RJ Hamster
Swifts face death after Network Rail fills nesting holes…
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Swifts face death after Network Rail fills nesting holes with mortar
APR 13READ IN APP
Swifts travel thousands of miles from Africa to Britain every year, returning with remarkable precision to the exact same nesting sites they have used for generations. Not just the same building, but the same tiny gaps in stonework. These spaces are not optional. Without them, swifts do not breed.
At Chapel Milton in Derbyshire, some of those spaces have now been deliberately sealed.
During a £7.5 million refurbishment of historic railway viaducts, at least three known swift nesting holes were filled with mortar. This was done despite local campaigners identifying at least nine nesting sites and submitting 38 pieces of evidence showing exactly where these birds were nesting. That information was shared directly with Network Rail.
And still, the holes were blocked.
Network Rail says its initial ecological checks found no evidence of swifts. It says it later worked around nesting birds. It says it may install nest boxes. None of that changes the reality. Known nesting sites were sealed when they did not need to be. This was not unavoidable. It was a choice.
Swifts do not simply move on when their nest is destroyed. They return to the same entrance year after year, and when that access is gone, many fail to relocate and stop breeding altogether. This is how a species disappears, not in one dramatic moment, but through a series of decisions like this.
Swifts have declined by 66% in the UK since 1995, largely because the spaces they depend on are being removed. Roofs are sealed, buildings are repaired, and the gaps they rely on are quietly erased. What makes this case so infuriating is that it was completely preventable. The evidence was there. The locations were known. The solution was simple. Leave the gaps open.
Instead, those spaces have been filled, and swifts are now returning from Africa to find the entrances they depend on gone.
Deb Pitman and Jason Adshead stand under a blocked swift hole on the railway viaduct at Chapel Milton.
There is still time to fix this, but only if Network Rail acts immediately. The birds are just beginning to arrive, and the blocked nesting holes can be reopened before the breeding season is lost. This is not complicated. It is not expensive. It just requires the decision to put it right.
Network Rail has said it is willing to work with local groups and improve the site for swifts. If that is true, then it should start by undoing the damage that has already been done. Future nest boxes do not replace destroyed nest sites, and they do not help birds returning right now.
This should never have happened. But it can still be put right.
We are calling on Network Rail’s Chief Executive to act immediately and reopen these nesting holes before it is too late. If you want to see that happen, add your name to the petition and demand action now.
