The
story behind this exciting project goes
like this; the Conservation Architect
working on the restoration of this 19th
Century church found long dead Swifts
inside the tower. They had come in through
the apertures, got lost, could not find
their way out, and had died. They had
certainly been searching for nest places.
He had the brilliant idea of fitting
Swift nest boxes behind some of the
apertures, whilst fitting grilles to
the others, so Swifts could breed in
safety and none could enter the tower
itself, nor could feral pigeons either.
Photographs ©
Oxley Conservation
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Swift
Boxes for Church Towers
On
the left is a photograph of the Church
of the Sacred Heart in Reading, Berkshire;
below are photographs of the exterior
of the tower, showing ventilation openings
and two Swift nest boxes mounted behind
the lower holes, and on the right, a
view of four Swift nest boxes mounted
inside the tower on a simple wooden
frame. A total of 24 boxes were fitted
to three of the interior walls of the
tower, leaving ample open apertures
to assure good ventilation.
These
nest boxes are made from recycled
plastic sheet, will not rot, are weatherproof,
and should have an extremely long life.
They were made to measure and delivered
to the site by Filchris Ltd.
There
are contact details for Filchris on
our "Shopping" pages.
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The
Bethlehem Church in Hannover, Germany,
where volunteers made and installed
Swift nest boxes behind ventilation
holes.
Photographs ©
R Shultz / Nabu Hannover
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On
the left is a photo of Swift internal
nest trays fitted behind a louvred window.
A couple of louvres have been removed
on the right side to show the trays more clearly.
Other trays can just be seen behind the louvres
on the left hand side of the window.
In all such nest place projects
use of the Swift Calls CD will greatly
improve the chances of attracting the
birds to nest. The CD may be purchased
via our "Shopping" page.
Swift Call CD's -
purchase via this link
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