Swifts returning from Africa may find their ancestral nesting holes in railway viaduct brickwork are unvailable

                                     

The viaduct which is an ancestral nest site of Swifts (photo: Bill Boaden, via Wikimedia Commons)

INFRASTRUCTURE company Network Rail is under fire after blocking off  nest holes of Swifts.

According to wildlife watchers a minimum of nine holes  were filled with mortar during a £7.5-million project to renovate the 160-year-old Chapel Milton viaduct in Derbyshire.

Now campaigners such as Hannah Bourne-Taylor and and a pressure group called Protect the Wild have urged the company to remove the mortar in advance of the return of Swifts from Africa in the coming weeks.  

A letter from to Network Rail says: "We are writing to demand immediate action to address the blocking of known swift nesting sites at Chapel Milton viaduct in Derbyshire.

"Despite clear evidence being provided, including detailed identification of at least nine nesting sites, multiple swift nesting holes were filled with mortar during recent refurbishment works. 

"This decision has removed access to sites that have been used by returning swifts for generations.

"Swifts are a Red-listed species in the UK, having declined by 66 per cent since 1995, largely due to the loss of nesting habitat. 

"They are highly site-faithful birds that return to the same nesting entrance year after year. When that access point is blocked, breeding pairs often fail to relocate and may stop breeding altogether."

The letter continues: "This situation was entirely avoidable. The nesting sites were known. The information was shared. The solution was simple.

"There is still time to put this right. 

"Swifts are now returning to the UK, and the blocked nesting holes can and must be reopened immediately to allow access before the breeding season is lost.

"We are calling on Network Rail to:

* Reopen all blocked Swift nesting holes at Chapel Milton

* Ensure no further nesting sites are sealed during maintenance or repair works

* Work transparently with local wildlife groups to identify and protect nesting locations

* Commit to long-term protection of Swift nesting sites across all Network Rail infrastructure."

It is understood Network Rail bosses are considering the letter - plus a petition with as many as 30,000 signatures - but are reluctant to comply.

As a money-saving compromise, they would prefer to install nest boxes that would be less likely to compromise the viaduct's brickwork.

However, Swifts are very specific in their nest requirements, and this option, if adopted, may fail.  

Now all but forgotten, yet Lincolnshire artist born 400 years ago was pioneer of detailed bird depiction

                                  

Barlow's best known bird painting - An Owl Being Mobbed by Other Birds. (Spot the Redstart!)

IT would be a shame for this year's 400th anniversary of the birth of bird artist Francis Barlow to go unnoticed.

Very little is known about Barlow except that he was born somewhere in Lincolnshire before spending most of his working life in London. 

He is best known for designing 110 woodcuts for John Ogilby's 1665 edition of Aesop's Fables.

However, influenced by Dutch artists such as Breughel and Snyders, Barlow also painted landscapes populated by birds of diverse species.

It is possible that some of  his works housed in his studio-shop (called The Golden Eagle)  may have been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

In his book, Birds - Ornithology and the Great Bird Artists, art historian Dr Roger Lederer is less than generous in his assessment.

"Barlow was highly regarded for his technical skill, but it would be a stretch to consider many of his works a close representation of reality,"he writes.

"Some of his birds are misshapen or posed awkwardly, and detail is often lacking.

"Some of of his paintings lack the depth and vivid colours of Dutch works.

"Even composition was not a strong point. Creatures in his works tend to be cluttered together."

This assessment seems unduly harsh. Some of Barlow's depictions are remarkably precise - and, to his credit,  he did not exclude birds  often overlooked by other landscapes - for instance, little known summer migrants such as Redstart and Wheatear. 

It is thought that Barlow died in 1704.

This dramatic painting demonstrates that Barlow was familiar with Wheatears (upper right)

                                                                           

Barlow's The Decoy - said by art historian's to be an allegory on the alleged threat posed to England by Roman Catholicism. Note the Red Kite and Bittern. 

Gentle start on beautiful Cornish coast for 5 TV's new series on the ups and downs of birding

                                       

Firecrest - early star of the series

WITH its first setting being  on the stirring Cornish coast, the three-part 5 TV  series, Sam and Dave Go Birding, was off to a promising start.

As the bird on the county's emblem, it was inevitable that the Chough should feature, but there were also sightings of more familiar species such as Little Egret, Raven, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Wigeon and Kingfisher.

Because their friendship is still in its formative stage, the bind between Samuel West  (an actor) and Adam Edmondson (a comedian) is not yet fully forged, but there was still something touching and  engaging about  their light-hearted chit-chat during the 60 minutes of this first episode.

For viewers who are birders, Sam, as a birder himself for some 20 years, is the more interesting character. He uses Swarovski optics - binoculars and scope - the former carried on a cross-the-shoulders strap to ease strain on his neck. 

Although he never said anything particularly profound, or even new, about the hobby, he clearly knows his stuff.

                                            

Sam West - enthusiastic and determined

What is more, he is, unlike his colleague, prepared to rise at 6am, or earlier, in his quest to see interesting birds when they are likely to be at their most active and conspicuous.

Most importantly, he seems to have a kind and trusting, good-humoured and gentle nature - the sort of person who anyone would welcome as a companion.

Ade is the edgier of the duo and, for those who are not birders, perhaps the more interesting of the pair.

With his sardonic humour, he had the funnier lines, not infrequently at the expense of birders and birding.

This is a fellow who, in common with most people, likes his birds to be close-up and friendly-looking. Every sighting of a Robin delighted him.

He also warmed to the Redshank and the  Heron, but he seemed unmoved by a Firecrest - possibly because he struggled to get a glimpse of it  through his Leica binoculars (presumably bought or loaned to him for the length of the series).

At the start of the programme, Ade lamented - with a degree of shame - that, though he reckoned he could identify a penguin, the rest of the bird kingdom had mostly been a closed book for all his life.

Nor, at least in this first episode, did he seem particularly intent on changing his ways.

When, towards the end of the three-day trip to West Cornwall, Sam sought (unsuccessfully) to twitch a Yellow-browed Warbler - a relatively rare visitor from Siberia - Ade resented the amount of time spent lingering, more in hope than expectation, outside a sewage treatment works when there were far more congenial places in the county waiting to be visited.

                                                        

Ade Edmondson - curious but somewhat cynical

Clearly bored by the pursuit, he went on to describe it as "weird" to be "looking for something that doesn’t want to be seen or may not be there".

Later, there is another reported sighting of the same species, this time in a car park at Land’s End, but the duo’s quest to see it is cut to less than 20 minutes because Ade resents the prospect of outstaying the period of free parking

The series' next episode will see the duo visit the other side of the  country, Norfolk - sometimes described as "the birding capital of England".

The programme screens at 8pm on Tuesday April 21.

National newspaper dedicates three pages to showcasing the pleasures of birdwatching in its weekend edition

It is not often that the delights of birdwatching get a three-page spread in a broadsheet national daily newspaper, but so it was yesterday when The Daily Telegraph really went to town, highlighting the pleasures of the pursuit and some of the bird species to be found in and around great Britain.                                                      

What am I bid for a stuffed pair of Water Rails at their nest? All will become apparent on Wednesday at Yorkshire sale.

Although many birders and others find taxidermy distasteful and disrespectful, there are still plenty of buyers willing to pay good money for well-mounted  birds when they come up for auction. For instance, the pair of Water Rails at their nest (above) is expected to fetch between £180 and £280 when it goes under the hammer at Tennants auction rooms in Leyburn, North Yorkshire on Wednesday April 22. At the same sale, a a pair of Stone Curlews (below) is expected to realise between £150 and £200 while the pre-sale guide prices for a cased Black Tern is between £80 and £120.

                                                                          

Stone Curlews

Black Tern

                                                          

The two mysterious Golden Eagles - both stuffed and mounted - of Ballindalloch Castle in Scotland

                                                             

 

In all its baronial splendour, Ballindalloch Castle, near Inverness, in Scotland, is rightly known as a 'pearl' of the North. Set in a beautiful landscape and superbly maintained gardens, it is a delight to visit. Yet, on one of the staircases, two stuffed and mounted Golden Eagles strike a jarring note. One bird is labelled "the winner" while the other is "the loser", perhaps denoting that the two birds were one engaged in an epic battle. How did they meet their fate? No one quite seems to know. There has been no response from staff at the castle.   

Twenty-minute twitch: former golf course behind Humberston Country Club, North East Lincolnshire

                                            

Humberston Country Club and Bannantyne Health Club and Spa

Date: April 14, 2026

Time: 10.30am- 10.50am

Weather: Sunny

Target species: Firecrest

Star species seen: Reed Bunting

Other species seen included: 

* Great Tit

* Blue Tit

* Chaffinch

* Greenfinch

* Goldfinch

* Chiffchaff

* Robin

* Magpie

* Buzzard

* Carrion Crow

* Woodpigeon

* Canada Goose

* Mallard

* Moorhen

* Grey Squirrel

* Brimstone butterfly

Note: Unfortunately the leafy site has been earmarked for a 234-property housing estate.