Another triangular cabinet in Elsworth

In 2015 we installed a 3-box triangle on my daughter's sunny gable end (here). It is now occupied by 2 pairs of Swifts so we wondered how to expand the number of boxes

There were 2 choices, either to add a 3rd row of 3 boxes at the bottom of the triangle, or to make a new cabinet on another northeast-facing gable. This gable is wooden-cladded and has an apex nearly 5 metres high.

As there should be no over-heating to deal with, the front is a single sheet of 12mm plywood and is painted dark to match the gable.

This is the 4th triangle of this general concept that we have installed, the other 3 all have Swifts in them.

The slope of the roof is less steep than the other 3, so the headroom of the boxes is slightly less at 14cm, and the length of the boxes is slightly greater. The depth of the boxes is 15cm.

Front removed ready for installation

6 screws through the back secure the cabinet to the boards

The lowest 3 boxes are just over 4 metres high

[Update June 2018: One pair has occupied the bottom right chamber, the one nearest the tweeter]

#triangle

A new Swift box in GRP

GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) is a waterproof material normally used for making boats, car bodies and other products which need to combine strength with light weight. So, Len Haworth decided to apply his boat building skills to produce a range of rather nice looking, very long-lasting Swift boxes.

In his own words:

"Since 2003 I have been using my boat building skills in GRP for the good of the birds. My company www.impeckable.co.uk does not make a profit, any surplus either goes on development for more species or to buy the expensive materials which go into each box. But then I thoroughly enjoy what I do. Before I start the development of any nest box, which is a long and expensive business, I have to get the basic design spot on because later alterations are not possible with GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic). I have consulted with ornithologists such as Chris de Feu, who I greatly value as an advisor and where it comes to Swifts, Edward Mayer of swift-conservation.org and I have had a long exchange of emails to get the basics correct. "

Certainly the first Swift boxes off the production line look the business. One can see the nautical heritage in the porthole-style entrances. All the fittings are stainless - as Len "does not do rust". For south-facing aspects, exposed to the sun, Len is producing a canopy to deflect the sun.

Each nesting chamber has dimensions; 300mm long; 200mm wide; 200mm high

The oval nest concaves are a novel idea, it will be interesting to see what Swifts make of them.

Boxes are available in 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8-chamber versions.

For further information and prices, download this leaflet 
Also visit www.impeckable.co.uk

Swift boxes on a thatched cottage gable

There are no new ideas here, but it demonstrates that, with a little thought, Swift boxes can fit in well with the appearance of a pretty village cottage.

[UPDATE August 2016 - one pair seems to be established in the bottom right box]

Great Wilbraham is an attractive village just 2 miles from Fulbourn, the home of one of the largest and most successful Swift nest boxing projects in the UK. Great Wilbraham itself also has a healthy population of Swifts.

The design, with 5 nest chambers, is another version of these designs (Elsworth, Reach)

Pictures:

#triangle

Swift boxes at the BTO

When the Chris Mead library was conceived at BTO's headquarters, there had been a discussion about installing Swift boxes in recognition of everything that Chris had done in campaigning for Swifts. Chris was a pioneer, way ahead of his time, in recognising the problems that Swifts face and doing something about it.

In 2012, a conversation with Andy Clements, BTO director, reinvigorated the idea of installing Swift boxes at the Nunnery in Thetford. The most suitable buildings are Grade 2 listed, resulting in a protracted process, taking 4 years to get permission, and not inconsiderable expense. However, the persistence of David Agombar finally succeeded, so we, Action for Swifts, designed, built and installed 6 boxes on the east-facing chapel, together with an attraction call system and timer switch.

The requirements were for the boxes to be unobtrusive, to be painted a colour that matched the stonework and to not be attached to the stonework. It was also required that access doors be provided for BTO scientists to monitor the boxes for nest recording purposes.

The chapel has open eaves with protruding roof joists, providing a convenient space for boxes between adjacent pairs of joists. Two prototype boxes were built of which one, in discussion with the architect,  John Atkins of Thetford, was chosen as the template for the boxes.

The width and depth of these spaces varied widely so 6 custom made boxes were made, all with different dimensions. The paint used was Sandtex Mid Stone - a colour intended to match stonework.

The boxes are attached to the building by removing the bottom of the box, inserting 2 screws each side into the joists, then replacing the bottom.

Should Swifts occupy these boxes, then we have permission for 10 boxes, so a further 4 boxes may be added in the future.

The AfS team comprised Bruce Martin, Bill Murrells and Dick Newell

The following pictures should be self explanatory

6 boxes before installation

6 boxes installed

3 boxes at the north end, with tweeter on the left box

Close up of 1 box

Bill Murrells, Bruce Martin and David Agombar

#openeaves

First deployment of Model 30 Swift boxes

Since 2008 John Stimpson has made and sold nearly 7000 over 40,000 Zeist Swift boxes. The Zeist design is suitable for positioning under broad eaves. In exposed positions, with its flat roof, it would allow predators to perch and, made of plywood, will not last if exposed to sun and rain. Thus, we have provided him with a design suitable for a wider range of situations. John is now also supplying boxes made to this design.

The new model is called the 'Model 30' - as all angles in it are 30°. It has borrowed an idea from Maurice Wilkinson, who made his DIY Swift boxes out of PVC, commonly used for fascia boards. With its double thickness PVC/plywood roof (21mm of material in total), with a slippery white reflective surface,  the Model 30 should make life difficult for predators and it reflects sunlight.

The design is available as a flatpack, so it makes an ideal gift. All it requires is a cross head screw driver to insert the 14 screws needed to hold it together.

We are now making our first deployments of these boxes in more exposed positions.

John Stimpson contact details: 
Email: j.stimpson1@btopenworld.com

Phone: 01353 740451

Flatpack assembly instructions (PDF)
Design Drawings for DIY (PDF)

The first 4 Model 30 boxes installed on an exposed gable end in Fulbourn, Cambs
[Update: one of these boxes was first occupied in 2017]
[Update 2018: 3 of these boxes are occupied]

Model 30 as a flatpack

2 boxes assembled

UPDATE 2016:

An attractive arrangement of Model 30's installed in 2016.

#temperature

Maidenhead, Marlow and Cookham Swift Group

Another heartening example of a local initiative to provide more accommodation for Swifts.

by Jan Stannard

This month has seen the start of our area’s Swift box initiative, with the first boxes made locally by volunteers, along with attraction call systems, bought as components and assembled. So far we have agreement for about 40 sites to install boxes.

These are mostly families with suitable houses in areas where we know there are existing Swift breeding sites. These are clustered in streets within the three towns so that they should form ‘loose colonies’. We have already surveyed every single location to make sure it is suitable for swifts in terms of flight path, predator access, aspect and overall height.

On residents’ houses we are installing external boxes because people regard internal boxes as too difficult and too costly to put into their houses. The design is based on Mark Glanville’s twin design, and are sold at cost price (£25 for a twin box). 

Mark Glanville's twin compartment box

WoodStone® Swift Nest Box

In some locations, for example where a cherry picker will be used, we have recommended Woodcrete swift boxes from CJ Wildlife for extra durability.

The property owners have readily agreed to have a sound system, which we are providing ready to use at a cost of £26 (cost price). This comprises a mini amplifier, a tweeter, an SD card with swift calls, a power supply and a suitable length of audio cable (see here).

In addition to domestic properties, we have persuaded the clergy and wardens of two local churches to put in 4-6 boxes in their towers. 

Lastly, we have two new large colony installations: Swift House by McCarthy & Stone (28 internal boxes) and Premier Inn Maidenhead (20 internal boxes).

In total, there will at least 120 swift nesting places if all goes to plan.

The Maidenhead, Marlow and Cookham Swift Group was founded in July 2015 and now has 80 members.

Our website [www.helpourswifts.org.uk], 
Facebook page: here.

Installing 2 double boxes

Swift boxes in the sun - by Clarke Brunt

The normal advice for Swift nest boxes is to avoid south-facing walls. The real issue is to not subject breeding Swifts to a high temperature. South-facing walls are fine with the right kind of nest boxes.

by Dick

When Clarke Brunt moved into his house in Milton Cambs in 2006, he found some strange looking nest boxes on the south wall of his house. He eventually discovered that these were Swift boxes modelled on boxes installed on The Hirsel in Coldstream, Scotland by Major Douglas Hume, the naturalist, in 1950-54, with a modification designed to exclude House Sparrows. Clarke converted them back into something looking more conventional as well as adding a number of other boxes of various designs.

5 of Clarkes boxes. The first box occupied is the one on the left,
before it was painted white. He also has Swifts nesting inside
entrances in the eaves. Photo Clarke Brunt

This year, 2015, Clarke had 6 pairs of Swifts breeding successfully, 2 of which were in holes in his eaves, but 4 of which were in nest boxes exposed to the mid-day sun.

The main characteristic of these boxes is that they are painted white and some are made of wood 15mm thick. The Zeist boxes are made of 12mm plywood. This is sufficient to keep the temperature within acceptable limits on this east of south-facing aspect.

Clarke's house, just left of centre.
The Swift boxes are on the east of south-facing wall

I first became acquainted with Clarke as I used to cycle past his house on the way to Cambridge, and I heard Swift calls being played. It took some time before we eventually connected, and since then I have been intrigued by the progress of his colony.

Clarke's garden is a haven for wildlife with regular hedgehogs, newts in the pond, tame Starlings perching on Clarke's hands for food and a wonderful display of plants and beehives and, of course, a great Swift spectacle through the summer.

Clarke's Swifts have been online for the last 3 years, with 3 chicks being raised in both of his camera boxes this year.

So, as we have said before, south-facing walls are fine, provided the walls of the box are thick enough and they are painted white.

You can read more about Clarke's Swifts on his website.

#temperature
.

Swifts get established in Dry Drayton

This is the story of a Cambridgeshire Village, originally with no known breeding Swifts, but now with a street with a growing Swift population.

by Rowena Baxter  Photos: Clive Cooper

During June 2008 I noticed several swifts investigating the eaves of the houses in Pettitts Close, Dry Drayton.  These houses were built in 1975, all to a fairly similar design, some with the eaves apex at the front and some with the apex at the side.  All eaves have an overhang of about 9 inches. Knowing that the houses were unlikely to have holes in their roofs or soffits suitable for breeding swifts, I contacted Dick Newell.  He suggested I put up a swift box, or even better, two.  So I bought two Zeist boxes from John Stimpson and Clive fixed them to the east wall of our house, under the eaves and around 7 feet above the garage flat roof.  

I also persuaded a neighbour further down the road to have a Zeist box.  He fixed it to a west-facing wall where the flyway was partly blocked by the house next door [See Fig. 6].

Dick advised that to make it easier to attract swifts to our boxes, I should play swift calls while the swifts are here from mid-May to end of July.  So in 2009 I bought a CD of swift calls from Swift Conservation and initially played calls on a CD player from the bedroom window on the south side just around the corner from the swift boxes.  This didn’t seem very satisfactory as it was not near the boxes, so I set up a very basic CD system in the garage playing swift calls, with speakers in a plastic box on a table on the flat roof beneath the boxes.  This involved my climbing in and out of the bedroom window whenever rain was due to shut up the plastic box to avoid the speakers getting wet.  The CD player was not suitable to be used with a timer.  If we were out for any length of time, away or during bad weather no calls were playing

Fig 1. Two Zeist boxes on south wall, painted white

However, the calls and the boxes attracted swifts that summer and they investigated the boxes, looked inside even, but here I made a major mistake.  Alongside the roof are some trees which blocked the route into the boxes from the east and I felt that this was a disadvantage as the route in from the south was free of any trees and completely open. So after some thought we moved the boxes to beneath the eaves on the south side and painted them white to reflect some of the heat from the sun.

Two more Zeist boxes made by John Stimpson were attached to the house next door, towards the back of the east side, over a flat garage roof, with a clear flyway over the back gardens [See Fig 5].

Fig 2. white Zeist boxes and new cabinet box

For two years I played the calls during May, June and July, in good weather, covering the speakers when it rained.  The swifts, attracted by the call playing, showed no interest in the same Zeist boxes on the south face.  

Following the second unsuccessful season in 2010 I consulted Dick again and he suggested that a cabinet box, end on to the south with four compartments, might be more successful.  The new box, made by Bob Tonks, was attached to the east side, entrances facing south, in April 2011.  The call playing system remained the same, speakers on a table under the box.

During the 2011 season there were plenty of swifts attracted to the calls but none seemed to discover the entrance holes in the new box and none found the other Zeist boxes (where there were no calls playing).

2012 started well.  At least 2 swifts were seen entering the cabinet box mid-May with at least 2 birds going to roost on 21-29 May during a spell of very good weather.  Second mistake made here:  I decided to stop playing the calls since the nest site had been found.  No calls were played for a week or so, and the weather turned cool and wet.   On Dick’s advice we started playing again in early June.  The rest of the summer in 2012 was frequently cool and wet, the speakers were rained on more than once and no further progress was made.

In 2013 swifts arrived rather late probably due to poor weather conditions in early May.  I switched the call playing system to a Cheng Sheng player with SD card, on a timer, with car ‘tweeters’ attached to the base of the cabinet box, which is much more convenient and reliable.  During this season, 2 pairs became established in the cabinet box, but no breeding took place.  

Fig 3. New boxes designed for local sloping eaves
All of the eaves had the same 22.5° slope.

In 2014 2 chicks were successfully fledged from each of the 2 occupied spaces in the cabinet box at the end of July, and late in the season it was realised that 2 chicks were also being reared in the single Zeist box down the road.  

It turned out that the swifts were having no trouble in accessing that box and 2 young fledged as late as 23 August. In the light of this success, and given the tolerance, support and enthusiasm of the local residents, Dick designed a box suitable for sloping eaves and John Stimpson made them.

Fig 4. New boxes being installed

2 each of these boxes were installed on 5 houses in April 2015 and 4 more Zeist boxes were added close to the single one which had successful breeding [see Fig 6].  

One resident made his own Zeist-type box. A smaller cabinet box with two entrances (again made by Bob Tonks) was attached to the house next door in a similar position to our larger, successful one. This wall also houses the 2 Zeist boxes installed in 2012 and both of these have also attracted swifts in 2015 albeit without nesting [See Fig 5].

Fig 5. Cabinet box with 2 entrances 

(note 2 Zeist boxes at rear)

In 2015 2 chicks fledged from the original Zeist box used last year, a 2nd Zeist box on the same house [Fig. 6] was occupied and also produced 2 young; and as last year, 2 compartments in our 4 compartment cabinet box produced 2 chicks each. 

In all, 8 chicks were successfully fledged in Pettitts Close this year.

The moral of this long story is that persistence does pay off eventually.  Keep playing the calls!  Swifts have been made very welcome in Pettitts Close (there are now 23 nesting opportunities on 8 houses) providing us with tremendous entertainment during the 3 months that swifts are our guests.

Fig 6. House with 1 box originally and
4 added in 2015 (note cramped access)

Fig 7: Our first 2 chicks in 2014

Another gable in the sun

My daughter and son-in-law decided they would like a Swift box on their Elsworth, Cambs house. The only viable place was at the top of a west-southwest facing gable end.

[Postscript: On July 1st 2015, the "hottest July day ever", the temperature reached 32.8°C in the box - well within safe limits]
[Postscript 2: on July 23rd 2015, A Swift enters the top box. There have been up to 7 'bangers' pulled in by the attraction calls]
[Postscript 3: June 11th 2016, the birds are back in the top box]
[Postscript August 2017, the birds returned in May, laid 5 eggs which were all displaced, but a change of concave to something with vertical edges resulted in the 6th egg producing a chick which fledged]
[Postscript July 2018:  there are pairs with eggs in the top and left boxes]
[Postscript July 2020:  All 3 chambers occupied this year by 3 breeding pairs]

by Dick

The design is a very similar idea to this box, which did not have a potential over-heating problem. This configuration contains just 3 nest chambers. West-southwest is not as bad as south, but the afternoon sun could well be a problem.

4 things should keep the temperature within reasonable limits:

•  The front is 24mm thick - 2 layers of 12mm plywood.
•  The shaped battens cover about half of the front and provide shade from sun directly into the entrances.
•  It is painted white.

•  Air can ventilate into the space between the box sides and the eaves.

A wireless max-min thermometer has been placed in the top box to monitor the maximum temperature each day.

The battens keep the entrances in the shade. The tweeter is attached to the bottom of the box with Velcro.
[Postscript: the swifts pulled the tweeter off, so it has been moved inside one of the boxes]

The detailed construction is illustrated in the pictures below:

#triangle #temperature

Milton Country Park, Cambridge

Milton Country Park is an attractive local amenity, with trees, open spaces, lakes and a visitor centre. The visitor centre provides a suitable opportunity for some Swift boxes on one of its gable ends.

The park has a small staff of wardens and rangers and also a band of volunteers to help with maintenance and upkeep. The idea for Swift boxes came from Clarke Brunt, one of the volunteers who lives in Milton. Clarke has a successful colony of Swifts on his house which you can see online.

2 sets of 3 boxes, each with a double roof

The visitor centre has no eaves, and the gable end is quite exposed. So we made our own eaves by putting a double roof across 2 groups of 3 boxes, designed to fit the angle of the roof (18°). The roofs are covered with roofing felt.

The entrances are at the left (high) end of each box, as fitting cameras, eventually, will be made easier.

The result fits in with the architecture of the visitor centre.

A tweeter was attached to the side of the 2nd box from the left, driven by a Cheng Sheng player-amplifier.

Following future success with this project, there is scope for at least another 9 boxes on this gable end.

The double roof is effective in the mid-day sun

See Milton Country Park website

Gable end Swift cabinet

Gable ends are often a good opportunity for Swift boxes because of their height. This gable end, in Reach, Cambs., faces north-west and is high, so very suitable.

[Update September 2017: 7 of the 9 boxes were occupied this year]

[Postscript July 2015: the pair nesting in the apex of the brickwork returned to use the new apex entrance. Another pair occupied the left box on the 2nd row and House Sparrows occupied 2 boxes on the right of the bottom row]



by Dick

Photo Dafila Scott

As the eaves were quite narrow (~150mm),the only option was a flat fronted box with holes in it. So, in order to make it a little more interesting we added battens above the entrances.

These were fashioned by slicing a '4 by 2' at 45°. The battens had the added advantage of providing some level of shade and defending the entrances from the rain.

The wood stain used is Rosewood.

The cabinet contains 9 nesting places, the top most entrance, in the apex, is in front of an entrance in the brickwork which has previously been used by Swifts.

The box is secured by screws through the side walls into the wooden soffits. The final erection required scaffolding supporting a ladder.

Photo Dafila Scott

The images below show how it was constructed:

#triangle

Eaves nest box design tool

We have built quite a few Swift nest boxes to fit under broad eaves. Some eaves are horizontal and some slope at an angle. The angle and width of the eaves varies. Every time I generate a new drawing, so I decided to see if one could produce a generalised template. This is not for those allergic to spreadsheets or for technical Luddites, but it may have some mileage for those who can overcome these psychological barriers.

Contributed by Dick

The great thing about boxes under eaves is that they are largely sheltered from the weather. So plywood is a suitable material and it is ideally suited to those with a DIY bent. The generic design proposed here looks neat under eaves. The carpentry is not that challenging. It doesn't cover all eaves situations, but it is ideal for broad flat horizontal or gently sloping eaves. (slope less than 30° say).

Ideally one needs a parametric CAD system for these sorts of things, but they are expensive, so, we have encapsulated the design in a spreadsheet which calculates all of the necessary dimensions from a few parameters provided by the user.

You can see the spreadsheet here then download for use in Excel.

Designs resulting from 3 parameter settings

Dimensioned design drawing

A brief history of Swifts at Lyndale Avenue, Bristol

We were sent this story by Mark Glanville, who has persevered with building a successful colony on his house in Bristol. Bristol has been elected Green Capital of Europe 2015 and Mark's colony is an example of what pro-active conservation in the City can achieve.

[Postscript: Mark now has a website bristolswifts.co.uk]

I have lived in Lyndale Avenue since 1989. It is a 1920’s semi-detached property situated on the outskirts of Bristol approximately 3 miles from the city centre and ¾ mile from the River Avon as the crow flies. The local area has a mixture of both private and council houses surrounded by many parks and open spaces including the famous Clifton Downs.

I have been interested in wildlife in general, and birds in particular, all my life. My own house has a large south-facing garden which I have designed to encourage as much wildlife as possible.

I first became aware that Swifts were nesting in my house in May 2005. Whilst I was painting the front bedroom windows one flew over my head and “disappeared” under a raised roof tile. From that day on my love for these remarkable birds has been immense. 

The original nest boxes

Back in those days, information about Swifts on the internet was very basic indeed, and my first nest box designs were rudimentary to say the least. They looked like long brown shoe-boxes, with a large side entrance. I installed them in a row under the soffit above the garage which gave them only a 3 metre drop. Needless to say they were not successful.

The updated nest-box design

By 2006 I had changed my nest box design, the first of many alterations to come.

I also painted them the same colour as the house (magnolia) to try and blend, purely for aesthetic reasons.  I had also acquired a swift CD which I played almost continuously. My original pair returned to their nest under the roof tiles in late April. Throughout the summer, despite playing the CD on a daily basis, I was unable to attract any newcomers into any of my nest boxes, which now numbered 14.

This routine continued for 2007, 2008 and 2009. As soon as the original pair returned each spring I played the CD as loud and often as I could. This did attract small groups of non-breeders from time to time, but for some unknown reason I couldn’t get them to go anywhere near my boxes.

Nest box cabinet

By May 2010 and after the arrival of my original pair, the design of my boxes had changed once again.

There was now a mixture of all shapes and sizes, each with a ribbed landing strip under the entrance hole. 

It was during June that I had a flash of inspiration.  I was watching a new pair prospecting around one of my drain-pipes and completely ignoring my nest boxes (as they normally did). 

Addition of sections of pipe

These newcomers seemed intent on flying up to and trying to squeeze in behind the drain-pipe where it joins the gutter. They seemed drawn to the darkness. Immediately out came the ladder and I fitted small 80mm sections of black pipe adjacent to each entrance hole on every box.

This worked almost immediately and within a couple of days I had 2 new pairs taking up residence. By the time they left in early August they had both built two perfect small nests. 

In 2011 all 3 pairs returned to breed, they were joined by a pair of non-breeders in June. The previous winter I had installed cameras in all of my boxes, so I was able to record their activities in greater detail in my logs than ever before. I had also removed the small sections of drain-pipe on each box and replaced them by painting the landing strip black, directly beneath each entrance hole.

2-box cabinet with pipe section

This is the design which I have found the most successful and I haven’t changed it since.

In 2012 only 3 out of the 4 breeding pairs returned in May, but again they were joined by another non-breeding pair in June.

In 2013 all 4 breeding pairs returned in May and were unexpectedly joined by another breeding pair in early June making 5 breeding pairs in total. These were joined in July by 2 more non-breeding pairs who took up residency and built their own nests, making it my best year to date with 7 pairs in total (5 breeders, 2 non-breeders - 6 pairs in nest boxes & 1 pair under the roof tiles).

Black pipes replaced with black paint

My only bit of advice to anyone starting out would be to have a little patience. Install the best box design you can (doesn’t matter if it’s homemade or retail). Play the swift CD as loud and as often as possible, and if you are lucky they could take up residence almost immediately. However sometimes though (like me) it might take a little longer, but don’t give up – keep on trying!




Here are some videos:
Swifts in one of my nest boxes in June 2011
Swifts prospecting in July 2013

Mark Glanville