Aldeburgh’s Amazing Swifts
Welcome to
‘Aldeburgh’s Amazing Swifts’
Swift conservation & rescue project.
We started this project in May 2017 with the aim of helping to stop the decline in Swift numbers in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.
By appealing to residents and builders in the town, we want to raise awareness to the drop in the number of Swifts and give advice on how to halt the decline. You can help by installing a nest box, leaving a hole under your roof tiles or by installing a Swift brick in any new build. Ideally the boxes should be on a north facing wall, 5 metres high, with no trees or wires to hinder access. Visit the swift conservation web site to find out more about providing a nest site for these remarkable birds http://swiftconservation.org
Give us a call if you would like some advice on installing a nest box or if you are renewing your roof and would like to preserve an existing nest or encourage a new one.
Please read our message below and read the ‘Latest News’ page to see what we’ve been up to over recent months. Also check out the ‘Identification’ page to see the difference between Swifts, Swallows and House Martins.
We offer a 24 hour Swift rescue service so if you find a struggling Swift, do give us a call (07762 300050 or 01728 454585) for advice and we will come and pick it up – in the meantime, keep the bird in a ventilated box but do not feed it normal bird food. Please do not throw the bird up into the air to see if it will fly! Just call us straight away at anytime day or night. Thank you.
Alan and Christine Collett
01728 454585
07762 300050
alan.collett6@btinternet.com
Help save Aldeburgh’s Amazing Swifts
Few birds stir the passion in people like the Swift. On our summer evenings, whether you’re in your garden, sitting outside your local pub or walking through a church yard, the sight and sound of screeching Swifts can stir the senses and stay in children’s hearts throughout their lives
Aldeburgh has attracted Swifts for many years because its historic architecture has provided many nesting sites, but Swift numbers are falling rapidly due to modern building methods and our wish to refurbish and insulate our houses without thinking about who else lives there.
Just imagine it – you head south to your winter home as summer ends but when you and your children return the following May to your favourite holiday home, you find that someone has bricked over your front door and you must start searching for somewhere else to stay. Not easy when you’ve come back to the same cottage every year throughout your life.
This is the reality for Aldeburgh’s Amazing Swifts.
But YOU can help stop this decline.
Install a nest box, instruct your builder or architect to provide for a Swift hole in the roof during your refurbishment or install a Swift brick in any new building; and the great news is that they don’t make any mess!
And this is where they usually live, under the roof tiles, so any roof repairs could block a Swift’s nest. So please call if you are about to do some roofing work and would like some advice on what measures can be taken preserve a nest.
Photo © Katherine Forestier
There are many websites you can visit to get further information:-
If you have a nesting Swift at your house in Aldeburgh, please call Alan Collett on 07762 300050 or e-mail alan.collett6@btinternet.com so that we can draw up a map of known nest sites. Act now by supporting the Save Aldeburgh’s Amazing Swifts campaign before the thrilling sight and sound of Swifts fades into a distant memory…