15/04/2026
Our 2026 Hurst Rethink Swift and House Martin nesting project is well underway for Spring 2026 with Phase 3 seeing the installation of 22 House Martin nest cups and a further 12 Swift nest boxes in the village.
This year we decided to focus on supporting the House Martins who have a small stable colony of 12 natural nests along the High Street. We are very lucky to have this colony of birds nesting in the village and they urgently need our help to maintain and boost their nesting numbers.
In 2021, these sociable birds were placed on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern (BOCC) in the UK following a 72% decline in numbers over the last 50 years leading to the risk of extinction.
By putting up artificial nest cups we are giving the returning birds permanent nesting sites and this will encourage them to stay and boost their breeding numbers. It saves the birds a lot of time and energy after their long migration that would be used gathering mud to build their nests with and artificial nests reduce the risk of mud nests collapsing during the breeding season with subsequent loss of broods.
Local ecological expert Paul Stevens, who is the Hirundine Champion for Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) has made bespoke house martin nests carefully designed to fit various different types of eaves ; these nests will provide the best chance of the nests being successfully used by returning House Martins.
Paul spent a busy two days in the village last week fitting the house martin and swift nest boxes. We were lucky to see the arrival of the first house martins on April 9th who immediately started visiting their nests above the row of shops on the High Street.
The 12 swift boxes have been fitted to houses within the successful swift nesting area to provide more nests for the years to come as we expect the colony to continue to expand across Western Road, Cuckfield Road, Weald Close and Wilderness Road. Since the project started in 2023, we have fitted 35 swift boxes. In 2023 one box fledged swift chicks, this increased to 3 boxes in 2024, and 9 boxes fledged in 2025 with a further 5 boxes hosting pairs of young swifts choosing their nest site for 2026. It is now said to be one of the most successful swift nesting projects in the County.
We would like to thank all the householders who have shown so much enthusiasm for the project by agreeing to host nest boxes on their houses and we are very grateful to HPPSC Parish Council and Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) who provided grants to help us fund the nests. A huge thanks to Rebecca Rees for all of her work on this project - and for writing this update!
Hurstpierpoint & Sayers Common Parish Council
