Daniele Muir, Project Officer of The Carse Swift Conservation Project

Moving Swiftly On

The Club was very pleased to welcome Daniele Muir as our speaker on the subject of swift conservation and she provided us with a fascinating and enlightening talk on the lives these endangered little birds. Daniele graduated with a Degree in Environmental Science from Aberdeen University and 2 years ago took on the role Project Officer for the Carse of Gowrie Swift Conversation Project.

Daniele is an enthusiastic supporter of the swifts and cares about them and their plight. The Swift nesting population in the UK is down over 60% over the last 10 years and they are a species that are now on the 'amber' danger list.  The main reason for this is thought to be our continued pursuit of house reburbishment which eliminates the place this bird likes to nest. However, in areas like the Carse (and Perthshire) with lots of our houses being older and the land hosting lots of old agricultural buildings, they are on the increase here. So the project is to build on this, by encouraging owners and communities to provide nesting boxes, as well as monitoring the birds