Join us on an evening stroll led by our trustee Adrian Podmore to discover where Swifts are nesting in Barnes.
In late April and early May, one of our most iconic birds returns from its wintering grounds in Africa to once again, share our urban environment. Though Swifts only spend three to four months with us, departing by late July and early August, they bring spectacular aerial action as they wheel around the skies, especially in late summer when family parties of birds can be seen screaming through the air in aerial chases. 
These birds do everything on the wing, including eating, sleeping and mating and only land when they’re ready to nest. It is believed that while flying, they can ‘snooze’ by switching off one side of their brains. Living for as long as 20 years, in one day, they can travel 500 miles and eat 20,000 insects, washing them down by catching raindrops in the air or more usually, by flying low over water and skimming a mouthful from the surface. 
 After leaving the nest, the youngsters will keep flying non-stop for three years! 
However, the Swift is in trouble with the population of these amazing birds plummeting by around 60% in the last three decades. Swifts are now on the Red List of conservation concern. This is primarily due to the declining insect population as a result of pollution and pesticides but building renovations have also substantially reduced access to suitable places to nest, particularly under eaves and in roofs.   
The good news is that there are things we can do to help, particularly putting up nest boxes. Birds are communal so a minimum of two to three boxes is usually best while sound equipment playing the calls to attract birds can also be helpful.   
As a first step towards helping our local Swifts, we are asking for your sightings of these birds in Barnes, especially if you think they may be nesting so please include date, time and location and email us at website@barnescommon.org.uk.
The best time to discover where Swifts are nesting is usually an hour before dusk so partly based on any sightings we receive, we will organise two walks at 8.30pm around Barnes for 16th June (contingency 18th) and 30th June (contingency 3rd July) to see if we can find any breeding pairs. 
Depending on how the walks go, we would then look to contact building owners or occupiers to see if they would be interested in putting up some Swift boxes - BCL will initially fund one or two boxes depending on demand for any one building or household but would also look to undertake installation where access is possible. 
So please do send us your sightings over the next few weeks and hopefully we can build up a better picture of the local population in Barnes.  
Please note, dogs will not be admitted at this event except guide dogs. All our events are dog free unless specifically mentioned in the event listing.
Not a member of Barnes Common yet? Why not join us and support all of our activities?
Find more information and join at 
http://barnescommon.org.uk/membership
Tickets:
All proceeds from ticket sales support future learning and conservation activities and we would encourage you, if you can, to pay full price. We do not want cost to be a barrier to our activities, so if for any reason you are unable to pay for the full price tickets, we have a limited number of discounted concession tickets.
Please contact development@barnescommon.org.uk for more details.
Refund policy:
Unfortunately, we are unable to issue refunds on cancellations made within 2 weeks of the event. In some circumstances we may be able to offer a rebooking for a similar event.
Please contact development@barnescommon.org.uk with any questions.
Information Source: Barnes Common | eventbrite

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Time:	Jun 16, 2025 (UTC+1) ENDED
Location:	Vine Road Recreation Ground

Swifts in Barnes Walk | Vine Road Recreation Ground

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