Harrogate firefighters have put eight swift nesting boxes on their drill tower to help save the endangered species.

The swift population has fallen dramatically in recent years due to declining numbers of insects, climate change and the loss of old buildings used for nesting.

The Knaresborough Swift Group estimated last month only a dozen remained in the town and appealed for help finding new nesting sites to save the birds from disappearing.

Its plea, reported in the Stray Ferret, sparked numerous offers of help from Knaresborough as well as nearby towns and villages.

Harrogate firefighter Alex van Zeller, who is passionate about protecting swifts, was among those who responded.

His intervention led to eight boxes supplied by the swift group going up at the drill tower at Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road. The station’s aerial ladder platform was deployed to put up the boxes.

The drill tower’s height and space surrounding it makes it a perfect nesting site for swifts.

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Two hundred water voles released in Nidderdale are thriving in their new habitat, surveys have discovered.

Yorkshire Water released two groups of the endangered animals in 2020 and 2021 at Timble Ings Wood in the Washburn Valley.  

Recent surveys suggest they are settling in well to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with signs of the animals up to 1km away from the original release site.  

Surveys of the area have found burrows, droppings, and signs of feeding, such as piles of nibbled grass. There have also been regular checks for the water vole’s main predator, the American mink, which has not been spotted.  

Philip Tennyson, recreation coordinator at Yorkshire Water said:  

“While this is a successful project, water voles are particularly sensitive to disturbance, and the good work we’ve done so far can easily be lost.  

“We would urge visitors to Timble Ings Woods to stay on the paths and keep dogs on a lead away from the ponds and watercourses to protect the fragile water vole population.” 

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• 100 water voles released in Washburn Valley this week
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Water voles are classed as an endangered species, and have been identified as one of Britain’s fastest declining mammals.  

They have been named as a priority species for protection in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and conservation efforts like the one in Nidderdale are crucial in preventing their extinction.  

The project is part of Yorkshire Water’s Water Works for Wildlife initiative, which aims to enhance biodiversity in 15 local wildlife sites.  

It is six years since animal lovers Jacqui and Peter Morrell set up the HAPPY hedgehog rescue centre in Ripon.

Since 2014, they have saved the lives of  hundreds of the endanger creatures through Hedgehog Appreciation Prickly Pals Yorkshire – an acronym that Jacqui thought up on a day out in Scarborough.

From that trip to the coast, the couple could hardly have expected the demand that there would be for their services, which have seen them involved in the rescue of up to 1,000 hedgehogs.

Jacqui told the Stray Ferret:

“We get calls day and night from people in many parts of the country who have found an injured or poorly hedgehog. If they are calling from somewhere that is a long way from Ripon, we refer them to the hedgehog rescue centre that is closest to them.”

HAPPY is part of a nationwide network of hedgehog rescue and preservation organisations and Jacqui and Peter can also refer callers to centres in Italy and Cyprus if required.

In good hands – a hoglet that is being looked after by HAPPY

The need for these organisations has increased year on year. In July The International Union for the Conservation of Nature put hedgehogs on its Red List for British Mammals classified as being ‘vulnerable to extinction’.

It is ironic that the announcement should come in a summer when rescue centres across the UK have had fears for their own survival, as fundraising and awareness events, including Hedgehog Awareness Week in May, were cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis.

Jacqui, pointed out:

“We feel we are the forgotten victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the fact that the need for our services has increased.”

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HAPPY, which is registered with the British Hedgehog Society, has achieved a 75% success rate in the rehabilitation and return to the wild of creatures that are among the country’s best-loved animals.

Jacqui and Peter, who have become skilled in the care and treatment of the animals in the HAPPY Hogspital Unit and the hedgehog hotel they have created in their garden, are thankful for the support received from Bondgate Pet Supplies, Bishopton Vets practice and the Ripon community.

With fundraising activities such as talks to community groups currently suspended, the need for help in cash and kind continues and anybody who would like to help them in their work can find out more on the HAPPY Facebook page.