BIRD boxes have been installed as part of a nature initiative to encourage a “charismatic species” of bird in Machynlleth.

Swift nest boxes are being installed around Machynlleth as part of the Swift Nest box Project, which will see 50 boxes put up around the town by the time the swifts return in spring.

The project was first by conceived by the Dyfi Biodiversity Machynlleth Climate Action Group in 2019, but was delayed due to Covid-19.

Ben Porter has been at the forefront of the project: “Going into town in the spring and seeing swifts in a town, flying around, they are one of the coolest birds.

“They are such a charismatic species, they spend most of their life on wing, touching down, and then heading back to Africa for winter.

“I am a general natural enthusiast so it doesn’t take much for a species to interest me. It’s easy to make more space for swifts by putting up boxes.

“There’s been a huge decline in swifts in the last 10 to 20 years, Machynlleth is a great place for swifts because of the high buildings and we already have a population.”

Ben said the project was thought up after Machynlleth Town Council declared a climate emergency in 2018: “The council set up working groups around the town, one of them was the biodiversity group, discussing how we can make Machynlleth more biodiverse and what we can do locally to help this, which I was a part of.

“We put a post up on local platform, the Dyfi Natur Facebook page, asking if people were interested in having a swift box on their home. There was a positive response.

“Interest picked up against last summer, in 2021. We brought together a group of people who would be interested in this project.

Andy Rowland, manager at Ecodyfi - another group involved in the Swift Nestbox Project - said the organisation is managing the banking and volunteers for the project as well as requests for the nest boxes.

Andy said they have received donations form the community but also £2,200 from Garthgwynion Charities: “The original idea was to install them all within the town of Machynlleth. But there’s so much enthusiasm, it’s spreading to outlying villages.

“The ones that have been installed before are within 5 or 6 miles from the town, but we have had requests from further out. But it’s about whether or not we can install out there, because the volunteer has to travel there, or if it’s a tall building we would need cherry picker.”

So far, thanks to donations and carpenter’s donating their time for free, the project have built an initial 20 boxes, five of which have been installed already. The group hope to have 50 installed by the time swifts arrive in the town in spring, as well as another 50 later in the year.”

Ben said they hope to influence planning to ensure nature is prioritised “side by side” with development: “We’d like to look at working with planning and development, incorporating new bricks in new builds. Inherent in the design would be a certain number of cavities available for swifts, or bats, to nest in.”