I am busy building Swift boxes at the moment. We have an RSPB box which we purchased and erected last year. It has been quite an active station for our local birds already. First we had a Great Tit roosting in it through the winter. Once he left in spring, some Blue Tits showed interest and busily cleaned out his droppings. Surprisingly they didn’t stay long but the House Sparrows moved in and nested instead (maybe the House Sparrows kicked the Blue Tits out?). They may not have been our target bird but we were still pleased as they are a very much declining species too. Just before they fledged we saw some Swifts swooping above the fields and woodland high in the sky catching insects by our house. They were hunting amongst a family group of Swallows which have nested locally every season since we have lived here. Much to our excitement the Swifts also circuited our house and flew past our box several times. According to Rob, they were definitely prospecting our nest box for next year!

So now the race is on to provide more boxes for the following season in the hope that another one of our wishes comes true and we have Swifts breeding beneath our eaves. I remember having House Martins nesting on our modern estate house during the early 70s. My family very much enjoyed having the privilege of seeing these birds returning from Africa to our house each year. I don’t remember anyone else on the estate having these amazing mud-built fairy-sized huts glued to their gables but I do remember it breaking my heart to hear neighbours reporting how they had bashed the nests down to destroy and deter their breeding attempts. They were a common sight back then but are now Red-listed and protected by the 1981 Wildlife and Country Act. We will be erecting some House Martin simulated nests we purchased to try to encourage these birds next year too.

Red-necked Phalarope (f) – Phalaropus lobatus – Caldecotte Lake

Rob took me to see a rare wading bird at Caldecotte Lake during May. It was a beautiful little female Red-necked Phalarope that was stopping off on her way to breeding grounds in the Arctic region. The female has the brightest plumage which is unusual for birds and their roles are reversed. The males incubate the eggs and rear the chicks while the females look for another male to breed with before heading off on migration to wintering grounds as far away as the Pacific Ocean off South America where they spend the winter out at sea. 

Julie Cuthbert
June 2025