Portlaoise Swift Box Project 2017

With help from a successful funding bid to the Heritage Council the Laois-Offaly Branch of the Irish Wildlife Trust are co-coordinating a great new Swift nest box project in Portlaoise this autumn.

Earlier this summer the BirdWatch Ireland Laois Branch volunteers combed the county for Swift nest sites and discovered many previously unrecorded sites. The results of this effort helped steer the Portlaoise project to ensure the boxes are located in the best areas to help strengthen and grow the local Swift population.

Leinster Express Article by Stan Henderson

The plan involves erecting 12 new specially designed "triple cavity" Swift nest boxes at 6 locations both in the town centre and the outskirts of the town. The boxes have 3 separate nest cavities so there will be 36 new nest sites available to returning Swifts nest summer. Each site will also see a solar powered Swift caller kit installed, the kits proven to increase success with attracting Swifts will play a Swift Call to attract passing Swifts to investigate the boxes. As Swifts are colonial, they are attracted to sites where birds are already present, the lure mimics that and can help the colony establish more quickly.

Proposed nest box sites for the Portlaoise Swift Project 2017 

The proposed sites for the boxes include: Laois County Council Offices, Gaynor-Miller Estate Agents Office, Portlaoise Equestrian Centre, Portlaoise Golf Club and Portlaoise GAA Club grounds.

The boxes have been designed and built in Ireland by Genesis Nest Boxes a company based is Killarney, Co.Kerry. With final preparations in place Stonyford Engineering who designed the solar caller systems will install the equipment in the coming weeks (autumn 2017).

Launch of the Portlaoise Swift Box Project at Portlaoise Library (from left) Paul Gaynor (Gaynor-Miller Estate Agents), Kieren Flood (Irish Wildlife Trust), Padraig Fleming (Cathaoirleach Laois CoCo), Ricky Whelan (BirdWatch Ireland), Micheal Parsons (Heritage Council), Mary Sweeney (Laois Libraries) and Brian Gaynor (IWT Laois-Offaly Branch). Not pictured Catherine Casey (Laois Heritage Officer) and Pat McEvoy (Portlaoise Golf Club).

The project was officially launched during Heritage Week by Cathaoirleach of Laois County Council Padraig Flemming. Our own Ricky Whelan gave an illustrated talk to the audience describing Swift ecology right through to threats, conservation measures and the details of the Portlaoise Project.

Congratulations is due to Brian Gaynor who is Conservation Officer with the IWT Laois-Offaly Branch and the key person behind the project.

Brian has asked that thanks is given to the Heritage Council, Gaynor-Miller Estate Agents who part sponsored the project and provided a box location, Laois County Council, Laois Libraries, the owners of the nest box sites for their agreement and enthusiasm for the project, Catherine Casey (Laois Heritage Officer) and BirdWatch Ireland for their effort and advice throughout.

Buncrana Tidy Towns and The Wild Inishowen Club Teaming Up for Swifts

Recently Brian Caffrey travelled to Buncrana in Donegal to catch up with the local groups who are championing Swift conservation in their area. Brian’s talk and walk came as part of efforts that Buncrana Tidy Towns together with the Wild Inishowen Club have been doing for Swifts in recent years.

Karl King explains “In 2010, Martin Moloney, asked the Tidy Towns to put up Swift boxes. We did, at the courthouse in Buncrana. Martin said the reason for this was that Swift populations were in decline. We continued on with our other Tidy Towns projects and never passed any more remarks on the Swift boxes until 2015.”

Brian Caffrey with one of Buncrana's younger Swift fans Karl King

Flatout with the their tidy towns work the Buncrana group hadn’t put anymore focus into Swift projects since the initial work in 2010.  Dermott McLaughlin the then Chairman of the Wild Inishowen Club mentioned that a Swift talk was being held in Letterkenny by BirdWatch Ireland and a gang from Buncrana Tidy Towns group traveled down to check it out.

Karl said “Dermott, George and myself attended the talk, it was in 2015, July time, and we were very impressed with the talk about the life of the Swift and how it came to Ireland to breed. The thing that stood out to me the most was that it lived on the wing and how one half of the brain can close down and the other half can stay awake.”

Looking for Swifts in Buncrana town centre Karl King

The group was inspired to do more and they did exactly that as Karl describes “From that point on we started looking for Swift nests. The club decided to take on how we could help the Swifts and how we could identify their nesting sites. Dermott and Martin, who both have a lot of experience with birds, started doing walks around the town along with the rest of the Wild Inishowen group. After a few nights, we identified our first Swift site at the back of Mac's bookshop, which we were delighted with. As it was towards the end of the season, we said we would try and make a better effort the next year.

In 2016, we put up a couple of new Swift boxes beside the first site and we started to do some more walks during June and July. The weather was quite cold and we never seemed to see more than seven Swifts at any one time. That year we identified a further three Swift sites along with the original. The other three sites were at the back of the courthouse, Naylor’s Row and at Cockhill Church. We were looking for more guidance and what we could do to help the Swifts by either identifying sites or erecting more Swift boxes in the proper locations. This is why we made contact with Brian in BirdWatch Ireland, to come and give a walk and talk.”

A "swift" talk in the car park
before heading down town to see the Swift boxes Karl King

All was going well in Buncrana with their Swift survey knowledge and experience growing so to did the number of nests sites the group were finding. “In 2017, we made nine Swift boxes from recycled PVC and erected them at the Cockhill Church where we had found one nest the previous year. On the 3rd of May, when we were erecting the boxes in Cockhill, we discovered that we had another two Swift nests at the Chapel, as the Swifts flew in while we were erecting the boxes. The clubs ambition this year was to find as many Swift sites as possible. The group put in a huge effort and in May, June and July we found an additional ten sites to add to the four previous nests that were found in 2015/2016. On some of the walks in the evening we counted up to sixteen Swifts in flight, this year seeming to be a better year, maybe it's because it was warmer? One of the group, George Mc Dermott, erected a Swift box at his own home and put on the Swift caller, playing morning and night. It managed to attract two Swifts to the box. It goes without saying that it was a fantastic result. Then on the 25th of July, we had a great information night with a walk and talk. This gave us a boost and will help us monitor the Swifts and hopefully will lead to more success next year. Our intention is to get all the nests recorded on the BirdWatch Ireland online mapping system and try and keep a good record of their behaviour.

In summary, the group is delighted to be doing this work to help increase and maintain the Swift population in Buncrana.”

At BirdWatch Ireland we are delighted to see such a great effort being made in Buncrana over multiple years with both groups committing significant time and resources to Swift conservation in the area.

For more info on Buncrana Tidy Towns Group see here:

https://www.facebook.com/BuncranaTidyTowns/?ref=br_rs

And the Wild Inishowen Club see here:

https://www.facebook.com/wildinishowen/

Thanks to all involved in the work in Buncrana and a big thank you to Karl for providing the summary and photos of activities for this blog post.

Swifts Season Close to Completion

With the first laid broods fledged and the remaining active nests containing large chicks we are reaching the final few weeks of Swift nesting activity.

Large chicks in Box 11 at the GMIT Castlebar Campus -
GMIT/Swift Conservation Ireland

With the end of the season imminent these next two weeks are a vital time to get out and survey your local patch for active Swift nest locations. 

A good way to get an estimate of what point the season is at in your area (nesting stage ie. eggs, young chicks, near fledgling etc) is to log on to the Swift Conservation Ireland/GMIT Swift Box Cameras webpage. The cameras provide a live feed to a number of Swift nest boxes erected some years ago in a partnership between Swift Conservation Ireland and GMIT to help provide safe nesting locations for the local Swift population. 

Box 1 chicks, not long before fledgling (est 7-10 days) -
GMIT/Swift Conservation Ireland

Once chicks have fledged, adult birds will not return to nest sites and the opportunity to locate their exact location is lost for another year.

Newly logged Swift nest locations 2017 Season - BirdWatch Ireland

So with some good weather around and the adults visiting big, hungry chicks, why not make a final stab at finding your local Swift colonies. If you do make the time to get out and about we would love to receive your records. All records of Swift nesting locations allow us to help protect them and without this info we remain helpless to protect these sites!

Log your nest locations HERE

For more info on Swifts and survey tips try our BirdWatch Ireland Swift Project pages.

Good luck

2017 County Offaly Swift Survey

With funding from Offaly County Council, BirdWatch Ireland is undertaking a whole county Swift nest site survey. The objective of the survey is to establish detailed results on the presents of Swifts in the county and the location of nesting colonies. 

The engagement of Tidy Towns and residents as part of this survey is fundamental to this project for many reasons including the principal that, increased awareness leads to increased consideration (protection) and we are already seeing the results in Offaly! 

With our enthusiastic and dedicated Fieldworker “Anton” on the case we had no fear that county Offaly would be forensically searched for Swifts.

Distribution of County Offaly Swift colony records  ArcGIS Online

(AK) Тhe first week of Swift surveying was over at blink of an eye, the focus was to survey the smaller towns and villages of the county. The county it seems is a mixed bag for Swift distribution, unfortunately, empty skies and silent streets greeted us at many of survey areas. Thankfully it wasn’t to be all doom and good strong colonies were also observed dispersed throughout the county boundaries. 

Tim MacMathon of Clara Tidy Towns and Anton Krastev
out surveying the local RC chruch at Clara BirdWatch Ireland

The second week of Swift surveying began with a concentrated effort on priority areas (Large towns with known Swift abundance) like Birr, Edenderry, Clara, Shinrone, and others. We got together in the evenings to survey these locations with active local groups who were interested in surveying their own localities for Swifts and we were delighted to introduce them to the species and survey methods whilst drawing on the rich local knowledge held by the groups members.

During week two of surveying we happened across Edenderry Tidy Towns whom were carrying their duties around the town. Their interest towards wildlife ensured a good link for future cooperation. One of the evenings during that week we surveyed the whole town for Swifts. Special thanks to Frank Hardy and Willie McCreanor for availing their time to carryout survey work.

Members of Shinrone Tidy Towns Group
with BirdWatch Ireland's Anton Krastev BirdWatch Ireland

Shinrone Tidy Towns have enthusiastically accommodated a meeting and their interest promises secure future for the Swifts inhabiting their area. During the visit in Shinrone we went for quick cup of tea, until a shower of rain passed. This gave us an opportunity to get to talk on different themes and spontaneously one of the members of Tidy Towns mentioned that he has a painting and a poem about Swifts in Shinrone. This immediately settled us down for another cup of tea and a pint of Guinness for Henry, who began reading the poem. It was fascinating to find out the buildings present in his painting are the same buildings which hold the largest part of the population of Swifts in Shinrone.

In Clara it was found that Swifts rely on two buildings for nesting. However, the likelihood is that these building will change or be modified makes the local population vulnerable. We needed to see if there may be more Swifts present somewhere else that we were unaware of. We got in contact with Clara Tidy Towns and since meeting up, Tim and the gang are on the case combing the town for new colonies yet to be recorded.

A great turn out in Birr to survey Swiftsaround the town BirdWatch Ireland

Week three of surveying came and went and we met with Birr and Clonbullogue Tidy Towns groups and have robust monitoring schedules in place and lots of new enthusiastic Citizen Scientists. Heavy rainfall dampened survey efforts at the end of week 3 and with week 4 and 5 now behind us there are colonies being logged all over the county. 

More details on how to take part in the County Offaly Swift Survey here:

You can review our results to date and add new sites here:

Standby for a 2017 County Offaly Swift Survey update soon!

Thanks to all the local Tidy Towns groups, residents and volunteers who have made the survey such a success to date. Thanks to Amanda Pedlow Offaly Heritage Officer for her help and enthusiasm in getting this project up and running. It’s very heartening to see local communities come together to protect their rich natural heritage. We will continue our work and liaison with local groups over the coming weeks. 

A Swift Return To Clonmacnoise

Part of the OPW Clonmacnoise heritage site Ricky Whelan

Swifts are birds of impeccable taste, often selecting the oldest and most beautiful buildings and locations to nest. During our 2015 fieldwork season BirdWatch Ireland carried out Swift surveys at a number of OPW heritage sites. Of these we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Clonmacnoise, the ancient monastic site set in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Shannon Callows of County Offaly. 

The site proved not only to be a pleasant stop in the fieldwork schedule but it also turned up one of the most interesting Swift nest locations we know of! 

Kate at the "waist-high" nest hole
 at Clonmacnoise Brian Caffrey

A single pair of Swifts were detected near the main round tower. The tower had been subject to a number of renovations over the years but one suitable gap in the masonry, very close to the base of the the tower remained. Initially the hole was overlooked as a potential nest site as it falls well below the average height range that Swifts nests are more commonly found!

Nest location in the "Round-tower" Ricky Whelan

Swifts are "site-faithful" meaning they will return year on year to the same nest hole (if it has survived), lay and raise young within. Last week we took the opportunity to swing by Clonmacnoise to see if the 2015 find was indeed a fluke or if the site was an established site being used by the resident pair. 

Yep thats a nest site! Ricky Whelan

It was fantastic to find a sitting Swift incubating an unconfirmed number of eggs inside the cavity. A quick peak confirmed occupancy and incubation behaviour and also detected one "rolled" egg. On occasion eggs will get dislodged from the nest cup and birds fail to get them back into the nest to incubate, the eggs will fail to develop and remain at the nest or be disregarded whilst the parents concentrate on the viable eggs.

The beautiful location and novelty of this nest site make Clonmacnoise well worth the visit for any Swift fanatic or natural history fan. One only knows how many bus loads of people from all over the world have passed the nest each summer, totally unaware of what a special creature lays within, silently rearing its young before embarking south to the Congo for the winter.

For more info on the OPW and the sites they manage click here:

And

We are always looking for records of Swift nest sites. Do you know of any? Enter your known sites here:

2017 OPW Heritage Sites Swift Survey

BirdWatch Ireland are delighted to be undertaking the third year of Swift surveys on behalf of the OPW at their heritage sites throughout the country.
This year we are carrying out fieldwork at The Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle (Tipperary), Dun Aonghasa (Galway), Castletown House (Kildare) and Altomont Gardens (Carlow).

The Rock of Cashel, Co.Tipperary Ricky Whelan

With the second site visits happening this week we are delighted to have already found strong signs of nesting Swifts at most of these sites.

The Inner Ward, Cahir Castle, Co Tipperary Ricky Whelan

Given the historic and ancient nature of the sites managed by the OPW they often provide suitable nesting sites for Swifts. Swifts need a small entrance gap that opens to a larger cavity in which they make a small nest cup. These gaps exist in abundance at many historic sites and Swifts are often associated with heritage sites for that reason.

This years survey has even taken us as far west as the Aran Islands where we surveyed at Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór. This massive, ancient hill fort is built exclusively from local limestone, the network of walls creates potential opportunity for nesting swifts. The only known nesting records of Swifts on the Aran Islands was recorded in "The Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Burren and the Aran Islands"(Liam Lysaght) published in 2012. Liam and the team of volunteers that carried out that fieldwork found a small cliff colony at Poll an Bhranda on the sout-east most edge of the Island. Since that work there have been no confirmed records of Swifts nesting on the Island.

Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór, Co.Galway Ricky Whelan

Section of the limestone wall at Dún Aonghasa Ricky Whelan

With chicks now hatched and growing bigger and more hungry by the day, activity at nest sites will increase. We will use this window of maximum activity to nail down the exact locations of the nest sites in order to ensure their future protection. We will keep you up to date on our final findings later in the season.

If you have a historic building in your locality, why not go and see if you can identify any Swifts visiting nest sites at the location. We would love to receive any new records of Swift nest sites.

You can enter your Swift nest locations online HERE.

Swift Conservation Training Events County Galway - Survey and Projects "How To" with Swift Conservation Ireland

Swifts need your help!

The great project work of Swift Conservation Ireland continues with training being offered to all parties interested in helping Swifts in their local communities.

Next week Swift Conservation Ireland will carry out 3 training sessions in locations around county Galway.

If you are part of a local community group or just interested as an individual these events are not to be missed.

Full details on the poster below.

Swift Conservation Ireland Training Events Poster - SCI

Swifts in Trim by Terence Cassidy – Meath Branch of BirdWatch Ireland.

Today we welcome a guest blog by Terence Cassidy of the BirdWatch Ireland Meath Branch and he describes a recent branch event through the town looking for Swifts. Over to Terence....

We start our walk on the banks of the Boyne, where Councillor Noel French starts us off, more than fifty of us including many school children. The birds feeding on the wing over the Boyne include Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins, birds often confused with the Swift. Swifts fly high as we head into the town.

Our first stop Castle Street is a row of terraced houses built after the Boer war. Most of these houses retain features which allow swifts to safely nest and have helped to maintain this special bird in Trim.  Screaming Swifts whizz past, and we manage to catch sight of them as they dart under the roofs. Swifts need space between the roof and the wall to enter where they nest on the top of the wall. In Castle Street they have the additional protection of a very ornate fascia board.

A Swift dives for the eaves of this house along Trims Castle Street
Photo Franck Ar Moenner

 Next stop Loman Street doesn’t disappoint either and we are treated to a spectacle of returning nesting Swifts. The roof of these houses has a large overhang giving protection to birds nesting on the top of the wall and unlike many other houses in Trim swifts have not been shut out of their nest sites by plastic fascia and soffits which are standard in modern building. The residents too are part of the success of this colony of Swift, many having grown up with the sight and sound of Swifts as a harbinger of summer.  Their love for the bird will ensure that at least in these houses a space will always be left for returning Swift, which they say return like clockwork on the 4th of May every year. They tell stories of finding accidentally grounded Swifts and, aware that the birds never land on the ground, they rescued them by simply throwing them back up in the air.

Brian Caffrey of BirdWatch Ireland chats to the assambled crowd on Loman Street
Photo Franck Ar Moenner

Finally we stop for a welcome cup of tea from Maureen in Brogan's Hotel. Brian from our tidy towns committee and Gerry representing the Men's Shed eagerly take in the technical specifications provided by Brian Caffrey who demonstrates the different types of swift nest boxes. Lars, from outside Trim, explains how he built nest boxes and equipped them with speakers and now has several nesting pairs of young swifts. These are probably young birds from the main colonies in Trim, which were attracted on their return from over wintering in Africa by a suitable nest site and the sound of swifts not far from where they were raised.

Another stop to view the Swifts along Loman Street
Photo Franck Ar Moenner

A love of swifts is not confined to birdwatchers in Trim as not only the Meath Branch of Birdwatch Ireland, but also the Tidy Towns committee, those working on heritage and environmental issues and residents appreciate the special place this bird has in the life of the town. After this experience I feel more confident that the Swift will not disappear from Trim, as has sadly been the case in many towns in Ireland, and look forward to reporting on the combined work we will now undertake to maintain a healthy population of swifts in Trim.  

2017 Swift Season Begins!

Yesterday was a normal morning in the BirdWatch Ireland regional office in Banagher when at 11:30ish Brian Caffrey and I sprang in tandem from our office chairs as we both heard that signature screaming sound!

Irelands Special Swifts Video YouTube

"Swifts" I shouted, startling the other members of staff working away quietly at their desks! It wasn't our first Swift of the year but it was the first heard in Banagher. Swift sightings had come in via Irish Birding since as early as April 20th when 3 were spotted in Dundalk that evening by Alan White. We waited patiently for our first Banagher sightings which always herald the start of the Swift survey season for us as it suggests the first birds have reached the most inland parts of the country.

Common Swifts Paulina Skoczylas

By the end of May we will have our first Swift survey visits complete, we are looking forward to discovering and recording new Swift colonies around the country. This year our funded projects take us to new OPW sites in Tipperary, Carlow, Kildare and the Aran Islands as part of the OPWs ongoing Heritage Sites Swift Survey. We are also coordinating an entire county Offaly survey on behalf of Offaly County Council with the help of local birdwatchers and resident citizen scientists.

Swift Survey at OPW Ennis Friary 2016 Brian Caffrey

With support from the Heritage Council we are again making efforts in 2017 to monitor Swifts at a national level through our online portal. 
Once again this year we are asking all of our blog followers to get involved and submit your Swift nest sites to our online Mapping Tool, you are also able to view past records there.

Online Swift Mapping Tool 

Finally we want to hear about your local Swift colony - where it is, how big is it, how long has it been there? Tell us about local Swift projects and surveys and we will share them right here on the seasonal Swift blog!

For more info or to get in touch, email us (Ricky/Brain) at: swifts@birdwatchireland.ie

Hang In There....It wont be long till they are back!

Life On The Wing is a seasonal Blog. We look forward to publishing new Swift blogs during the 2017 season.

Photo Arthur Tabor

If you have an interesting Swift related story or a Swift project on the go please let us know we would love to share the information on our blog pages.

Email info and photos to: swifts@birdwatchireland.ie