Burnham church attracts nature's high flyers with new swift boxes

Four swift boxes have been installed at the top of the tower of Burnham’s St Peter’s Church to encourage the endangered species to nest and breed in the village.

The conservation project was a joint effort between the church’s wardens and volunteers, Burnham Community Shed and the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BB&OWT).

In 2021 swifts were placed on the Birds of Conservation Concern’s ‘red list’ with numbers estimated to have dropped almost 60 per cent in the last 25 years. Climate change has affected migration and breeding patterns plus added to the decline of the swifts’ food and loss of habitat.

Swifts do almost everything flying, even eating and taking the odd nap, and only come to nest to breed and feed their young.

They used to prefer cliff tops or trees but now seek out the rooftops of older buildings where they nest from April to May.

Modern buildings have plastic facias and tight fittings, leaving no room for holes for them to fly through so installing the boxes in church towers is crucial.

Community wildlife officer for the BB&OWT, Barbara Polonara, said that Burnham’s 13th century church is a perfect home for swifts.

“Swifts need height so installing boxes on a church’s second storey is ideal. They were swooping low near the church last year so we worked to get the project up and running by the time they migrate back.”

Barbara, a swift, house martin, swallow and hedgehog conservationist, who also runs the Lottery-funded Nextdoor Nature project in Slough, said St Peter’s now has ‘a strong eco-profile for a church’.

“They love their badgers and bats and they want protect the hedgehogs and swifts. They are really receptive and enthusiastic about the project.

“Church warden Pam Rogers is amazing and has been instrumental in putting me in contact with the right people and doing all the administration, including getting permission from the Diocese of Oxford.”

Swifts are ‘nest faithful’ and should return to Burnham year upon year. Getting them to move-in is now the main aim.

“To attract the swifts into the boxes (if they haven’t been nesting there) we’ll need call systems,” said Barbara.

“Call boxes will have an SD card inside where you can record a ‘swift call’ to play over a speaker in the morning and evenings. They’ve proven to be very effective.

“I have a good feeling about the project we will manage to get some interest.”

Pam Rogers said that she is so pleased that the swift boxes are now installed at the church and she has plans for future talks  where she will give updates on the birds and on how the boxes have been used.

“It’s been great working with Barbara at BB&OWT. She’s a real swift enthusiast and we’ve learnt a lot from her.

“This has also been a real community project and we are very excited for the outcome.”