Imagine my delight, when I ventured out into my garden today & looked up at my Swift Nest Boxes to see a young Swift looking down at me! .. 22nd of July 2018
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My first pair of Swifts were showing all the right signs this year.
I witnessed their regular visits to & from their chosen nest box & even noticed them spending nights in the box.
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Another very encouraging sign was regularly seeing a bird with a mouthful of food flying above my garden.
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The pair were also regularly seen fiercely defending their box from the attention of other Swifts, both verbally.
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... and physically.
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With Swift numbers worryingly dropping in recent years, I hope my experience will encourage other people to put up a few boxes & try to establish their own colony.
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Swifts breeding in my north Antrim garden!
Video clips of the young birds being fed & the adults going to & from the nest box.
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In 2015, my only option was my gable wall, but reading up on them I could so easily have been discouraged by this not being as high as many recommended & more especially because it was South facing.
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Undaunted, I set about designing my own boxes with false tops, sides & fronts added to absorb most of the heat from the sun that these boxes were going to be fully exposed to.
I felt it had to be at least worth trying.
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The boxes made, I added my own wee Swift logo.
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The boxes went up on the 5th of July 2015.
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On the 6th of July I started to broadcast the Swift Calls CD.
Living way out in the country, with no neighbours to disturb, I have been able to play these calls at full volume.
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At that time I had lived in this house for 13 years, but despite being a keen bird watcher, in all that time I had only ever seen two Swifts & they were simply flying high over the garden, but just passing by. So you can imagine my delight when, on the 31st of July a Swift came zooming in & started circling the house & was clearly drawn in by the CD & curious about the boxes.
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However, it was 2016 before I witnessed a Swift actually checking out the boxes, but no serious activity was noted that year.
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2016 only saw House Sparrows making good use of my Swift boxes.
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However, when my Swift returned in 2017 I was very pleased to see that he/she brought its mate & they quickly set about choosing their favourite box.
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It was a wonderful opportunity for me to finally get a good look at these stunning birds.
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Somehow you only start to fully appreciate the beauty of a bird when you can see into its eyes.
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When this pair returned in 2018 they went straight back to their chosen box & all the signs were encouraging, with regular, daily visits to & fro.
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Even more encouraging, later on, was regularly seeing an adult bird above my garden with a mouthful of food & seeing adults defending the boxes from curious young birds, both verbally & physically.
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So in the space of three years I have gone from no Swift activity up to 2015, to having up to eight Swifts flying over my garden & around my house some mornings in 2018 & now the icing on the cake, young, nearly fledged birds in my nest box.
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There can be few finer sights in anyone's garden, than to have these masters of the air, the fastest flying birds on the planet, screaming around above your home & to hear the whir of their wings as they zoom low over your head.
Please put up a few boxes on your own home, broadcast the CD of their calls, just be patient & help to give these fantastic birds a better future.
From my experience you can see that you don't need to be put off by the fact that you don't have Swifts nearby, nor do you need to worry if you only have a South facing wall.
This summer we have actually experienced the hottest weather since 1976, with 30 degrees often being recorded & my young Swifts were actually reared in a South facing nest box!
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