We know how many of you care about Chapel's swift population, so we are all devastated by the news that nests have been blocked on the Chapel Milton viaducts.
We have issued this press release out and urge all our supporters to join us at 11am on Saturday, 11 April at Chapel Milton viaduct (whatthreewords: moment.reader.horseshoe) to draw attention to this impending disaster.
Swifts returning to Derbyshire within days could face disaster at Chapel Milton, where campaigners say nest access points in a railway viaduct have been filled with mortar.
The birds are due back in British skies imminently after their long migration from Africa. But when they reach Chapel Milton in Derbyshire, some may find their nesting places sealed shut.
Swift Campaigner Deb Pitman said: “Seeing footage of what happens when swifts return to a blocked nest is deeply upsetting. They repeatedly try to access their entry point, sometimes with fatal consequences. It is thought established breeding pairs do not successfully relocate to a new nest site. In effect, when a nest site is lost, they stop breeding.”
Swifts return to the same nest site year after year, and conservationists warn that the loss of nest sites is one of the major reasons for their steep decline. Swift numbers in the UK have fallen dramatically since the 1990s.
Jason Adshead, from the Chapel Biodiversity Group, said: “We spent a great deal of time monitoring the work at the viaduct last year and we have evidence showing where the nest sites are. Its information we shared with Network Rail. We sincerely hope they will arrange for the nest holes to be reopened before the birds return in numbers. Swifts are the sight and sound of summer and we are incredibly lucky to have them here.”
Campaigners are calling for urgent action before the birds return.