mar 02 10:24AM
 
Hi,
I'd like to pick your collective brains about what advice to give to home
owners in a very common scenario. This is where a house has been re-roofed,
natural nest sites lost and the home owner wants to replace the natural
nest sites with boxes.
1) Should we strongly advise the home owner to play calls and where is it
best to position the speaker to try to attract the birds into the box
instead of trying to get back into their original nest site?
2) Where should the boxes be positioned relative to the original nest sites
(if known)?
This is the kind of detail that I'm often unsure about, so I'd appreciate
any advice based on others' experience.
Thanks
Pat Grocott
Aylsham Swift Group
 
 
 
⁣
Louise at Bolton and Bury Swifts <super...@outlook.com>: Mar 03 08:20AM

Hi Mike,
 
I'm just wondering if the council have kept the roof as open eaves style what have they done that is physically preventing the Swifts from re-entering their original nest?
 
Thanks
 
Louise
 
[image] [See the source image] [image]
 
Bolton & Bury Swifts
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/BoltonAndBurySwifts/> Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/boltonandburyswifts/>
House Martin Conservation<https://housemartinconservation.com/>
Bolton Green Umbrella<https://boltongreenumbrella.org.uk/>
 
 
________________________________
From: 'Mike Priaulx' via swiftslocalnetwork <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 7:27:16 AM
To: Digest recipients <swiftsloc...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: aylsha...@gmail.com <aylsha...@gmail.com>
Subject: [SLN] best advice to give to home owners?
 
Hi Pat,
 
I have such a case coming up, where unfortunately the resident (a council tenant) didn't contact me until after the roof was complete, so it was too late to retain the nest sites within the eaves.
 
(In some cases you could cut an entrance hole in the horizontal soffit board in the original location so you could create a nest space that way,
 
but my case is an open eaves style roof so that's not possible.)
 
I'm putting boxes as close to the original locations as possible.
 
I'm mostly using Peak Boxes bottom-entrance boxes as from my limited experience these are the best ones for fast take-up, as Model 30s do get used but take an extra year or two.
 
I'll suggest they play calls from a speaker trapped by a window beneath the boxes, as I find they just go to the speaker if it's too close to the boxes. (A speaker inside the boxes hasn't ever worked for me.)
 
That's just my personal experience, others may well suggest differently and equally valid!
 
All the best,
Mike
 
Islington and Hackney Swifts Groups
 
+++
 
 
best advice to give to home owners?
 
 
Aylsham Swift Group <aylsha...@gmail.com>: Mar 02 10:24AM
 
Hi,
I'd like to pick your collective brains about what advice to give to home
owners in a very common scenario. This is where a house has been re-roofed,
natural nest sites lost and the home owner wants to replace the natural
nest sites with boxes.
1) Should we strongly advise the home owner to play calls and where is it
best to position the speaker to try to attract the birds into the box
instead of trying to get back into their original nest site?
2) Where should the boxes be positioned relative to the original nest sites
(if known)?
This is the kind of detail that I'm often unsure about, so I'd appreciate
any advice based on others' experience.
Thanks
Pat Grocott
Aylsham Swift Group
 
 
 
 
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