This was an article in the current RSPB mag " Nature's Home" that I wasn't very happy with . Here's a condensed version of what they wrote ...... Two holiday-makers noticed a large bird in their apartment courtyard. They recognised it as a Swift in trouble, but ignorant of what to do they tried feeding it and giving it water.... to no avail. On day two they looked up the RSPB website and found that a grounded Swift could not fly without help. The website said to get expert help, which was not possible. However, they read that if the bird was taken to an open space it could be helped to get back into the air. They took the bird with a tea towel over its eyes in case it was frightened. At the harbour the husband lifted it high into the air. It took a while and they were getting a bit despondent , but eventually the bird flew off over the harbour to freedom. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Underneath that letter, there was a response from the "NH Team" whoever they are. Their advice was ... If you find a grounded Swift in the UK, contact a local rescue centre for advice; swiftconservation.org has a list of carers. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, I don't think much of that ! For a start, releasing it over a harbour is asking for trouble ! Secondly, the two-day wait was a bad idea. Obviously. I've "rescued" quite a few Swifts that have landed on the ground. The key thing is, they need to be fairly high up... they can't launch themselves into the air without being fairly high up to start with. Two-storey house size at least. More if possible. Lifting it just above your head is useless. When a Swift is released it needs to quickly gain speed, and it does it by swooping down steeply. So you don't want a body of water to land on, so a harbour is not ideal. So ... go up to the attic window, or onto somebody's high balcony .... that sort of thing. Bob's your Uncle. As it happens, over the road from us they've put up 3 fancy-pants posh-looking Swift boxes, but the Swifts have never used them. Which is good, because they are FAR TOO LOW DOWN. Anyway folks, that's my fourpenny-worth. ( I'm not going to put you off by reminding you that Swifts are notoriously flea- ridden. So I won't mention it. )
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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