Let the bells ring out...for return of the swifts

POPULATIONS HAVE FALLEN BY OVER 60% IN 25 YEARS

- By TELEGRAPH REPORTER

PEOPLE in Derby are being invited to look to the skies for the return of our local swifts, soon to be heading back from their migration to southern Africa.

To welcome them home and celebrate nature in our communities, St Luke’s Church and Derby Cathedral will be ringing their bells on Monday and Tuesday.

The ‘Bells for Birds’ celebration is being organised by Derby Nature Collective - a new group that wants to protect, nourish and regenerate nature in Derby City.

Its aim is to nurture our relationships with the natural world and “grow a thriving city together with nature at its heart’:

Swifts are the shape of a boomerang, with long and pointed wings and can be seen carving arcs across the evening sky.

They often fly around in large groups, calling to each other with loud high-pitched calls.