Bedwas pupils make ‘swift’ work of nest boxes

It was hammer and drill at the ready recently at Bedwas Junior School as pupils joined forces with Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Countryside Service to make impressive bird boxes for their local birds. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The sessions, carried out in support of National Bird Box Week, saw the pupils produce eight bird boxes that would encourage birds such as blue tits, coal tits, starlings and robins to nest in. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

In addition, pupils also made two very special boxes which would appeal to a foreign visitor, the swift. Swifts fly all the way from Africa every summer to bring up their young in Britain, and over recent years the Swift population has been reducing in numbers. Local birdwatchers noticed that Bedwas Junior School was one of the few places in the area where Swifts were nesting, so pupils decided to help them along with the creation of these special boxes. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The council’s Countryside Service would love to hear from anyone who may also know areas in Caerphilly county borough where Swifts are nesting – the team can be contacted at countryside@caerphilly.gov.uk
For more information on Swifts and guides on how to build nest boxes, please visit www.swift-conservation.org ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​