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Lee-on-Solent Swifts
by Mark Wagstaff There are few sounds more likely to remind us of summer than swifts screeching overhead on a warm balmy evening in June...
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Jan 3, 20234 min read
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Totton – another small colony safe
I was told a few days ago about a house in Totton, near Southampton, which has Swifts nesting naturally in the eaves (third house from...
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Dec 13, 20223 min read
400 views
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Highcliffe, Winchester - Swifts continue to increase
You can read our previous blog about Swift boxes in the Highcliffe area of Winchester here and how the installation of Swift boxes...
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Dec 13, 20221 min read
313 views
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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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Dec 1, 20221 min read
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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, 20223 min read
544 views
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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 15, 20221 min read
353 views
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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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Nov 11, 20221 min read
458 views
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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 16, 20222 min read
320 views
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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 11, 20222 min read
416 views
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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 7, 20221 min read
475 views
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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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Oct 3, 20221 min read
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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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Sep 13, 20222 min read
1,100 views
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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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Jun 23, 20223 min read
623 views
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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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May 7, 20223 min read
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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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Apr 11, 20221 min read
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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 29, 20222 min read
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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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Mar 15, 20222 min read
953 views
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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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Jan 12, 20223 min read
265 views
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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 21, 20212 min read
529 views
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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 11, 20212 min read
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Winchester’s Swifts
Winchester, the ancient capital of England and the county town of Hampshire, has been an important site for human settlement since the...
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Feb 1510 min read
425 views
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Swift Towers in Hampshire
At the start of 2024 there were three Swift towers in Hampshire. The most successful of these has been the one at Kingsworthy that was...
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Jan 93 min read
731 views
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