A giant swift soars through Macclesfield Town Centre

A giant swift soars through Macclesfield Town Centre

Rachel Bradshaw

Cheshire Wildlife Trust have created a giant swift within a wildflower meadow in Macclesfield to raise awareness of declining species in the UK.

The Trust are working to bring wildlife back to our towns and cities as part of their 2030 strategy with swifts, pollinators and hedgehogs a main focus in urban areas.

Common swifts will now be well on their way to South Africa covering 6,000 miles to spend the rest of the year there, after returning to the UK in the spring to raise their young. However a lack of insects, lack of nesting sites and climate change are all reasons for such decline in swift population over the last 10 years.

Wildflower meadows which are home to thousands of insects which swifts feed on, have also seen a drastic decline with 99% lost in Cheshire alone.

The swift can be seen in a wildflower meadow that was created by the Trust in 2019 next to Macclesfield Leisure Centre.

Adam Linnet, Wild Communities Officer for Cheshire Wildlife Trust said:
“The idea behind this swift is to show how losing good habitat, especially in urban areas, leads to other species disappearing. Luckily, we haven’t lost this meadow, it was due to be cut as part of its annual maintenance as the flowers had set seed.

However, there is no denying that our urban spaces are lacking in valuable areas for nature and that is leading to less wildlife for future generations to enjoy. We want to change this across the county and to do this we need other people to step up, take action and be counted when it comes to saving their wildlife. If we act as one, we will bring wildlife back, including the wonderful swift squadrons that once soared in our skies.

If anyone is interested in helping swifts in the town, please get in touch with Swifts over Macclesfield via their Facebook page @swiftsovermacclesfield”

On Friday 24th September to Sunday 26th September, the Trust are holding a weekend of action in Macclesfield Town Centre full of activities that will help nature throughout the town that the whole family can enjoy, as well as skills and resource shares so that you can take your own action to fight for natures recovery and create a revolution to save wildlife in your local area!

Find out more about the event on their website: www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk/events 
 

Swift in Macclesfield

Rachel Bradshaw

Swift in Macclesfield

Swift in Macclesfield, Rachel Bradshaw