On the 19th July 2021, S6 Swifts ran a successful pilot scheme to supply and fit swift boxes on houses in the S6 postcode area of Sheffield
Today we fitted our first 10 boxes. Lots of people opted for Double Boxes (and even one Triple!) meaning we installed safe and cosy homes for up to 16 pairs of swifts! Big thanks to super-fitter Jan for calmly coping with whatever the houses of S6 threw at him, not to mention the sweltering temperature.
The highlight of the day was standing chatting outside a lady’s house in Walkley about how long it would take for swifts to notice her new nest box and seeing a swift fly in straight under her eaves. So they were already nesting! But at least when the babies fledge and return to Sheffield next year the there will be one more home for them.
It was just so enjoyable to be out in the community, chatting to people about these wonderful birds.
We’ll now do a bit of a review of how it went and hopefully come up with some ideas to iron out teething problems/plan how the scheme will operate in future. But we already have 15 more people wanting swift boxes so certainly feeling the snowball effect!
Box 1: Double Box in Hillsborough Box 2: Double Box in Hillsborough Box 6: A Double Box in Walkley Emma with the window posters we asked people to put up Box 8: Single Box in Walkley Box 10: Jan looks pleased with himself and this super Triple Box in Wisewood Jan getting to grips with the super duper Triple Box Box 3: A climb up to dizzying heights for this Single Box in Hillsborough Box 9: Another Double Box in Hillsborough/Wadsley