Emergency Nest Boxes

You can see the swift nest boxes casting long shadows high up on the scaffold sheeting.

The beautiful Chapelle de Saint Hubert in the grounds of  the Chateau Royal d'Amboise is undergoing a major restoration. Unfortunately neither the architect nor the chateau management took into account that the swifts will be arriving back any day now from their African wintering territories. They will head straight for their old nest places, and find them blocked. This happens a lot, and heritage architects really need educating on this subject. Luckily, our friends at SOS Martinets [link], the Amboise based swift conservation association, noticed and reminded the chateau that they must make provision for the swifts, which are a protected and declining species. They have provided wooden nest boxes which sit precariously on the exterior of the scaffolding. The next generation of young swifts will be long gone before the scaffolding comes down and the nest boxes have to be moved. You can see them up high on the side of the scaffolding in two columns at the top of the sheeting facing the camera as I took the photo. Let's hope the swifts take to them and their breeding cycle is not disrupted.