As a result of “Bananagate” where containers have been lost over the side of a container ship in the Channel, there will be an impromptu beach clean tomorrow (Weds) to clear up the polystyrene and other debris currently at the high water mark.
If you’re able to help clean up Ferring beach, please meet at 10am at the eastern end of the Bluebird cafe car park, and please wear an old pair of gloves.
This week, the first two Swift nest boxes in Ferring were installed at Greystoke Manor Residential Care Home in Church Lane by one of our local Swift Champions, Paul Stevens. The owner of the home, Mr Bradley, kindly funded these and we are very grateful to him.
We have also got agreement from four other properties in the immediate area to install a further 8 boxes and it is hoped this will happen in January. These include at the St Andrew’s Church Centre.
As many of you will know, Swifts are in serious decline and one of the main reasons is the loss of their nesting sites, so we hope that by providing these boxes, we can build a colony of birds around the Ferring Conservation Area over a period of time. Alongside the boxes, we hope to put in a number of “callers” – small speaker devices that put out the bird’s call and these have proved successful elsewhere in attracting the birds to nest in the first place.
This is only the start of this project, which we hope to develop further in other suitable nearby properties and start a real “Swift Street” here in Ferring.