This report describes what we in Cambridgeshire have
been up to this year, 2012. The Cambs team includes Jake Allsop, Guy
Belcher, Helen Hodgson, Bill Murrells, Clarke Brunt, Alan Clarke,
Rowena Baxter, Judith Wakelam, Dick Newell, Vida Newell and Bob Tonks
This has been a year of mixed fortunes. As far as we can tell, occupancy of all nest boxing schemes that we know of has either remained stable, or increased since last year.
So the adult birds
turned up, but then the dreadful summer weather meant that breeding
success was below normal, with reports of eggs thrown out of nests
and of chicks dying. Alongside this, the take up of boxes at new sites has
been unusually slow.
We were delighted that our projects in St Mary the Virgin and the old Brook Street factory site in St Neots were nominated for an award by the 'St Neots in Bloom' Committee.
Bob and Mary Osborne in Histon had successful breeding,
with 2 chicks raised on top of a House Sparrow's nest in
their camera box.
At All Saints, Worlington in Suffolk, there was an
increase from 2 occupied boxes in 2011 to 7 occupied boxes this year.
There are now 18 nest-boxes in the church.
St
John's College Chapel: 8 nest-boxes installed (plus 2 boxes on
the groundsman's house)
Rehabilitation
Judith reports that a difficult season had produced more casualties.
She reared
and released 11 nestlings. Of 6 adults and one free-flying young
bird, she rehabbed and released 4; the other 3 had to be euthanized
You can also read Cambridge AfS End of Year Report 2011
This has been a year of mixed fortunes. As far as we can tell, occupancy of all nest boxing schemes that we know of has either remained stable, or increased since last year.
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| St Neots in Bloom nomination |
We were delighted that our projects in St Mary the Virgin and the old Brook Street factory site in St Neots were nominated for an award by the 'St Neots in Bloom' Committee.
Nest-box progress
Large/public buildings
At Edgecombe flats, Cambridge, the 71 swift nest-boxes
have been very successful with House Sparrows. However, 2 pairs of
Swifts bred in the boxes outside Peter Glass's flat. We hope to
install another attraction call player ready for 2013.
The 12 boxes built into the eaves of Ekin flats,
Cambridge, in 2010, were not monitored in 2012.
At Birdlife International headquarters in Girton, a
single pair of Swifts returned again to breed, raising 2 chicks and
providing entertainment on a TV monitor in the kitchen. We still
await more pairs in the other 7 boxes.
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| Built in nest boxes at Fulbourn. Photo Rob Mungovan |
Although our involvement in the Swifts housing estate
in Fulbourn has been minimal, we are delighted to hear that about 30
of the new nest-boxes there are occupied. Swifts preferred built in boxes to those mounted outside. It is worth reading this RSPB case study. Credit to Rob Mungovan.
We were pleased to be able to contribute an idea to reduce the entrance size of Schwegler 1MF boxes to exclude Starlings.
We were pleased to be able to contribute an idea to reduce the entrance size of Schwegler 1MF boxes to exclude Starlings.
Schools
At MiltonRoad Primary School, early in the season, birds were seen
entering 4 of the 6 boxes, but we are only sure of them becoming
established in 2 boxes, at least raising one chick in the camera box.
Domestic dwellings
Nest-boxes installed on people's houses in previous years included Bob’s house in Milton, where 2 pairs bred, but one failed and the other raised 2 chicks. Clarke Brunt , also in Milton, increased his established pairs from 1 pair in a nest-box with a second pair in a hole that he had made in the eaves of his house.
Nest-boxes installed on people's houses in previous years included Bob’s house in Milton, where 2 pairs bred, but one failed and the other raised 2 chicks. Clarke Brunt , also in Milton, increased his established pairs from 1 pair in a nest-box with a second pair in a hole that he had made in the eaves of his house.
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| 3 Boxes on a house in Chesterton |
Bob Humphrey and Neil Roberts in Landbeach, both had
pairs returning to their boxes.
Dick's colony, also in Landbeach, increased from 7 to 8
breeding pairs, but only 4 pairs succeeded in raising chicks, one of
which was the new pair. The geolocator bird was retrapped revealing
where
it spent the winter. A colony of bees occupied one box at the end
of the season.
Linda Jarvis in Cambridge had her first occupant of her
nest-boxes to add to the pair already nesting in her eaves.
Rowena attracted Swifts into her boxes in Dry Drayton, but it is not certain that they became established.
Rowena attracted Swifts into her boxes in Dry Drayton, but it is not certain that they became established.
Churches
Although we did not continue with attraction call
playing at St Andrews, Oakington this year, we were disappointed that
the 8 boxes in the belfry remained unoccupied. We have now installed
an extra 12 boxes at the tops of the louvres on the south and west
sides, and we hope to resume attraction call playing in 2013.
At St Mary the Virgin, St Neots, the occupied boxes
increased from 2 to 4, we hope to expand the number of nest boxes in
2013.
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| All Saints, Worlington Photo Judith Wakelam |
At St Mary's Church Ely, we found a total of 30 boxes
containing nests, of which 20 boxes contained a total of 31 chicks,
and 3 boxes still contained eggs. This is now a major colony.
Swift Towers
We were disappointed that we failed to attract Swifts to
occupy the Cambridge Swift Tower. Attracting Swifts into new boxes
has proved particularly difficult this year. Apart from this, the
tower attraction call player proved to be unreliable requiring
attention on a number of occasions.
A number of other projects are still waiting for their
first occupants.
New projects
We were involved one way or another in many projects,
including the following by providing nest-boxes, Box of Swifts
attraction call players, or advice:
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| 4 double boxes in St John's chapel Photo Bob Tonks |
Wessex
Place, Cambridge: 34 nest boxes installed
St
Neots Brook Street factory site: 12 Swift bricks installed, at least 2
occupied
Shirley
Primary School: 8 nest-boxes installed
The
Ace foundation, Stapleford: 8 nest-boxes installed
The
School House, Chippenham: 6 nest boxes installed, 1 box occupied
Colville
Road, Cambridge: 2 Swift bricks installed
Bob's next door neighbour, Milton, Cambridge: 4
nest-boxes installed
A
house in Chesterton Hall Crescent, Cambridge: 3 boxes installed
John Clamp and neighbour, Newnham, Cambridge: 8 boxes,
1 box occupied on John's house
Lackford
Lakes, Suffolk Wildlife Trust: 12 boxes, built by local
volunteers
St
Andrew's Oakington: after the end of the season, we added another
12 boxes to the 8 there already.
Packenham,
Suffolk, Sandy Jackson's property: 3 boxes installed
We advised on the installation of 7 boxes in St
Catherine's, Litlington and 4 boxes in St Leonard's, Southoe.
We were honoured to be asked to design some Swift
cabinets for St
Rémy Church, Molenbeek, Brussels.
A number of these projects were implemented late in the
the season, ready for 2013.
Presentations and
workshops
We gave presentations to the Cambridge Natural
History Society and to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. This was followed
up by a tour of potential nest-boxing sites in Suffolk.
We ran a workshop for the eco group at Shirley Primary
School where 12 children painted Swift nest-boxes before installation
on the school. The children also completed a Swift quiz.
At Fulbourn Primary School, John Willis made
arrangements for us to give a Swift presentation to the whole school
assembly, the children made Swift mobiles and nest concaves out of
Modroc.
Innovations
Sound equipment
In our last report we mentioned the development of the
"Box
of Swifts” attraction call player. In 2012, we sent out 30
of these. Although a small number had intermittent faults,
feedback was positive; people found them easy to install and to
operate. On the whole, they performed well, with many people
reporting Swift activity around their boxes, but occupancy rates were
disappointing, with only 3 places with new occupants. This
contrasts with previous years when we have had a higher success rate.
We believe this is explained by the weather.
The Box of Swifts has a component cost higher than we
would like, and it took about 2 hours of skilled soldering to
assemble. This we decided we would not repeat for 2013, so we have a
new plan with a lower component cost, no soldering and with a more
powerful amplifier. After beta tests are complete, we will describe
it on this blog - watch this space!
Nestboxes
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| Boxes for different sloping eaves |
For nest-box design, we have found that a format
similar to a Zeist-box, but with a vertical front has suited many
situations where the boxes fit nicely under eaves that slope one way
or another, and where a standard production model, with a horizontal
top, would fit less well. Examples include Milton Road Primary
School, Shirley Primary, Ace Foundation, Chippenham, Wessex Place and
Lackford Lakes (see links above).
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| Air brick liner Swift brick |
We are particularly pleased with the air brick
liner Swift brick which was invoked for an emergency
situation in St Neots, and they were also deployed in Cherry
Hinton. We are in the process of making a short production run
of 20 units. They are low cost and easy to make with the right
equipment.
Rehabilitation
Judith reports that a difficult season had produced more casualties.
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| 3 successes. Photo Judith Wakelam |
In
addition, 4 adult Swifts were rested and released by their finders
after contacting Judith for advice.
2013
In 2013 it is our intention to focus on consolidating
the projects we already have underway rather than make a push for new
projects. We would like to increase the percentage of nest-boxes
occupied, which currently stands at about 1 in 4. Ensuring consistent
attraction call playing from May to July should achieve this. This
will be made easier with the further deployment of easy to install
and easy to operate sound equipment.
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