Roger Maynard, Rachel Hardy and I went to check the Swift boxes at Winchester Cathedral on 20 September. They are positioned in two cabinets within the bell tower on the south side. Previous blogs on the installation and progress of the boxes can be read here, here and here.
Last year two pairs reared young and five other pairs, presumably two-year-old birds, had completed nests in readiness for 2023. One of these had even laid two eggs but these had been pushed out of the nest and had not hatched. So it was reasonable to expect that there would be seven pairs nesting this year.
This summer 25 or more birds could often be seen flying around the tower and so it is starting to become a real spectacle. The fantastic news is that the results are even better than expected with nine pairs rearing young - albeit in one of these boxes an egg had been pushed out of the nest and in another a small fledgling had been pushed/fallen out and had died. Both of these pairs were first-time nesters and it's not unusual for this to happen with these younger inexperienced birds.
In three other boxes nests had been completed in readiness for 2024 and in another, nest construction was also well underway.
Swift box end of season inspection numbers for Winchester Cathedral
Box no. | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
1 | No nest - 1 small tortoiseshell butterfly | Completed nest - no young | Young fledged |
2 | | No nest - 1 small tortoiseshell butterfly | |
3 | | Start of nest with leaves | Young fledged |
4 | | 1 feather | 6 feathers |
5 | | Completed nest - no young | Young fledged |
6 | | 2 feathers | Completed nest - no young |
7 | A few feathers | Completed nest - 2 eggs thrown out | Young fledged |
8 | A few feathers | Completed nest - no young | Young fledged |
9 | | 2 feathers | 1 egg laid but pushed out |
10 | | | |
11 | | 1 feather | 1 feather |
12 | | 1 feather | 1 feather |
13 | | 1 dropping | |
14 | | 2 droppings | Half-completed nest |
15 | | 1 feather | Completed nest - no young |
16 | | Start of nest | Start of nest |
17 | | Start of nest | Young fledged - 1 small dead fledgling |
18 | | Completed nest - no young | Young fledged |
19 | Occupied - half built nest | Young fledged | Young fledged |
20 | Young fledged | Young fledged | Young fledged |
| 1 pair bred + 1 nest completed | 2 pairs bred + 5 nests completed | 9 pairs bred + 3 nests completed |
Several of the boxes contained lots of Common Clothes Moths, Tineola bisselliella, and in one there was a Brown House Moth, Hofmannophila pseudospretella. And above the boxes a Small Tortoiseshell was sitting waiting til the warmer days of spring.
Perhaps its time to get a few more boxes installed!
Our very grateful thanks go to the Reverend Canon Dr Roland Riem, Vice-Dean, and to other staff at the Cathedral for making this project possible.
コメント