We like to see examples of well made, nice looking nest boxes, and here is an example designed and built by Johnny Reitan from Molde, which is quite far north on the coast of Norway.
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| The finished cabinet - click to enlarge. |
The box comprises 4 nest-chambers, and is made to match the cladding of the house exactly. The top entrance is protected by a flute, and the bottom 3 entrances are adjacent to the wall of the house - a position where Swifts commonly seek a new nest site. A speaker for attraction calls is mounted inside each chamber. The metal ventilation grill in the middle allows air to flow into the original ventilation grill in the house.
As the eaves were so narrow, the box extends beyond them, but with adequate roof insulation, this will not be a problem.
For Swift boxes to be accepted by owners and architects, it is important that they fit in well with the building - this has been well achieved here. Thank you Johnny for letting us use it.
The pictures below tell their own story of how it was conceived and assembled, and Johnny has more pictures
here and
here:
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| Internal structure, with nest platforms |
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| Components for front assembly |
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| The assembled cabinet. The front is removed for installation |
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| A view from below |
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| A view from inside the box showing the position of 4 tweeter speakers |
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| Close up of the installed cabinet |
#triangle
No swift so far. But yesterday I saw one fly by the house, so I started the swift call player again. With in 10 minutes there was 4 swifts flying around the house and very close to the box.
ReplyDeleteThis morning I saw one try to enter the middle bottom box. A very exiting moment for me :-)
I will take some pictures if this continues.
Hi Johnny, Playing attraction calls consistently as much as possible will increase your chances. At your latitude, you should have at least another month of opportunity. It doesn't have to be very loud to be successful.
ReplyDeleteDick
This morning at 07:00 there was 6 swift "banging" at my box.
ReplyDeleteThe top flute as well. Sadly, when I did get my camera they left the house, so no pictures this time either :-(
But this looks really good for next year :-)
Latest news from ny swift box. 2 swifts has fly around my house all summer. Sometimes there has been up to 6 swifts. I have never seen any swifts enter the box, until this morning at 10:30. I was sitting on my porch as the 2 usual swifts starts to circle my hous, so I went out on my lawn, and could see one of them entered the top flute. I stood there to watch for a few minutes, but the swift did not come out. but as this is wery lat in the season, I don't think they have breed in the box. I will open the box later this year and have a closer look inside. I will also buy some cameras from ebay, and install as well. Get back to you when I have more news.
ReplyDeleteThat's great Johnny, Here in the UK, the attraction season is over, but, in Norway, your schedule runs quite a bit later than ours.
ReplyDeleteDick
Went up to chack and clean the Swift box today (28.03.2016)
ReplyDeleteI found one egg and at least 20 louse pupaes. I thing I got all of them out of the box, and collected 11 pc of them and put them in a vented jar in the basement. (20° in my basement)Some of them craced when I pick them up, and there was some white stuff inside of them. Here are some pics of the nest. http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/Italjohn/Swift%20box/IMG_1728_zpsh4thiexb.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/Italjohn/Swift%20box/IMG_1729_zpsgtplia5k.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/Italjohn/Swift%20box/IMG_1731_zpsdhflzg3b.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/Italjohn/Swift%20box/IMG_1730_zpsizxlrx3y.jpg
Thank you for this update Johnny. It is great that your elegant triangle is a success!
ReplyDeleteDick