On Thursday 19th March, Derbyshire Dales Swift Project's Community Engagement & Communications Officer, Charly Crump, visited Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Ashbourne to give a public talk. The talk was organised in collaboration with one of our very own Swift Champions, Erica, who is a volunteer surveyor for Youlgreave's Swifts.
A total of 30 people attended, including members of Ashbourne's u3a and students from the school community. Charly spoke about how little we know about the Swift colonies in Ashbourne and the importance of collecting robust data about their nest sites when the Swifts return this Summer. There was also the opportunity for people to see and handle Swift boxes from two of our suppliers: Peak Boxes and Action for Swifts.
Following the event, a grand total of 7 people signed up as volunteer Swift surveyors for Ashbourne this Summer - a brilliant outcome from this inaugural talk in Ashbourne. This brings our total number of volunteer surveyors for Ashbourne's Swifts to 9, and we'd love to stretch this to 12 to ensure sustainability and continuity of surveying over the Summer months. If you'd like to sign up to volunteer to survey Swifts for Derbyshire Dales Swift Project this Summer, please complete our sign up form.