New swift boxes are due to be installed at key locations around Frome, thanks to funding from the town council.
A total of 20 boxes will be installed across the town including at Frome Town Hall, Christ Church and the Memorial Theatre. The boxes will provide homes for the critically endangered birds during their annual summer visit to the UK to raise young.
Flat pack kits to create the boxes were made by members of the Frome Shed and assembled by Frome Wild Bunch.
Cllr Sara Butler said, “Swift numbers have dropped by 60% in recent years and they’re in real danger of extinction. Installing a swift box, if you have the right location, lobbying your local council’s planning team to ask that new homes are built with ‘swift bricks’ installed (it’s the law in Scotland but not here) or even growing pollinator-friendly plants in your garden to provide swifts and other wild birds with food, all helps and hopefully we’ll keep seeing these amazing birds and bring up their numbers again. Thanks to the Frome Shed and the Wild Bunch for making it all happen.”
Frome Wild Bunch’s Jo Morris said, “We chose the Town Hall, Memorial Theatre and Christ Church for our latest boxes because they meet a few important criteria: the boxes can be high enough off the ground (5 metres minimum); there are no obstructions like trees or overhead power lines (swifts can fly into them and injure themselves) and the walls face north or east, so they avoid direct sunlight, wind and rain.
“There’s a really good guide from the RSPB with more information, including other ways you can help if you don’t have a suitable location for a swift box of your own. Residents who may not be able to install their own swift boxes are still encouraged to help by supporting pollinators and maintaining wildlife-friendly gardens. Guidance is also available from the RSPB for those looking to get involved.”
Download the RSPB guide at tinyurl.com/swifts-info-rspb
Pictured: A wild Bunch volunteer assembling swift boxes
