Thank you to each and every one of you who contacted us and to those who ultimately were able to have a brick installed. This appeal is now closed but we hope to be able to launch similar initiatives in the future.
Calling all animal lovers in Woodhouse and Hackenthorpe.
Sign up for a FREE Swift brick and help us save Shire Brook Valley Swifts!
Hello – if you live in parts of Hackenthorpe or Woodhouse and would love to help swifts in your area by providing a forever nest for swifts – FOR FREE – read on.
You may be aware that the Council has obtained funding to improve nature and leisure in Shire Brook valley, and the Sheffield Swift Network has been granted a small amount of this funding to install 50 swift bricks into suitable houses in some parts of the valley boundary to help save the local swift colony.
Sheffield Swift Network is a group of volunteers across Sheffield who work to prevent the decline of swifts and improve their chances of recovering across Sheffield.
Why swifts?
Once common, these summer visitors, which have been around since the age of the dinosaurs, were heard all over Shire Brook each year, bringing joy to bird and nature lovers everywhere. Sadly, swifts are now on the Red List of conservation concern and have declined by 66% over the last 30 years.
Living up to 20 years, swifts migrate from mid-Africa each May. They fly up to 14,000 miles a year and return to the exact same nest to breed! These sites are the roofs and eaves of older houses.
But when swifts return, their lifelong nest may have gone. The small pile of feathers under a roof tile may have been cleaned away; the crack in the wall where they flew in each year repaired, the dropped tile they called home, replaced.
If you’ve lived around Shire Brook all your life, you’ll know our skies are getting quieter each year as swift numbers drop.
You might think there is nothing you can do…but there is!
We’re asking people to ‘swap a swift brick’! This means, replace a brick at the top of the wall of your home, with a special hollow brick that is a perfect nest site for a pair of swifts and their swiftlets.
Nature lovers in Hillsborough, Totley and other parts of the city have already had swift bricks installed.
Shire Brook, being a valley, attracts insects, which is great food for swifts, making it a perfect place for these amazing birds.
What is a swift brick?
A swift brick is a nest box designed to replace a brick in a building. It has a sealed chamber for the bird to nest in, and the ‘brick’ part will be matched to your bricks.
Swifts make excellent neighbours. They’re quiet and don’t make any mess. In fact, you probably won’t even know they’re there.
Where are we targeting free swift bricks?
We have chosen two areas that we think are most suitable:
- Hackenthorpe. Specifically, Rainbow: Avenue, Grove, Crescent, Road, Way, Close, Walk. Birley Spa: Walk, Lane. Spring Water Drive. Birley Carr Forge: Rd, Lane, Mount, Close, Terrace. Carter Lodge: Rise, Drive, Avenue. Dykevale: Road, Way, Close, Avenue. Junction Road (or in close proximity to these streets).
- Woodhouse. Specifically, Stacye: Avenue, Rise, Terrace. Tithe Barn: Lane, Avenue & Way. Church View, Revill Lane, Station Road, Vicar Lane John Calvert Road. Greengate Road. Wolverley Road. Penrose Place. Southsea Road (or in close proximity to these streets).
- Houses must be brick fronted – not rendered or pebble dashed.
- Must have a suitable brick to replace at least 4m from the ground which is not directly above a window
- Not have an extension or conservatory below the brick
- Have a clear 5 metre flyway gap so swifts can easily enter the brick at speed
- Not have a large tree (predator post) immediately opposite the brick
If you think your house meets these criteria, please contact us by emailing sheffieldswiftnetwork@gmail.com or phone Chet on 07850 799891 with your name and address, phone number / email address, and who owns the property. (If you are a tenant we will need permission from your landlord to install the brick).
What will happen next?
- We will consider all applications and get back in touch with you in the next few weeks. We may wish to come
and check the suitability of the property and take a photograph of your brick colour so we can match it. - We will need your consent or your landlord’s consent to install a brick.
- Over the summer our fully insured installer Jan (pronounced Yan) will arrange a date to come and install your
brick.
What we will use your information for.
- We will only use your name and contact details to arrange the brick fitting.
- We will use your address to identify where swift bricks have been installed on our swift database which is
shared with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust, and
the Council’s Biological Records Service. This is purely for swift monitoring and research purposes. No
personal details are shared, just the location of the brick. - A list of addresses will be kept (no names or personal details) in case we need evidence of where we have
installed bricks to fulfil our grant conditions with the Council.
If you don’t live in a targeted area for a free brick but would still like to buy a swift brick, get in touch and we can advise by emailing sheffieldswiftnetwork@gmail.com
This project is funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund. The fund was developed by Defra and it’s Arm’s length Bodies. It is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Sheffield Swift Network 