How to help the nature on our doorsteps… Resources

Resources for everyone to find out ways in which we can all support the wildlife on our doorsteps and in our gardens. I am not officially linked to any of these organisations but their websites are informative and they are experts in their fields.

These resources cover the following wildlife:

Garden birds, swifts+house martins, hedgehogs, bees and insects, bee-friendly plants, pond life including frogs and toads and farmland birds.

CHERWELL SWIFTS (cherwell-swifts.org)

Swift Nest Box | RSPB Swift Box – RSPB Shop

Attracting House Martins to Nest | Birds & Wildlife – The RSPB

PLEASE SEE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR A LOT MORE DETAIL ON SWIFTS SPECIFICALLY…

https://beekind.bumblebeeconservation.org

No Mow May (plantlife.org.uk)

*Plants labelled ‘bee-friendly’ are only safe if they have been cultivated without the use of toxic chemicals to bees called neonics.* Expert on this subject, Dave Goulson, explains more in this article, advising on buying plants you know have not been cultivated with chemicals (unless you know the source, the labels are not enough, and how seeds are safest):

Are ‘bee-friendly’ plants poisoning our bees? | Friends of the Earth

Chipping Norton in West Oxfordshire has a safe source of bee-friendly plants:

Applegarth Nurseries | Garden Centre | Chipping Norton | Near Banbury | Oxfordshire

For more information about planting wildflowers in your garden:

The Wildflower Garden (love-wildflowers.org.uk)

West Oxfordshire local charity Farmland Bird Aid Network is always looking for or volunteers which is extremely rewarding. Donations are also vital to keep this small charity going. Please contact me or find more information on

Farmland Bird Aid Network | Feeding Farmland Birds

Farmland Bird Appeal | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Helping Bird Species | Advice For Farmers – The RSPB

If we want to bring back farmland birds, restore a farmland pond, new research shows | WWT

Nurture the nature in your garden. Call for garden-owners to help save Britain’s wildlife | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Bird Friendly Gardens | Create a Bird Garden – The RSPB

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (britishhedgehogs.org.uk)

guide-to-helping-hedgehogs.pdf (britishhedgehogs.org.uk)

Feeding Hedgehogs (britishhedgehogs.org.uk)

Hedgehog Friendly Town | Hedgehog Rescue | Hedgehog Rehabilitation | Helping Wild Hedgehogs | Injured Hedgehogs | Hedgehog 2020 Calendar

Find Oxford based hedgehog expert and author (of A Prickly Affair: My Life with Hedgehogs and other books) Hugh Warwick on twitter @hedgehoghugh – he’s a hive of hedgehog information and is passionate about how we can support them.

Contact – Hugh Warwick

Petition · Help save Britain’s hedgehogs with ‘hedgehog highways’! · Change.org

Hedgehog highway scheme – West Oxfordshire District Council (westoxon.gov.uk)

JAW2014-for-printing-HLF1.pdf (froglife.org)

Author of How to Create a Wildlife Pond, Kate Bradbury’s, 3 minute video on how to create a pond

Creating a Wildlife Pond For A Garden – BBC Gardeners World Magazine

For more information on how to help toads and frogs by becoming a volunteer ‘toad patroller’ in a village or town near you: 

How to become a Toad Patroller (froglife.org)

Find your nearest toad crossing (froglife.org)

SWIFTS

If you would like to help swifts then FANTASTIC!

Here is a resource page with basic information about how to accommodate swifts, and links to official websites. Also there is a note about swift surveys at the bottom. If you find any of this information confusing then please contact me directly and I will do all I can to help – please don’t let the details put you off because swifts really need our help and it’s actually pretty simple, it just seems like a lot of info.

Where to put the nest sites:

They like high nest holes under the eaves or at the top of a vertical wall but they don’t like to be near windows. Because of their elite design they do not land or perch and need height and a clear air space in front of their nesting site. No power lines or trees should be directly in front of their flight path in and out of the nest hole.

The sites should not be in direct sunlight so south facing is not good as the nests can overheat and cause death.

They do not cause mess (no poo etc – in fact the parent birds will often remove the poo by flying away with it and disposing it far from the nest site) and they do not come down to the garden to feed since they never intentionally land on the ground. So they require 0% from us once the site is up.

Naturally, they already nest and breed in nooks and crannies in older UK houses but new housing developments or houses that have been fitted with soffits, don’t have those holes.

Enter: SWIFT NEST BOXES or SWIFT BRICKS or a bespoke brick taken from existing wall.

Here is information on all three swift accommodation options:

Swift nest box:

Create a high home for swifts | The RSPB

Fitting Swift Nest Places (swift-conservation.org)

Swift brick:  you can buy different swift bricks – here are some websites that show how they work and what they look like – and you can order them from the websites. Swift bricks look like normal housing bricks with a small hole in them – and are positioned so they are flush to the wall. These are particularly perfect for new housing developments. If you are a developer or building your own house and want to know more, please contact me.

If all homeowners looked out for their cavity nesting birds, we wouldn’t need the government to change its policies. If you want to help directly, you can install swift bricks in your home yourself. There is a step by step guide of bespoke bricks on the RESOURCES page however if you want to buy a swift brick go to: Action for Swifts’ website: www.actionforswifts.com where you will find a contact and order form. You can also enquire and order through the following email:  becky@actionforswifts.com 

Search (nhbs.com)

Swift Bricks – Cheap & Easy! (swift-conservation.org)

S Brick (actionforswifts.com)

New homes for swifts – the Manthorpe swift brick (rspb.org.uk)

Bespoke brick: this is what I have. In many ways, it is the best option. It works better on older walls where there are cavities behind existing stones.

Bepoke swift brick – step by step guide of how to create a nest site in a stone wall that has no cavity

(You will need tools and know-how or otherwise commission a builder – it doesn’t take very long: 1-2 hours)

Step 1:

Look for a stone just under the eaves that is around 300mm in length. Remove the stone.

Step 2:

Remove any loose material and make good with mortar to create the nest cavity.

Step 3:

Use a disc cutter to slice 50-60mm off the stone face.

Use a 28mm Diamond hole saw drill bit to make an entrance 28mmx65mm.

Step 4:

Scrape out a nest cup in the opposite back corner of the entrance. Add a little dried grass and feathers.

Step 5:

Replace stone slip and make good with mortar.

Once the mortar has dried, it will look like this

How to attract swifts to your swift accommodation:

Patience is required. Playing recorded swift calls for the prospecting swifts can really help because it alerts prospecting swifts to have a look. Swift accommodation is most likely to attract swift residents if there are other swifts nesting nearby and often whole cul-de-sacs and communities are lucky enough to have colonies of swifts so if you live nearby, this is the perfect situation to be in.

Adult swifts return to the exact nesting site they bred in during previous seasons. Some of these birds unfortunately get booted out by younger swifts, or are blocked out by house repairs or house demolishment. Also, younger swifts, looking to start breeding (they tend to do this in their 2^nd or 3^rd year) need to find their own nesting sites so there are lots of reasons why creating a home for swifts will be seriously useful. You can find swift calls by google search or by checking this link out:

Shopping! (swift-conservation.org)

Best time of year to put up swift accommodation:

Since swifts are not in the UK for most of the year, it is ideal to arrange their accommodation when they are away between late August and March (they normally arrive at the beginning of May and leave in early August). But if you’re kind enough to want to do it, do it anytime – the swifts will be grateful.

There are normally three waves of swifts returning to the UK: first weeks of May, first weeks of June and mid July so it’s worth playing the calls during these times (or throughout the whole swift season if you’re able to without causing issues with neighbours).

Attracting swifts can take time – they often don’t find the sites in the first few seasons of doing it but it’s very much worth the effort because if you do get a nesting pair, it really makes a difference: every swift counts at this point because they are on the red list of conservation. Each nesting site means that two adults can breed and produce up to 3 young per year so every one nest box/brick helps 5 swifts. If you have room for more than one GO FOR IT. Some people have their own colonies (20 boxes!) which is so exciting and rewarding.

Swift surveys:

Another way to help swifts is by taking part in swift surveys that are organised by local conservation groups. If you google swift conservation and your area, you are likely to find something but again, if you are super keen but a bit stuck then contact me directly and I will try to help connect you with your local swift-project.

Why should we make an effort to help swifts?

Other than swifts being the most remarkable creatures, they are in need of help (as are the 70 British birds on the red list. House martins and swallows, starlings and House sparrows are also on that list, and we can help them too.) Nesting and habitat support is really useful for these birds as they all have adapted to sharing our walls. There is a lot of information online to help support homeowners through this process. Every bird counts! Campaigning against companies who put netting up on their buildings/shops is a great way to actively protect these birds. Unfortunately this is an on-going battle with big supermarkets and high-street brands but if enough people get behind something, they can have a huge impact, and creating awareness is part of that impact.