What an amazing effort by all involved!
35 swift nest boxes have been made from scratch and put up on houses all around Goathland village. This project was started by Goathland Nature Group to encourage an increase in the swift population. There are two small colonies known in Goathland but we hope to increase their numbers significantly over the next few years.
Swifts are on the UK Red List of birds of highest conservation concern, with numbers declining dramatically in recent decades. A major cause of this is a significant reduction in nest sites. Providing swift nest boxes was seen as a direct and effective way to help our swifts.
Four carpentry parties have occurred to make the boxes and six sessions putting them up. A huge thank you to all involved. It has been great to see how the local residents seem to have really become enthusiastic about Project Swift.
We may just have to make more boxes next year!
One of the aims of the Goathland Nature Group is “to help conserve, enhance and manage the local environment for the benefit of present and future generations”. We hope that if we can increase the swift population around Goathland we should certainly fulfil this.