Now a Red Listed species, swifts have undergone major decline over the past several decades due to reasons such as habitat loss, loss of suitable nest sites, land-use change and declines in insect abundance. Durham Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteers to help us survey key streets for their nests in buildings so we can protect existing nest sites and help create new colonies in ‘swift streets’.


What is expected from this volunteer?

This volunteering activity is focused on surveying key streets to find and record existing swift nest sites so these can be protected and also used as the basis to create new colonies in ‘swift streets’ -  (“a street where neighbours are willing to put up swift boxes on their properties to encourage swifts to nest”.)
 

• We are primarily looking for volunteers to survey swift nests in the Durham City area
   
• We would like volunteers to complete one swift survey in each month of May, June and July when the weather is warm and dry. Each survey should take approximately 40 minutes. Surveys can be completed any time in the last 3 hours before dusk.
   
• Volunteers will need to be able to make their own way to and from locations that they are surveying.