Back in July we held a community eco day at the Berwick solar farm. It was organised in conjunction with the developers of the commercial solar farm. The star attraction was the UK’s first ever Swift tower to be erected on a solar farm. Swifts are exceptional birds, being the fastest UK bird in level flight, and they never land other than to have their young which they do in the UK. After nesting, they fly all the way to Africa for 9 months and then come all the way back before landing again.
Chris Powles, one of the directors of Susenco, is a Swift enthusiast and he led this project. Swifts are in decline, in part due to the sealing up of old buildings which removes their nesting sites. Hence this Swift tower! We also started putting up bird and bat boxes. We are delighted to announce that Swifts were circling the tower late this summer so we are hopeful they will nest there next year. More opportunities to contribute to the ecological management of the area will be coming up in the form of making bug hotels, choosing wild meadow grass and planting trees. Please be in touch if you are interested in that or if you wish to be involved in the ecological aspects of what we are aiming to do.
