We are planning a survey of Swallow nesting sites in Cookham and we're looking for some extra help.
As with so many species, Swallow numbers are falling due to a variety of factors – loss of nesting sites due to property development and reducing numbers of insects being two major causes. By establishing where they are nesting we hope to be able to come up with plans for creating more sites and provide other encouragement.
So we need help in finding the nest sites and in recording the ‘output’ - the number of broods and the number of young Swallows fledging. And, depending on the level of support, we will consider including House Martins in the survey as well.
A number of local people have already offered to help (and our thanks to them) so we just need a few more to ensure we can cover all of Cookham. We plan to allocate small areas to different people with the request that anyone getting involved will spend a little time this Summer looking out for Swallows, finding any nest sites where possible and then tracking the activity at each nest. We will need to undertake this from late May through to probably late August though we do not expect it to be an arduous task – sadly the number of nests is likely to be low and we’d aim to give you a relatively small area as close as possible to your home. We’ll also provide information about Swallows and how to identify them, and distinguish them from House Martins, for those who are a little uncertain.
If you might be able to help could you please reply to Ann Greenwood on
agwc@wildcookham.onmicrosoft.com who will agree a suitable area for you to cover and explain what information we shall require. She will then receive data from you and put it into a central spreadsheet.
We need to organise this soon so we'd appreciate your prompt reply - in the next day or two - if you are interested in helping.
