Grant from the Welsh Ornithological Society

Great news. We submitted a bid to WOS in February and have been awarded £400 towards our project. (plus a £200 grant from the Glamorgan Bird Club). The bid was spread over two years with the first year (this summer) being mainly exploratory i.e. finding out the exact locations where Swifts are nesting. The plan is to then target three or four areas (or more if we can do it) for a bird box scheme. The bulk of the money will go towards the purchase of boxes, wood etc., plus we plan to purchase a "call system" which will advertise the location of the boxes to passing Swifts. The main problem we are likely to have is erecting the boxes. As Swifts nest fairly high up it is often necessary to use scaffolding or cherry pickers to fix them in place and this can be very expensive. Luckily the boxes put up in Bedwas Junior School were erected by Caerphilly Council employees, with guidance from Mike Pointon. If you are planning to put up boxes please consult before doing so as there is a list of dos and donts when placing boxes.