This week, a bank of specially-designed swift nest boxes were installed within the North West Tower of the Cathedral to encourage the establishment of a new swift colony in Wells.

Working with Cathedral staff, local swift experts made and installed wooden, hand-made boxes, carefully designed to fit around the internal architecture of the north tower.

These beautiful and charismatic birds have declined across Somerset and the UK by more than 50% over the past 23 years.

In Wells, there are now 3 recorded swift nesting sites—40 years ago there were at least 25.

The swift is a medium-sized aerial bird, which is a superb flyer. Sleeping, eating, bathing, and even mating on the wing, swifts rarely touch the ground. They are also the fastest birds in level flight, with an impressive top speed of 69mph.

Swifts are summer visitors, breeding across the UK, but are most numerous in the south. Spending their winters in Africa, swifts migrate 3,400 miles twice a year, stopping off to refuel in places like Portugal and France along the way.

After a long flight back from their summer in Africa, swifts have one thing on their minds—to mate. Swifts pair for life, returning to the same site each year for a little nest renovation before laying and incubating their eggs. They like to live in houses and churches, squeezing through tiny gaps to nest inside roofs. But as more old buildings are renovated and gaps in soffits closed up, swift nest sites are fast disappearing. This, in part, has resulted in swifts being added to the Red list in the 2021 UK Conservation Status Report.

Swifts urgently need our help, and by installing swift boxes in the Cathedral we will give them a place to rest and raise a family.

(Update c/o Simon Nash, Environmental Consultant)

Image: The North West Tower of the Cathedral.