Swifts 'displaced' after demolition - campaigners

Swifts 'displaced' after demolition - campaignersJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GooglePaul Sawtell,in DorkingandTanya Gupta,South EastPiotr SzczypaSwifts were seen entering a gap in the brickworkCampaigners have said nesting swifts may have been displaced after part of a building was demolished in Dorking, after building work scheduled for autumn started during migration season.Swift groups said a section of wall containing crevices used by the birds was removed at the site in Station Approach in May.Photographer Amy Brewer said she saw birds attempting to return to nests which swifts use year after year, while Dorking Swift Conservation said an established colony could be lost.Clarion Housing Group said ecological checks were carried out before demolition began and further checks undertaken throughout the works. Mole Valley District Council has issued a temporary stop notice.Piotr SzczypaThree swifts were photographed flying near windowsBrewer, who has been documenting swifts, said she had previously seen birds entering gaps in the structure and believed several nests were present."I went back the day after and got footage of them flying around, trying to get in, but the wall had gone," she said."It was heartbreaking. You could tell they were trying to find where their nests were."She said there was usually one pair to each nest and there were probably multiple nests at the site.Piotr SzczypaSwift were seen flying around the brick building Julia Hemsley, a founder of Dorking Swifts Conservation, said the site had been used as a nesting colony for many years."They committed a wildlife crime. They were fully aware of nests there," she said.She said swifts had been arriving in the UK looking for their nests and she had seen more than 30 swifts flying above the building site.Hemsley warned it was not uncommon for the birds not to breed again after losing their nests."Swifts go back to nests year after year, they are ve...