History of Greenside Swifts

The story of my Swifts (apus apus) started in June 2018. Crofton has two major swift colonies, one on Oak Street and the other on Shay Lane estate. These estates are typically 1950's built council estates, and well established colonies.

In 2018 Wakefield council decided to renovate these properties and have new soffits and facias and some new roofs. This was a tragedy for the Swifts , as many of their access holes were sealed.

After witnessing in June 2018 a number of birds attempting and failing to enter there usual nesting sites I decided to buy a number of boxes. 3 boxes were placed that year.

2018 Was a great Swift year, helped by the good weather. In June I played the Swift calls through a speaker out of the window to attract the birds. I quickly managed to attract 2 pairs within 3 days, which makes me wonder is these were Swifts which were ejected from nesting sites on Oak Street.

That same year I also had 12 'Bangers', these are 1st year birds who bang on potential nesting sites to see if they are occupied, they build a mental picture and return from Africa in their 2nd year to occupy them and build nests.