Page 24 - ALG Issue 2 2017

Guess who’s back?
Familiar visitors make a swift return
The nation is on standby to welcome some very special visitors for the summer; once they have made their epic 6,000 mile journey.
As swifts will be travelling to get back to the UK, the RSPB is launching a UK-wide online survey asking people to help nd out where the screaming summer migrants are seen and where they nest.
Swifts are the quintessential sign of summer and many people believe their arrival marks the of cial start of the season. They are charismatic birds and one of the fastest in the world, not touching down for up to three years as they eat, sleep and breed on the wing.
Rebecca Pitman, RSPB Swift Cities Project Of cer, said, “there’s nothing like seeing and hearing swifts soar over rooftops on a summer’s evening and their screams can make it seem like there are a lot of them. But nationally, swifts have declined by an alarming 47% since 1995 and we are really concerned about them”.
“We don’t know the exact cause of their decline - it could be a variety of issues along their migration route, including not enough insects to eat or climate change - but the RSPB believes loss of nest sites in the UK is at least partly responsible”.
When to look
The best time to look is
around dusk on a warm, still
evening, or early morning.
If you can see the
nest, it’s not a
swift! June
and July
are the best
months to look
for screaming
swifts, around dusk
or early morning. These
are likely to be young
birds pairing up for the rst time and looking for potential nest sites.
If you have sent in records before, it’s important to know if birds are still returning to the same areas.
Soon there might not be any more swifts breeding in the UK if we don’t all do something about their plight. We really need people’s help: any information on where they see swifts will help our knowledge and more nest sites can be provided and protected.
Look out for swifts this May as they return to the UK and send your sightings to the RSPB Swift Survey at rspb.org.uk/swiftsurvey
What to look for
Soon there might not be any more swifts breeding in the UK if we don’t all do something about their plight
Please tell us what’s happening
there this year. This helps us know if the birds are returning, if the colony is stable and if the site is still in use.
What else can people do to help swifts?
Leave existing nest sites undisturbed and avoid working on walls or roofs with swifts nesting in them during the breeding season, which is May to August inclusive.
Watch out for screaming groups of swifts ying at roof-height (that means they’re breeding nearby), or where you’ve seen swifts nesting - perhaps entering a roof or hole in a building. You don’t need to report sightings of swifts that are either very high in the sky, feeding over water bodies or away from villages, towns and cities. These birds could have travelled some distance and may not be local breeding birds.
When repairing or restoring a roof, keep swifts in mind: make sure new access holes match the location of the old
ones.
Never disturb swifts at the nest.
Put up swift nest boxes at home and play swift calls to attract
them.
Comment on local planning applications, asking your local
authority to protect and provide swift nest places.
Volunteers – your allotment site needs you!
Allotments have a long history of voluntary endeavour including the National Allotment Society itself, whose roots go back
to the early 20th century. We are still run by a voluntary management board; our regional representatives and mentors are all volunteers, as are all the hardworking chairs, secretaries and treasurers in the regions. Increasing numbers of voluntary allotment associations have taken on devolved management
of their sites in recent years but there are many more that have been quietly getting on with it for decades. An important part of our role is to support these volunteers with information and advice on a range of issues such as incorporation, sources of training, health and safety, and data protection.
The voluntary sector in the UK makes a huge contribution
to the economy and national health and well-being. The latest gures from the Of ce of National Statistics values the ‘output’
of regular formal volunteers at £23.9bn. Pioneering work by the DWP and the Cabinet Of ce puts a gure of £13,500 pa per volunteer on the well-being bene ts of volunteering; this is another good reason to volunteer and serve on your allotment committee or maintenance work party!
As council budgets shrink and allotment service subsidies reduce or are removed altogether, expectations of plot holders
to contribute to service delivery have increased. However, plot holders are rising to the challenge and coming forward to help
to ensure that allotment sites do not fall into the decline of the post WW2 years. At a recent meeting of NAS members that I attended, one delegate commented that, along with the privilege of renting an allotment plot, came a responsibility to promote the bene ts of allotment growing and help to preserve the plots for future generations. The Society believes* that well thought out and well implemented schemes for the devolved management of allotment gardens offer a wide range of bene ts to all stakeholders in allotments, including the wider society.
Volunteering Week from 1-7 June is a time to pat yourselves on the back or say “thank you” to your committee who have worked hard over the last year to manage nances, maintain or develop the site, monitor plot cultivation, recruit and support new plot holders, arrange events and liaise with your landlord.
1-7 June Volunteering Week, for more details go to http:// volunteersweek.org/
Di Appleyard Marketing and Mentor Co-ordinator
*NAS Policy 105: Devolved Management
24