Blog | hampshire swifts

Dec 1, 20221 min read

St Mary’s Church, Twyford

Twyford’s first Saxon church is mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. A Norman church replaced it in the 12th century which was later...

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Nov 15, 20223 min read

Winchester Cathedral update

Catharine Gale and I from Hampshire Swifts went up to the belltower of the Cathedral with Verger Ian on 11 November - Armistice Day - to...

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Nov 15, 20221 min read

Swift population on New Milton estate continues to grow

This is now the third year of surveying the Swifts and other nesting birds at the North Milton estate, and follows our previous blogs on...

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Nov 11, 20221 min read

The Feather Speech

Nature author and conservationist, Hannah Bourne-Taylor, launched a petition to protect swifts by delivering The Feather Speech in...

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Oct 16, 20222 min read

Saving Hampshire’s Swifts – Village by Village

The village of Abbotts Ann lies just to the west of where I live in north-west Hampshire. I’ve known there is a small colony of Swifts...

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Oct 11, 20222 min read

Hospital of St Cross update

Our last update one year ago detailed the eight nesting pairs of Swifts that had been encouraged to nest at the Hospital of St Cross,...

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Oct 7, 20221 min read

The Feather Speech - a national conservation campaign for swifts

On Saturday 5th November nature author and conservationist, Hannah Bourne-Taylor, will launch a petition to protect swifts by delivering...

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Oct 3, 20221 min read

More homes for Swifts at St Michaels Church, Cheriton

Swifts have nested at Cheriton Church for a long time, just as they have in many churches around the country. A small number, just three...

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Sep 13, 20222 min read

Swifts don’t always nest in houses

It is well known that a small number of Common Swifts, Apus apus, do not nest in houses or churches. In the old Caledonian Pine forests...

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Jun 23, 20223 min read

Saving Hampshire’s Swifts – Volunteers Needed

We are making a difference – a huge difference in some areas. And little by little in many places the Swift population is starting to...

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May 7, 20223 min read

More on Urban Birds

Roger and I always make note of which urban birds are nesting where while we are putting up Swift boxes. On Friday last week our first...

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Apr 11, 20221 min read

How much space does a Swift need to nest?

Not a lot it would seem! I was recently sent some photos by Nik Knight, Chairman of the Hampshire Bat Group (for whom I recently did a...

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Mar 29, 20222 min read

Cala Homes Thames launches first Urban Wildlife Strategy

Cala Homes Thames has launched its Urban Wildlife Strategy, which outlines its intention to incorporate biodiversity improvement measures...

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Mar 15, 20222 min read

It need not be bad news when fascias & soffits are replaced

Debbie Tann, CEO of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, has had a pair of Swifts nesting at the front of her house for many years...

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Jan 12, 20223 min read

Wherwell - the Start of a Swift Colony

In 2017 we were asked by Tom to install some Swift boxes on a house in the centre of Wherwell. There were only two known pairs of Swifts,...

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Nov 21, 20212 min read

Winchester Cathedral - the Start of a Swift Colony

The installation of Swift boxes on Winchester Cathedral, generously funded by Birds on the Brink, was delayed a bit last year due to...

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Nov 11, 20212 min read

Great news in Highcliffe, Winchester

Back in 2018, Winchester City Council were carrying out extensive re-roofing works on their Council-owned stock of properties. Following...

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Nov 4, 20211 min read

Good results in Regents Park, Southampton

Ron Cooke has now sent in his records from the Swift boxes within his core area of Regents Park, Southampton. He takes his boxes down at...

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Oct 20, 20211 min read

Great work for Swifts in Southsea

Just a quick update on the wooden boxes that Dave Warner has installed on and near his home in Southsea over the last few years. Dave...

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Oct 12, 20211 min read

Another great result in Winchester…

For the last three years we have been putting up Model 30 Swift boxes in the Fulflood area of the City. We have now put up 27 boxes in...

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3 days ago4 min read

Lost Nature: Do House Builders deliver?

It was back in March that we visited the Cala Homes development site in Alton. Construction work was still going on at that time, though...

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Dec 103 min read

Update on Swift Nest Boxes in Highcliffe, Winchester 2024

Highcliffe in Winchester has been an area of special interest to Hampshire Swifts ever since 2018. That year, during a survey of swift...

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