HOMES FOR SWIFTSTHE WHITWORTH, DARLEY DALE – SUNDAY 12TH APRIL

Photograph courtesy of Robert Booth

Derbyshire Swift Conservation is to hold a public event to celebrate the second year of grant funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to save Derbyshire’s Swifts by protecting and creating nesting sites keeping our summer skies alive with their calls for future generations.

The celebration will see workshops for families and a talk from renowned Swift expert, Edward Mayer. There will also be the opportunity for the public to learn more about installing Swift boxes and bricks and how they can help by surveying Swifts in their local area.

The Common Swift, Apus apus, is the most iconic and recognisable bird adorning our summer skies. Swifts travel tens of thousands of miles on their annual migration only returning from Africa to the UK for three months to breed. However, due to renovation work such as renewing soffits, re-roofing and adding external wall insulation to our homes, their traditional nesting sites are lost as their entrance holes are blocked up or covered over.

The project will enable extensive surveying, nest box provision and conservation work to take place throughout the Derbyshire Dales area, restoring vital nesting habitat and helping this species together with other cavity-nesting species to breed and thrive once again.

This project is a collaboration between Derbyshire Swift Conservation and Derbyshire Dales District Council.

To be held on Sunday 12th April at The Whitworth, Darley Dale. Free tickets and further information: https://bit.ly/homes forswifts