Blog | hampshire swifts

Nov 162 min read

Winchester Cathedral Update 2024

Twenty Swift boxes were installed in the bell tower of Winchester Cathedral in August 2020. That was four years ago and you can read how...

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Oct 182 min read

Lymington Business Centre

Back in 2018, 28 new Swift nest sites were created in the eaves of Lymington Business Centre where there is an existing colony of Swifts....

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Sep 252 min read

More from Lee-on-Solent

Mark Wagstaff has given a further update on his colony in Lee-on-Solent: Trevor and Simon returned towards the end of July and ringed the...

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Sep 191 min read

New Milton Estate Survey 2024

Grateful thanks to Bob Lord and his crew of Swift surveyors for all the time that they have put into surveying the North Milton Estate in...

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Sep 22 min read

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 271 min read

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 92 min read

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 32 min read

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 213 min read

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 252 min read

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 213 min read

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 32 min read

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, 20231 min read

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, 20232 min read

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, 20231 min read

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, 20233 min read

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, 20233 min read

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, 20233 min read

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, 20232 min read

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, 20232 min read

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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