Swift Awareness Week runs from 2nd to 10th July this year, and this article highlights the ongoing work of two Swift groups to help conserve Swifts in the county, as well as details of a talk taking place in Hertford 
Hertford Swift Group have been particularly active, erecting over two hundred swift nest boxes on houses and other buildings in the town. They have also been giving talks and organising swift walks to raise awareness of swifts locally.
Swifts were recently added to the red list of species of conservation concern as numbers are thought have more than halved in the last twenty years. One of the reasons thought to be behind the decline is the loss of nesting sites, as we have become better at sealing up the gaps that swifts use in our houses to nest in.
Swifts like to nest communally and take readily to nest boxes and so if enough nest boxes are erected then we should be able to reverse their fortunes.
North East Herts Swift Group have been concentrating on erecting specially made swift boxes in church belfries and village halls. They have also been lobbying planning applications to include “swift bricks” in new housing.
Church towers are particularly suitable for swifts due to their height and because large numbers of nest boxes can be sited behind the louvres. So far over sixty boxes have been erected in six projects, with four more churches under discussion. 
Swift bricks are essentially hollow bricks with an entrance hole, that can be used in new housing and other building projects. They last the lifetime of the building and are inconspicuous, simple and inexpensive to install. They do not require ongoing maintenance and should be used in new buildings to help this spectacular bird
Clive will be giving a talk about Swifts at All Saints Church in Hertford on Saturday 9th July at 1pm - full details below
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Clive Fleming & Gavin Vicary
