AN AUTHOR who works for Shropshire Wildlife Trust has chosen Oswestry as the start of her first book focusing on swifts.
Sarah Gibson, who is a communications officer at the Trust – based in Shrewsbury – has written about all aspects of a swift's life, with the journey starting from when she moved into Oswestry and first noticed them.
She said that since becoming aware of the bird – which can be seen darting around the skies – she has become fascinated by them, leading to her entry into the world of publishing.
"Swifts live almost entirely in the air," she said.
"They eat, drink, sleep, mate and gather their nesting materials on the wing, fly thousands of miles across the world, navigating their way around storms and depressions, and more.
"Each summer they bring us three months’ joy, scything over the rooftops in screaming groups, stirring wonder and excitement in those that notice them.
"I was slow in my awareness of them, decades passed in ignorance, in what looks to me now a breathtaking lack of curiosity.
"Then I moved into a town and was instantly alert to their wild calls and smitten by a desire to have them in my life, skimming between chimneys, snatching spiders from the air and perhaps even nesting in my roof.
"This is a story of discovery, exploring aspects of the swift’s life, from its earliest beginnings 50 million years ago to recent revelations about migration routes garnered from geolocators.
"Knowledge has been hard won over the centuries – persistent myths have been difficult to dispel and accurate theories hard to evidence."
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Sarah added that the loss of swift nesting sites and action to remedy the problem is a thread running through the whole book.
She said: "Often unintentionally, we are sealing our homes against wildlife of any kind.
"Cracks, gaps and crevices which for thousands of years have offered nesting space in buildings, are being closed off, while new housing rarely offers entry holes for nesting birds.
"Meanwhile, the common swift has undergone a 57 per cent decline in the UK in the last 20 years.
"The stories of people in the UK and across Europe striving to ensure a future for swifts are woven into the narrative."
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