Aylsham Swift Group

23/06/2026

WALK AND TALK TO SEE SWIFTS IN AYLSHAM
If you haven’t joined us before, come along on Thursday, 2 July for a talk on swifts followed by a walk to see them in action! 👀Places are limited for street safety reasons. PLEASE BOOK via email to [email protected]. See you there! 😀

23/06/2026

Extreme temperatures can be fatal for swifts overheating in their nests, under roof tiles especially. Please, keep a lookout for young swifts on the ground and follow the steps below to get specialist help asap. Thank you! 🥰

SWIFTS ON THE GROUND NEED URGENT HELP!
Swifts spend most of their lives airborne, except during the breeding season. A swift seen on the ground may be injured, dehydrated or sick, or a chick that has fallen from the nest or jumped in extreme heat before they can fly. Swifts on the ground are vulnerable to predators, traffic and dehydration. Injuries may not be obvious and cat puncture wounds need antibiotic treatment. Ideally, birds need to be checked by a swift rehabber who can give them specialist care and diet.

Here's what to do for swifts, and swallows and house martins too:
🤲 Gently pick up the bird. Place them in a secure box with holes in the top for ventilation and lined with a clean tea towel and kitchen roll. A shoebox is ideal or cover a see-through box. Place in a quiet room away from pets and children.

🦗 DO NOT FEED. Feeding a dehydrated or emaciated swift can be fatal, and swifts need food that closely matches their insect diet.

💧 Offer water if a swift rehabber advises this. Touch the side of the beak with a cotton bud dampened with lukewarm water, avoiding the nostrils. Do not open the swift’s delicate beak and do not leave water in the box.

📹 This YouTube video is helpful, showing the steps above: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EKfvl0jBg8w

☎️ In the first instance, call swift, swallow and house martin rehabber Kerry for advice and specialist care on 07837 523418 (Upton, Norfolk).
Alternatives if Kerry isn't available:
🔹Call rehabber Claire at The Wildlife Lounge on 07773 226963 (Feltwell, Norfolk)
🔹Call Wild Touch on 07765 345441 (Ridlington, Norfolk)
🔹Join the Swift SOS - Coordinating Rescues (Swifts, Swallows and Martins) private group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwiftSoS) posting a photo of the swift, swallow or house martin and your postcode.

🚗If you need transport for your rescued bird or you can't get through to the contacts above, call us on 07857 007743 (Tracy) or 07752 736989 (Pat).
Please, share this information so swifts, swallows and house martins get the care they need. Thank you. 🙏💚

Basic help for a grounded swift

23/06/2026

SWIFT AWARENESS WEEK EVENTS
It’s Swift Awareness Week from 27 June to 5 July! 💚 Aylsham Swift Group is joining swift groups across the UK to raise awareness of these remarkable migratory birds. We look forward to meeting you at the events below. 🙏

SWIFT DISPLAY IN AYLSHAM LIBRARY FROM 27 JUNE TO 4 JULY
Find out about swifts and how to stop their decline in the UK. Choose from a selection of swift-themed library books for adults and children and pick up a beautifully illustrated children's activity sheet designed by Helen Lucy, Leeds Swifts. 🪶

We will be in the library on Saturday, 4 July from 10 am until 2 pm to answer your questions about swifts and how to help with nest boxes/nest bricks, swift-friendly roof repairs and insect-friendly gardening. 🧱 🏠🐝🦟🕷️

Thank you to Aylsham Library for supporting Aylsham Swift Group and Swift Awareness Week. 🥰

WALK AND TALK AROUND AYLSHAM'S SWIFT STREETS
If you haven’t been before, do join us on Thursday, 4 July for a talk about the swift’s aerial lifestyle followed by a walk to see parents dip under tiles and young swifts in screaming parties! 👀

For street safety, places are limited, so PLEASE BOOK by contacting Pat and Tracy at [email protected].

Meet on the green at Buttlands car park (town end), Mill Road at 7.20 pm for a 7.30 pm start (to finish around 9 pm). See you there! 😀

Swift Awareness Week Action for Swifts

19/05/2026

Action for Swifts supply a wide range of nest boxes to help Red-listed swifts, including external nest boxes made from wood/uPVC or polymer and nest boxes integrated within soffits, insulated walls or brickwork. 🧱 AfS are swift conservation experts too and give advice on the most suitable products for your building. You can also help bats 🦇with combined nest boxes - how cool is that! 😎

19/05/2026

CAN YOU MAKE SPACE FOR SWIFTS IN AYLSHAM?
Swifts are returning to Aylsham for summer, nesting under pantiles and eaves, mainly in the older streets. 🥳 But as roofs are repaired, bird/eaves combs installed or fascias and soffits replaced, property owners may unknowingly close off traditional nest sites used by swifts for generations. 🏘️

We are aware of 80 nest sites used by mating pairs each year in these streets: Hungate Street, Penfold Street, Cawston Road, Pound Lane, Red Lion Street, White Hart Street, Oakfield Road, Town Lane, Sir Williams Lane, Millgate, Mill Row, New Road, Bure Way and Cromer Road. There will be nests we have missed, so if you see a swift entering a nest, do let us know! 👀 💚 Swifts often circle rooftops at speed then make a bee line for the gutter, swooping then rising to decelerate before resting momentarily on the gutter and dipping beneath a tile. Swifts are using nest boxes and nest bricks in Aylsham too.

Aylsham’s swifts need your help! 🙏 If you are carrying out renovations or repairs to roofs or eaves on older properties, please contact Aylsham Swift Group to find out how you can preserve existing nest sites – a few feathers may be the only clue. 🪶 While scaffolding is up, you might also consider installing external swift nest boxes or integrated swift bricks to provide much-needed alternative nesting places. 🧱 These can help make up for the loss of crevices in our buildings and could be a crucial lifeline for birds displaced from their nest sites as well as making space for first-time breeders, helping colonies expand.

We can advise on supply and installation of nest boxes and bricks, and how to adapt soffits to make space for swifts without allowing access to your loft. SWIFTS CAUSE NO DAMAGE – they just want to raise their families! 🥰
Thank you for helping swifts. 😃💚

15/05/2026

Are you helping swifts, swallows, house martins or bats with insects or nest sites! Is your garden loved by garden birds, frogs, newts, hedgehogs, butterflies, bees or worms? 💚 You don't need a big space to make a difference. 🥰 Enter the ACE Wildlife Garden Competition with your wildlife-friendly space! 🐝🐜🐞🦋🦗🕷️🐌🦇🐛🦔🪱🦉🌳🪺🌻 Need some ideas? See The Wildlife Trusts guide: https://www.ywt.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-06/Wildlife%20Gardening.pdf

Don't miss this opportunity to share your wildlife gardens with us and be in with a chance to win a prize 🐛 🐞 🐜 🐌 👒 🪏 🦔

12/05/2026

As breeding swifts return in April/May, we wait and hope pairs will return safely. Amazingly, some swifts return within an hour of each other while other swifts like Mart return to find their partner has given up waiting! The breeding window is short and the instinct strong. Go, Mart and Martha, and fingers crossed for Tallin too!🥰 Follow their season with Bolton And Bury Swifts!

10/05/2026

SWIFT CALLS RING OUT IN THE BELFRY!
Swifts are back in town, so you might hear duet calls from the belfry! 🎵🎶Behind the louvres on the north side, thirty penthouse apartments are still vacant. It can take a few years for swifts to find nest boxes in church towers, but playing swifts' calls helps to attract them by imitating a colony in residence. After climbing the tower to switch on the call system, Carey Whiteman (who made the nest boxes) and Martin Aldridge (nest site monitor) enjoyed a bird’s eye view of Aylsham!

⏰Pat has set the timer so calls will be playing from 6.30 am to 9.30 am and 6 pm to 9 pm, and 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm, so let her know via [email protected] if you see swifts flying close to the north side (Cromer Road) of the tower or through the louvres!

09/05/2026

TODAY IS WORLD MIGRATORY BIRD DAY!
Spring is a wondrous time as migratory birds return to their breeding grounds. But many birds don’t survive the long and perilous journey across global flyways.

World Migratory Bird Day highlights the urgent need to protect migratory birds and their habitats. This year, the theme is "Every Bird Counts – Your Observations Matter". Can you help us monitor swifts’ nesting places in Aylsham?

👀Let us know if you see a swift darting beneath a pantile or eaves, or into a nest box – the date and time would be helpful too. House sparrows and starlings use the same nesting places, so send these sightings too as they indicate potential nest sites for swifts! Contact us by private message here or at [email protected]. Thank you! 🙏💚



📷 Swift cruising over Aylsham by local wildlife photographer David Grix 🥰