AFTER a long wait since their installation last summer, the sound-enhanced swift boxes in a Wells Cathedral tower have been switched on in an effort to help re-establish the birds’ nesting sites across the UK.
Sixteen purpose-built nest boxes, discreetly tucked into the shutters of the North West Tower belfry, have officially been activated with sound-enhanced technology.
At the heart of this event was Tim Norriss, founder of the conservation charity Hampshire Swifts, who made the climb up the tower to switch on small speakers that will now play recorded swift calls three times daily, from May to July. These calls are designed to attract swifts returning from Africa in search of nesting sites.
Joining Tim was local environmental consultant Simon Nash, who helped lead the original installation of the nest boxes last year. After the switch-on, the pair gave a talk to Cathedral volunteers, sharing insights into swift behaviour, the urgency of conservation, and how Wells Cathedral’s initiative fits into the wider national effort to reverse swift population decline.
The new boxes are timed with the birds’ arrival in early May. If successful, the project could mirror the success seen at Winchester Cathedral, where a similar approach has grown from a single nesting pair to over a dozen in just a few years.
Simon Nash praised the Cathedral’s leadership in the project, saying: “Wells Cathedral has stepped up as a model for other communities. With swifts now on the Red List of highest conservation concern, every nesting site counts. This is a small act with the potential for huge ecological impact.”
The speakers will run daily until the end of July, after which they will be turned off to allow the birds to settle in peace.
The Cathedral and conservation partners hope that, with time, these new boxes will host generations of swifts to come.
Residents and visitors alike are encouraged to look up – and listen – over the coming weeks. With luck and a little patience, the sky above Wells Cathedral may soon echo once more with the screeching calls and swift aerial displays of one of Somerset’s most iconic birds.