Sedburgh School makes Swift boxes

Thank you to Tanya & Edmund Hoare and Sedburgh Community Swifts for this story.

Our Sedbergh Community Swifts group was delighted when the Design Technology department at Sedbergh School in Cumbria approached us about a project to make swift boxes. This was a project with a difference however: Firstly, the pupils would make boxes based on the Stimpson design but then dismantle them and repeat the process as a production line exercise, to demonstrate efficiency.

Pupils developed skills using several different machines and techniques, including a table router, bandsaw, pillar drill with Forstner drill bit, jigsaw and bobbin sander.

They incorporated two design features:

1. A recessed concave made using 3D CNC machining: a separate base slots in so that the top of the cup is flush with the floor.

2. An acrylic housing under the box for an amplifier's loudspeaker, to keep it shielded from rain.Staff and pupils really liked the project, it was very different from what had been done before, and they are going to repeat it next year.

The boxes have been donated to Sedbergh Community Swifts so that they can be put up around town. We are choosing prominent places around the town so that the pupils, and everyone else, can monitor what happens.

This picture shows the pupils proudly holding their boxes.

Swift Action Harleston - Swift mobile

We were delighted to receive this story from Harleston in Norfolk. The local group, Swift Action Harleston has come up with a great idea that could be replicated anywhere.

The mobile was produced from hundreds of cut-out Swift shapes by pupils at Harleston Primary School. Each Swift is decorated with a design based on the colours of the flags of the Southern European or African countries through which the Swifts fly on migration and carries an individual message to the Swifts from the pupil that made it.

The pictures below show close ups of  some of the designs in the mobile which are all being combined and turned into flags for display in the town.

One of the delightful messages reads:

"Dear Swifts ... never give up, never give up. If the weather knocks you down, get back up, never give up, you can do it. Please don't die."

Isn't that nice, and here are some pictures of their spectacular mobile:

Year 8 students at Archbishop Sancroft High School, designed and printed their own swift flags for display in Harleston town centre.

Harleston Box Brigade, with some of their productions

"I am a Swift" now in Dutch and Greek

Since the recent adaptation and translation into French, we have now received copies in Dutch and, from Cyprus, in Greek.

Click to enlarge

Since we produced "I am a Swift - I am in trouble", in 2011, we did a second edition in 2015. There has been an Irish adaptation, called "We are Swifts - we are in trouble" as well as a French Version, and now it is in Dutch and Greek.

We are naturally delighted that an idea conceived by Helen Hodgson back in 2011 has now received such wide acceptance.

Our second edition is now out of print, and we are planning a 3rd English edition.

For the various editions, you can contact:
English
Irish
French
Dutch
Greek

Je suis un martinet est arrivé!

Front cover (click to enlarge)

We are delighted that our booklet for children, 'I am a Swift - I am in trouble' by Helen Hodgson has been adapted and translated into French. 

This initiative was undertaken by Carolyn Knowlman, who writes:

Chateau Amboise

The background photo of the screamers is the Chateau Amboise in the Loire valley, where, as elsewhere, we realised that swift nest sites were being lost as the town gets poshed up and new buildings are unsuitable. 

The group got off to a great start with a very well attended meeting with Marcel Jacquat & Edward Mayer speaking. We are very appreciative of their help. 

So far this year the group has put up around 50 boxes in and around the town.The Mairie (town council) has got involved and put up boxes too. Next year the aim is to do more with local schools.

The booklets are available by contacting Carolyn via email at Ctlhk@wanadoo.fr

The suggested donation price is €2 Or £1.50 Plus p&p.

I AM A SWIFT - 2nd edition

In 2011 Action for Swifts published the 1st edition of 'I am a swift - I am in trouble'. Since then it has been reprinted twice plus an Irish version, with some new ideas was produced by Lynda Huxley, Swift Conservation Ireland. So, in September we decided to do a 2nd edition.

If you wish you can read the online version.

It is produced in an A5 landscape format, copies can be ordered, £1.50 each from actionforswifts@gmail.com

Swift nest boxes at Shirley Primary School

Alan Clarke suggested to Kirsty Morris, a teacher at Shirley Primary School, Cambridge, that it might be a good idea to install some swift boxes at the school. Kirsty (Mrs Morris to the children) thought it was a good idea too! So, permission was obtained, a suitable location on the school was found and the project was started.

8 boxes ready for painting and installation

We decided to make 8 boxes similar to those erected at Milton Road Primary School and at Lackford Lakes in Suffolk - these are easily adapted to any odd-shaped eaves. All of the eaves at Shirley school are sloping one way or another.


It was decided to copy Martin Grund's idea in Germany to get the children to number and paint the boxes before installation. As swifts have excellent colour vision and as it is a good idea to have distinctive marks on the boxes for the swifts to recognise them, this seemed a good plan.

The school has an 'Eco Group' of 12 children, made up of 2 children from year 1 to year 6 (6 to 11 year olds). So, on 2nd May, the children gathered around, paint brushes in hand ready to paint the boxes.

Exquisite artistry by Jean Wutchaiyatamrongsil

Colourful artwork by Emily Cooper

8 boxes installed together with sound system

Clarke admiring 4 of the 8 nest boxes

The painting was supervised by Vida Newell and Alan Clarke, together with teaching assistant, Marjory Calamel and student teacher, Sally Worthington.

After painting the boxes, the children stuck sterilised pheasant feathers onto MDF nest concaves. As swifts are very unlikely to find pheasant feathers, we will easily be able to recognise any feathers added by the swifts themselves, typically pigeon feathers.

After gluing the nest concaves into the boxes, they were ready for erection. Here we were joined by Clarke Brunt, who has his own swift colony in Milton, and the 8 boxes were quickly installed under the eaves. While installing the boxes, we spent a lot of time looking up, and we saw several swifts flying over. We finished  off by installing a Box of Swifts attraction call-playing system.

Shirley Primary School is now one of a very small number of schools in the UK with Swift nest-boxes.

A Swift game from Devon

Here is some fun for kids of any age - thanks to the Devon Wildlife Trust. It is educational and informative too!

School Project in Israel

We asked Amnonn Hahn if he could tell us about one of his projects at the Gavrieli Harkamel School in Tel Aviv:

This is an example of spotting an opportunity in an otherwise unlikely location for Swift nest-boxes.

It also shows what can be done in a hot climate, where defending the nest-boxes from the sun can be a real challenge.

How to make a nest concave out of Modroc

Contributed by Dick:

We have been casting around for a method, suitable for children, of making nest concaves. The answer could well be Modroc - plaster of Paris bandage: it is cheap, simple and quick, and the resulting concave looks ideal for Swifts.

All you need is a suitable plastic food container, something to make the concave impression (e.g. bluetack, plasticine, papier maché or Modroc), Clingfilm and water. We used a Tesco's finest vegetable curry bowl 120mm in diameter. The concave former should look like an inverted saucer 9cm diameter by 15-20mm high and should be wrapped in Clingfilm to stop the Modroc sticking.

Milton Road Primary School

Update 30/05/2012: The breeding pair from 2011 returned late on or about 25th May. Also all 4 of the original boxes seem to be occupied this year. This is brilliant progress.

Update 2014: All 6 boxes are occupied this year. An extra camera has been added, and pictures have been broadcast online.

Contributed by Dick Newell, Photos Helen Hodgson

The school entrance

This is the story of a Swift project at a primary school in Cambridge, UK in 2010. The school was interested in doing a biodiversity project and so approached Guy Belcher, Nature Conservation Projects Officer for Cambridge City Council.

The school quadrangle with 4 nest-boxes installed

Guy involved Cambridge Swift enthusiasts which resulted in the installation of 4 Swift nest boxes.
The location chosen was a south-facing gable, and so the boxes were designed to minimise the amount of sun falling on them. It is important that the nest boxes do not get overheated.

Gluing feathers to a nest concave

The children were given a Powerpoint presentation about Swifts, the problems that they face and what can be done to help them. A team of 6 children were chosen who prepared four nesting concaves by coating them with feathers. Swifts prefer to find a ready made nest when they arrive in a new nesting place, they are more likely to breed.

Temperature data logging

They also ran a temperature monitoring project with a max/min thermometer placed in one of the boxes. This confirmed that the temperature inside the boxes remained within acceptable limits. With the help of the school caretaker, Julian Blakeman, they played Swift calls throughout the summer. Swifts are slow to find new nesting places, unless they are given a clue to a suitable location, such as Swifts already calling.

Feathers added by Swifts to feathers glued by children

The happy result of this project was one pair of Swifts occupying the left most box. If you look closely at the nest that they made, they added pieces of grass, seed heads, crow feathers and a lot more pigeon feathers to the feathers originally glued to the nest platform by the children.
It is now the intention to place a webcam in this nest box for 2011. Further projects will be undertaken by the children including feathering more nest concaves for the Cambridge City Swift Tower and making Swift mobiles.
If you would like more information on this project then contact actionforswifts@gmail.com.

Article in Cambridge News 20/7/2011
click image to enlarge

Postscript 2011:

In 2011, the pair of Swifts that occupied one of the boxes in 2010 returned to breed. Fortunately, we had installed a CCTV camera, so the children could see the nesting Swifts on a TV screen in their library. After more CD playing, Swifts were seen entering all 4 boxes. We ran another workshop where all of the children made Swift mobiles, and we also added 2 more nest-boxes bringing the total to 6. The project featured in the local newspaper, the Cambridge News, in July.







































#temperature

I am a Swift - I am in trouble

'I am a Swift' is a delightful booklet, suitable for children from about 6 years old, and it tells the story of the plight that Swifts face and what can be done to help them. 'I am a Swift' comprises 28 pages, full of information and stories about Swifts.





Click here for flipbook
Contact actionforswifts@gmail.com for more information.

How to make a Swift Mobile

Here is a great idea for kids. OK, the kids may need a little help, but the resulting mobile will really show them what Swifts look like and help them gain an appreciation of these great birds. All you need to do is to download the instructions, then the template of shapes to cut out and you are all set up.

For templates with labels for wings down, wings flat and wings up configurations, click on these links:
Wings down  Wings flat  Wings up
Then in Googledocs, hit File > Download, or File > Print (PDF).
After cutting out the pieces, write the labels in brackets on the other side of the card. Then score, fold and stick matching labels together.
[UPDATE Nov 2015: We have uploaded a version with yellow lines suitable for printing on black card - download]