April 2026
27th April
Justin Taylor has generously shared a link to his wonderful film about Swifts and the work of Swift rescuers!
Please watch the short film and share it with your friends and family - so that more and more people care about Swifts!
Lewes Swift Supporters are mentioned in this article in th Sussex Wildlife Trust magazine - thank you!
26th April
11.55 a.m. Russo James enjoyed watching three Swifts flying past the rear of Taith in the High Street
5.30 p.m. Piers Hart saw three Swifts flying above Leicester Road.
7.40 p.m. At the beginning of their survey, Audrey and Nick Jarvis saw two Swifts flying above Valence Road. Later, in answer to a Swift call, they heard a Swift respond from one of the regularly used nest entrances in Western Road.
One of the Swifts above Valence Road tonight
25th April
Several sightings from Swift Watchers today!
- 2.30 p.m. - Emily Cranmer saw two Swifts above Leicester Road.
- 4.00 p.m. - Clive and Helen Fleming, visiting Lewes and members of Hertford Swift group, saw four Swifts flying above Lewes Castle.
- 4.30 p.m. - Sue Swindley saw five Swifts over St. Swithun's Terrace.
- 4.45 p.m. - Joe Tubb spotted one Swift over King Henry's Road - where our nest camera is.
- 5.00 p.m. - Peter Baker let us know that he saw four or five Swifts feeding above Abinger Place - where he recorded five nests last year!
This evening, Audrey and Nick Jarvis saw three Swifts, or the same one three times! One flew over the top of Western Road, another flew above De Montfort Road near the Black Horse, and one was seen from St. Anne's Church, flying down Western Road and over the toilets towards De Montfort Road.
24th April
We had our first recorded nest entry today - Mark reported that one flew under the eaves at the top of St. Swithun's Lane at just after 8.00 p.m.
This is the colony where and amazing 13 nests were recorded in 2025!
At about the same time, two Swifts were seen circling above the top of Abergavenny Road by Nick Jarvis. and also by Kevin Murphy. and three were seen by Clare Hoddinott over Southover!
Earlier, at 5.30 p.m. Debs Kemp saw three Swifts screaming over the terrace at the back of the High Street.
Nest entrances recorded in St. Swithin's Lane in 2025
22nd April
More sightings in Lewes!
At 6.45 p.m. Mike Ellicock spotted one lone Swift over Baxter's Field. Later, at 8.00 p.m., Nick Jarvis saw two Swifts feeding and wheeling between De Montfort Road, and St. Anne's Church, Western Road, for about 30 minutes.
The Trektellen map showed 11.962 Swifts passing over France - some of them very close to us!
21st April
Douglas Dodds was at the Cockshut wetlands at noon today and guess what he saw? Two Swifts feeding over the water in among about 30 House Martins!
Later on 20th April
7.30 p.m. Nick Jarvis just saw his first Swift above Lewes! It was above Baxter's Field and heading towards Malling Down.
20th April
An exciting message this morning from Patrick Austin, Environmental Performance Advisor for South-East Water:
"I thought you might be interested to know that during our WEBS count at Barcombe Reservoir this morning we noted at least 15 Swifts foraging high over the water. They appeared about halfway through the count and were accompanied by several Sand Martins."
That is very close to Lewes!
Library picture of Barcombe Reservoir
19th April
Some Swifts have been recorded just across the English Channel from us in Lewes!
18th April
The first Swift was spotted in Sussex yesterday - above Pulborough Brooks Nature Reserve. We have switched our Swift callers on just in case!
Trektellen recorded well over a thousand Swifts passing over France yesterday and today - with some as them as near to us as Normandy!
12th April
Excitement is starting to build because in past years we have seen Swifts in Lewes by the end of April - if not before!
On 7th April, Swifts were reported flying above Dorset, Cornwall, Walthamstow wetlands and Rainwall Marshes.
This screenshot from the Trektellen website, which monitors various birds passing over migration sites, showed that some of the Swifts are passing over France and getting ever closer to us!
March 2026
On 14th March we set up our stall at the "Making a Buzz" event in the LInklater Pavilion at the Railway Land Nature Reserve.
It was the perfect event for synchronising with our Swift-friendly Town! After a presentation from Issy Sexton of Buzz Club, visitors had a chance to make Hoverfly lagoons and bug bunkers to take home.
This was a Mosaic Project event - and Lewes Swift Supporters are proud of being a part of it!
Our stall Issy from Buzz Club A bug bunker!
February 2026
On 13th February, we met up with Dave Boddington, (Swift Champion for Sussex Ornithological Society), once again to install seven more Swift nest boxes around Lewes. It was a good day to choose because, in contrast to the weather forecast, it was dry, warm and not windy. That makes 211 Swift boxes that we have installed so far!
Four of the boxes that we installed are near existing colony of Swifts, so we paid for these and installed them free of charge - thanks to a grant from Chalk Cliff Trust.
New Swift boxes in Prince Edward's Road, Gundreda Road, and Fitzjohn's Road
More Swift boxes in Abinger Place, Southover High Street, and Christie Road
The last box - in Station Street
On 4th February, we installed a new double Peak Swift nest box on our house!
We also painted the one that was installed in 2021, to give it further protection from the weather. This gave us the chance to look inside and see where the Swifts had successfully bred last year. They appeared to have crushed the build-up of four years worth of Sparrow nests to make a base about as firm as concrete!
The new double nest box
Inside the nest box that was used by Swifts last year
January 2026
Lewes Swift Supporters had a very good year in 2025. Don't forget to look at our Annual Report for the full details of an excellent year!
We are looking forward to seeing Swifts in Lewes in the spring - they usually arrive at the end of April. Meanwhile, you might want to look at this video animation from Hannah Bourne-Taylor to remind us about these wonderful birds.
A Swift Story: