Swifts

Swifts and their conservation in Surrey

Please don’t abandon BirdTrack https://www.btosurrey.co.uk/surveys/bird-track/ but, if you know of swift colonies in Woking Borough, Guildford Borough, Croydon or the Blackwater Valley on the Surrey/Hampshire border, please do get in touch with the following projects. They would love to hear from you.

Swifts in Woking

During 2019 Woking Borough Council and Thameswey Ltd. run several community projects to build swift boxes for the Woking area. They had a fantastic response to an appeal for nest box hosts, with over 80 people coming forward to host one on their home! If you see a swift in the Woking Borough Council area, please send the record to .

Guildford Swifts

Guildford Borough Council are also calling for us to scan the skies! To report records for the Guildford Borough Council area, email . More information at http://www.gefweb.org.uk/Guildford%20Swifts%20text%20a.pdf.

Swifts in the Croydon area

Croydon RSPB would like people to report sightings of swifts in the Croydon area. This will allow them to monitor where they can be found. Please email Croydon RSPB at with information about when and where you saw your swifts, along with number of birds. Also telling Croydon RSPB about what the birds were doing could help them to establish whether the swifts are potentially nesting somewhere local; birds flying into the eaves shows there is a nest there, while birds screaming around a rooftop would suggest there is a territory nearby. Those wheeling around high up may either be feeding or trying attract a mate and some will simply be passing through. Croydon RSPB can use this information to help decide what to do next.

Swifts in the Blackwater Valley

Colin Wilson has been running a very successful venture in the Blackwater Valley. To get involved, email Colin at . He’d love to hear from you, especially if you have spare time to help. More information at https://www.bvct.org.uk/blackwater-valley-swift-project/.