Blog | hampshire swifts

Sep 2
2 min

Wells Cathedral Swift boxes

We don’t often stray out of county, but we were contacted by Simon Nash from Wells to ask advice about whether it might be possible to...

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Aug 27
1 min

Swift boxes on Stannah Lifts in Andover

Stannah Lifts was founded over 150 years ago and they now provide passenger, platform, goods & service lifts as well as moving walkways...

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Jul 9
2 min

Lee-on-Solent update

Here is a lovely update, dated 25 June, from Mark Wagstaff about his Swift colony in Lee-on-Solent on the south coast. You can read the...

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Jul 3
2 min

New Swift boxes on 6th Form Colleges

Hampshire Swifts has recently installed lots of Swift boxes on two Colleges here in Hampshire. The first were at Peter Symonds 6th Form...

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Jun 21
3 min

Hampshire Swifts install Swift boxes on Farmer Cluster

Hampshire Swifts have installed 31 nest boxes and 8 call players on the Allenford and Martin Down Farmer Clusters, south and south-west...

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Mar 25
2 min

New Swift boxes on All Saints CE School, Winchester

Installing Swift boxes on this Primary School at Highcliffe in Winchester has been on our ‘to do’ list for some time, but recently it has...

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Jan 21
3 min

Bishops Waltham

Bishop's Waltham is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire. It has a foot in the South Downs...

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Jan 3
2 min

A new house with Swift boxes

Back in mid-September last year I went with Rachel Hardy to the 2023 Wilder Conference and Awards organised by the Hampshire and Isle of...

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Dec 28, 2023
1 min

Lee-on-Solent Swifts update

Back in August while we were in Lee-on-Solent I called in on Mark Wagstaff to say hello and to see the location of his Swift colony. You...

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Dec 18, 2023
2 min

The Swift population on the New Milton Estate

Last year we reported that the Swift population at the North Milton Estate in SW Hampshire was close to its maximum given the number of...

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Dec 14, 2023
1 min

Southsea colony update

Dave Warner now has 11 breeding pairs of Swifts on his house in Southsea from a total of 12 boxes, eight on the front and four on the...

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Nov 15, 2023
3 min

Highcliffe, Winchester – a Swift ‘Hot Spot’

The Highcliffe area of Winchester includes two areas of Council housing built primarily between the First and Second World Wars, and a...

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Nov 7, 2023
3 min

Letter to Michael Gove

I have written the following letter to Michael Gove. I’m not optimistic that I will get a reply or even that he might actually read it...

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Oct 20, 2023
3 min

Hospital of St Cross update

At the end of September Hampshire Swifts had a stand at the Michaelmas Fair held at the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester. The weather...

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Sep 28, 2023
2 min

Winchester Cathedral – 13 pairs of Swifts in just 3 years

Roger Maynard, Rachel Hardy and I went to check the Swift boxes at Winchester Cathedral on 20 September. They are positioned in two...

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Aug 1, 2023
2 min

Ropley Church – rising like a phoenix

St Peters Church at Ropley was originally built in Norman times, although little remains of its early structure except the south door....

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Jul 26, 2023
4 min

The Right Way to Roof a House? The Case of the Upper Stanmore Swifts

In Hampshire traditional swift nest sites in our roofs and eaves have vanished in their thousands as houses are demolished or renovated...

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Jul 21, 2023
6 min

Who needs Scientists?

Michelle Reeve is GBW Manager and the Editor of the BTO magazine Bird Table. Back on the 10 April this year I wrote to Michelle about an...

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Jul 9, 2023
5 min

Chandlers Ford - Trying to Save a Swift Colony

Since Hampshire Swifts was set up in 2016, we have received very few survey reports of Swifts nesting in Chandler’s Ford. What records...

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Jun 20, 2023
1 min

Six new Swift boxes at Christ Church, Winchester

We’ve been aware since 2020 that there were 8+ pairs of Swifts nesting in natural sites at Christ Church in Christchurch Road, Winchester...

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Sep 2
2 min