Young volunteers from nearby Stepney City Farm have installed nest boxes for swifts on St Dunstan’s Church, Stepney. Working closely with church warden Julian Cass, the 12- to 18-year-olds designed the boxes and made them from spare plywood from the farm. The boxes were then installed in the belfry windows on the north side of the historic church.
Swifts often nest in church towers, but access to the tower of St Dunstan’s is blocked. It is hope that the nest boxes will attract swifts back to the church. Swift numbers have decreased in recent years, so projects such as this are important to try to reverse the decline.
Stepney City Farm’s Young Volunteer Co-ordinator, Hamish Burnett, said “We’re really pleased to be able to work with the church to do something positive for swifts in the area. Next spring, we’ll try playing swift calls on a CD from the tower, as this is known to help attract swifts to new nest sites”.
For more information on swifts and how to help them, see the Swift Conservation website. You can help the RSPB to monitor where swifts are nesting by sending in your sightings to the UK Swift Survey.
Photo by John Archer
