Looking for something to enjoy over the Christmas break? 🎄 Catch-up with all things British Birds through your device. Enjoy a great read and discover fascinating insights into our birds — perfect for a quiet moment between festive celebrations.

2025 has been a great year for #Swifts in #Lewes - 25 more Swift boxes installed, Swifts recorded entering 107 different nests, Swift parade to welcome back the Swifts, 10 Swift-friendly Town events, 4 Swift walks, and 7 expert speakers to share actions for nature recovery!

Fantastic attendance of 1,500 people at #Lewes STEM Festival today! Here are just a few of the pendants to celebrate wildlife in #trees, chosen from those made by over a 100 young artists who came to our stall. Congratulations to the STEM team on a very well-organised event!

What a beautiful day we had to plant the last batch of 57 #trees around Convent Field, #Lewes, this morning - four Crataegus x prunifolia Splendens, (Cockspurthorn), six Malus Evereste, (Crab Apple), and one Quercus ilex, (Holm Oak). Great work everyone!

A day in the rain - to plant Black Poplars at Laughton Greenwood, near #Lewes, in the morning and a Rowan #tree near Laughton Church in the afternoon.

Thank you to everyone who came along to #Lewes #Climate Hub today to share festive nibbles and mulled apple juice, listen to beautiful singing from Starfish and Angels with Attitude, and to share their hopes and dreams for next year. See you when we open up again on 14th January.

Large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover put on a good display in yesterday's sunshine at Rye Harbour In this photo #goldenplover are higher than the #lapwing @sussexwildlife.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social

Love this 💚🌳 a new woodland www.theguardian.com/environment/...

@grahamknight10.bsky.social Please would you contact Lewes Swift Supporters by email to [email protected] because we cannot access your chat message.

Fantastic attendance of 1,500 people at the #Lewes STEM Festival today! Over 100 joined us to make bug hotels, colour a #Swift fact sheet or make a Swift pendant. Some children sought us out to find out about Swifts because they love them so much - what more could you ask for?

A photograph of a Swift in Oslo won Asmund Kellen the award of nature photographer of the year: naturephotographeroftheyear.com/previous-edi...

RSPB has announced the bird of the year - Swifts! www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/...

We hoped that the fine weather over the summer would help towards a recovery in insect numbers, and we seemed to see more while monitoring the #Swifts in #Lewes. However, according to Buglife, their survey suggests a 19% decrease year by year. buglife.org.uk/news/

A beautiful afternoon for some wetland management with a great team. Super effort 👌 💪 🙂 Sections of reeds cut and bullrush managed to allow space for the winter rains and encourage the diversity of marginal wetland plants. 🌾💦🌱 Egrets, buzzards, herons, woodpecker and kestrel kept us company ♥️ 🐦

Sharing from Hannah Bourne-Taylor: Next week Peers will vote for or against Swift bricks. To help Swifts, please email 📨 [email protected] 📨[email protected] who are both crucial to the decision. Ask them to SAVE OUR SWIFTS, putting SWIFT BRICKS in the subject line.

Leeds Swifts - and Swifts - are featured in episode 2 of Hamza's Wild Isles, BBC 1 iPlayer www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Thanks to Peter King, Director of @OuseAdurRT, for a fascinating presentation about the development of the Cockshut wetlands at our AGM this evening. Thanks to our Mayor, Cllr Emily Clarke, for attending to affirm the support of #Lewes Town Council for our #Swift-friendly Town!

Stand up to racism. Public meeting this Saturday 11 October from 1.30pm Cliffe Hall

Lovely calm workshop at the Railway Land in #Lewes this evening - making a #Swift mosaic tile. The finished tiles will be used to refurbish the wellhead outside the Linklater Pavilion.

#Swifts "apex predator of insects - they're right at the top of a biodiversity pyramid...if you have Swifts screaming around in their summer flight you know things aren't too bad... when they start to vanish, you know you're in trouble." (Edward Mayer, inspiration for #Lewes)

Anyone that cares about swifts please read this and weep. Really let down by this @teamlabouruk.bsky.social Government. Still no mandate for swift brick inclusion. 😞 @lewesswifts.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social @chrisgpackham.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social

Some of #Lewes #Swift Supporters met up yesterday for a litter pick and collected four big bags of rubbish. To join in next time we're meeting outside the Canon O'Donnell building, at the junction of Western Road and Spital Road, at 10.30 on Sunday 26th October

Peter King, (Director of the @OuseAdurRT), is joining #Lewes #Swift Supporters AGM in October to talk about the wonderful, multi award-winning Cockshut Regeneration Project! For free membership and an invitation, just contact us at [email protected] Membership is free!

Osprey above Tide Mills, Newhaven on Saturday #birds @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @lewesswifts.bsky.social

Several House Martins flying past in the past few days and lots of them feeding over the fields between #Lewes and Ringmer yesterday - but on Saturday Nick saw three Swallows and A #SWIFT flying over the Castle Bowling Green! Safe journey to all of them and see you next year.

Our article about #Swifts is in the #Lewes Climate Hub newsletter! lewesclimatehub.org/a-great-season…

#Swifts, other wildlife, and us depend upon insects for survival. You could help Buglife, Butterfly Conservation and Bumblebee Conservation to create the Big Insect Rescue Plan: butterfly-conservation.org/big-insect-r...

At least SOME countries recognize the value of NATURE and all its offerings.

A Swallow feeding its young before heading off on its long journey south. Before they migrate back to their wintering grounds in Africa, they can be seen gathering to roost in wetlands, particularly reedbeds. Photo by Glyn Rubidge, posted on the Nature Table

I am very upset to report that a colony of House Martins have had their nests blocked by scaffolding in Standon,Hertfordshire today. The building containing the Post Office has 8 to 10 nests under the eaves, some of which contain chicks that will die if the birds cannot reach them. #hertsbirds 1/2

Some of the 12 #trees we have been looking after in Gundreda Road, #Lewes, after planting them in November 2021 - Celtis australis, (Nettle Tree), Crataegus x prunifolia, (Cockspurthorn)m Acer campestre "Louisa Red Shine", (Field Maple), and Ostrya carpinifolia, (Hop Hornbeam).

Thank you to everyone who came to our stall at the #Lewes Societies Fair today! We enjoyed talking with you and sharing your interest in #Swifts!

Lewes Swift Supporters will be at the Societies Fair again on Saturday, 30th August, 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. Come along to #Lewes Town Hall and find out about the #Swifts of Lewes and how you may help them, and how we may help with installing Swift nest boxes and artificial House Martin cups.

For the first day since 26th April, we have seen no #Swifts in #Lewes! We think the first chick left our nest box yesterday and the second one left early this morning. We have enjoyed having them at our house so much and we hope they come back safely next year!

Mainly just one #Swift peering out of the entrance of the box at our house in #Lewes today. A parent Swift entered at 8.15, flew out at 18.15, flew out again at 19.49, and entered at 20.23. They have been with us for 71 days now - a special time!

Lewes #Swift Supporters will be at the Societies Fair at #Lewes Town Hall on Saturday 30th August, 10.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. Come along and chat with us about Swifts, our Swift-friendly Town, and installing Swift boxes!

"Our" chicks have spent most of the day at the entrance to the box wondering where their next meal is coming from or whether or not to take the plunge and head off into the future. We also saw a lone #Swift flying high over #Lewes and feeding well. Could it be one of our parents?

Lots of views of one or two of the #Swifts sitting at the entrance of our #Lewes nest box today, between 10.30 and 19.50. Watched two of them peering out for several minutes at 13.35 before a parent Swift flew in. At 20.27, another parent Swift flew into the nest.

Most of our #Lewes #Swifts could be in Africa by now! Well, apart from the ones still in our nest box.....

Four compartment Swift box installed today at Seahaven academy in Newhaven. Box from Impeckable. Thanks to everyone who helped make it possible. @lewesswifts.bsky.social @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @saveourswifts.bsky.social

Managed to catch a quick blurry picture of the two #Swifts in our nest box today at 7.00 p.m., after they had been in and out all day. None to see in Western Road, #Lewes, again for the second night in a row.

Out with the lovely Swift gang last night. Didn't see any. Farewell my screaming summer flying ace friends. Look forward to welcoming you again next year #ScreamingSwiftsofSummer @lewesswifts.bsky.social

One #Swift entered our box at 7.55 a.m. and we saw it sitting at the entrance again when we set out at 7.55 p.m. No Swifts to be seen at Western Road, #Lewes, but we saw two Pipistrelle bats later on!

Thought we had said goodbye to the last remaining #Swifts in #Lewes, but one flew into our box at 10.35 and out again at 10.30, and it sat at the entrance between 12.07 and 12.20. At Western Road, one flew out of nest 1 at 8.48, and another at 8.54 p.m., both well after dark!

We didn't see any #Swifts today either at our nest box or at the last remaining active nest site in Western Road, #Lewes. Safe journey to Africa to all our special visitors!

End of season meet up in Western Road, #Lewes, to celebrate Swifts and watch only one return to the nest - possibly for the last time? We only saw one #Swift flying in and out of our box today too, and it was sitting at the entrance looking around several times.

One #Swift entered our nest box in Valence Road, #Lewes this afternoon and was peeking out as we set out on our survey. We watched with the Western Road supporters as two Swifts flew in and out of nest 1 between 8.34 and 8.45 p.m. With Ivy the dog, celebrating her 11th birthday.

An increase in Wood Sandpipers, with 5 juveniles at Rye Harbour yesterday and at least 6 at Pett Level this morning. Mostly at distance, but this one came just close enough... Lovely birds with echoing, fluty calls. @sussexornitholo.bsky.social @sussexwildlife.bsky.social

We require a knowledgeable birdwatcher to lead the team that produces the highly respected annual Sussex Bird Report, described by @birdguides.bsky.social as ‘a gold standard of county bird reports’. Please share with your networks. Full brief in link here; tinyurl.com/y9nz7acd

Some #Swifts still here in #Lewes! Two Swifts above Leicester Road Stores at 11.00 a.m., two Swifts over the junction of Western Road and Spital Road at 12.00 noon, and both Swifts entered nest 1 at 98 Western Road between 8.28 and 8.35 p.m. Both took two attempts to enter.