Efforts To Help Swifts in Three Rivers Pay Off

Three Rivers resident Norah McLoughlin has enjoyed watching swifts nesting in her road in Mill End, Rickmansworth, for the past 17 years. She now listens eagerly for signs of their arrival each year, around the start of May. And her passion has led her, along with fellow enthusiast Anna Marrett, to set up a local group of swift conservationists.

“It almost belies belief that these birds fly from Central Africa, non stop, and return to the same houses in Mill End year after year,” McLoughlin said. “This alone would make them special but there is so much more – like the fact they can close down half of their brain at a time and sleep while flying. They actually spend the first four years of their lives on the wing. The screaming noise they make, coupled with their spectacular flying, is one of the pure joys of summer.”

Unfortunately, there has been a shocking decline in swift numbers across the UK. This is because their familiar nesting places are disappearing, as old houses are replaced with new builds that have fewer nooks and crannies. But this local group is encouraging residents to install nest boxes and in May of this year, St Mary’s Church in Rickmansworth town centre installed six boxes in its tower.

It will take time for swifts to discover the new boxes at St Mary’s but in the meantime more and more people are recording swift nests across Hertfordshire via the Swift Mapper website – www.swiftmapper.org. According to group member Graham Knight, the project to record swift nests in Herts is going really well this year, with over 500 nests found so far. Most swifts will have set off on their journey back to Africa by early August. But Knight urges anyone who finds a nest this summer - or spots these beautiful birds returning next year–  to record them via the Swift Mapper website or to message him via Facebook group Save Three Rivers Swifts.