This month has been a very exciting month because it has included the possible beginnings of one of our dreams coming true.

Last year we put up a swift box in which House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) successfully reared many broods. We still felt this was a good result as Sparrows are a seriously declining species too. This year they were on their second brood when a pair of Common Swift (Apus apus) suddenly arrived and started to show interest. Luckily the Sparrows were ready to fledge and, as soon as they left, the Swifts moved in. Mrs Sparrow, with Mr Sparrow close behind, did try her best to reason with them to leave, but the Swifts held fort and won the battle outright.

Since then, the Swifts have regularly been circling our house and sleeping each night in our box. Swifts are some of nature’s most agile and efficient flyers and it is an absolute joy to watch their amazing acrobatic display, like a team of Red Arrows zooming around at incredible speed between the houses. Rob put up two more boxes which they instantly entered and explored. (Swift boxes need to be installed as near possible to a north-facing wall to avoid chicks overheating and dying.) They then brought over more Swifts to see the new nest boxes. It is too late for them to breed this year but it is very likely that they will return from Africa next year to rear their young in our boxes, fingers crossed.

I am now in contact with a local Milton Keynes Swift initiative, which aims to increase awareness of Swifts and House Martins in the MK area and help rebuild local populations. (You can follow their excellent Facebook page called “Milton Keynes Swifts & Martins”.) Paul Dubery, who delivered a brilliant and inspiring talk at the Milton Keynes Natural History Society back in 2024 with Emma Rix about the Wolverton Swift project, informed me that our birds are the first recorded Swifts in our area. In the last 20 years, Swifts have declined by 50%, through a combination of loss of nest sites and declining insect populations. It would be great if we can erect many more boxes on houses around the area to help out these awesome birds.

Another of our incredible wildlife residents made an appearance this month too – the beautiful and fascinating Pantaloon bees (Dasypoda hirtipes) who are busy digging their burrows on the south-facing sandy bank in our village. These extraordinary bees dig a burrow 60 to 90 cm deep. From these they excavate many more chambers in which they place an egg perched on a dough ball made from pollen and nectar. The eggs then hatch and develop from a larva to a bee before emerging in the following spring.

Pantaloon bee and nest (Photo © Julie Cuthbert)

Pantaloon bees require nectar from the yellow daisy-like flowers (Asteraceae family) ie. Ragwort, Common Fleabane, Dandelions, Hawksbeard and Cat’s Ear, so please let these flowers be a welcome part of your garden to help support our declining pollinators.

We are so lucky to be on the Greensand Ridge as, due to the sands that was washed here millions of years ago by a sudden rising sea, we are now host to many species of digger bees and wasps which are usually more often associated with coastal areas, making them very rare in Bucks.

Please check out my nature inspired artwork and more wildlife stories and photos on my website: https://juliecuthbertartist.wordpress.com

 Julie Cuthbert

July 2026