“Retired salesman John Stimpson just turned 80. … He has just completed his goal of building 30,000 swift boxes, which could house half of the UK’s breeding population of 60,000 pairs.”
That simple statement capsulizes the amazing work of a remarkable man who spent 13 years building bird boxes. He’s still doing it.
Simpson lives in Wilburton, a town in southeast England (details here).
Swift populations are declining in the U.K., in part because of habitat loss. The swifts, which seasonally migrate from Africa, are having trouble finding their nesting spots. “The problem,” Mother Jones says, “is that lots of old barns and draughty houses have been upgraded and patched up and nesting sites have disappeared.” These leaves distressed birds screeching and flapping their wings, as if lost at sea.
Simpson stepped in because no one else was making swift boxes. He complains that governments and big wildlife organizations “have too much bureaucracy, and don’t end up doing much to stop wildlife loss,” Mother Jones says. So he rolled up his sleeves and went to work in his garage.
Read story here.
Photo: John Simpson with some of his swift nesting boxes
