Your distressing article about the unnecessary blocking of swift nesting sites in Chapel Milton viaduct triggered deja vu here in Perthshire (Anger as swifts’ nesting holes in Derbyshire rail viaduct ‘blocked up’, 10 April).
In early 2024, Network Rail repointed the Inver viaduct over the River Braan and blocked up the nesting sites of a colony of sand martins. Despite repeated assurances that mitigation would be put in place, and contrary to Network Rail’s own biodiversity strategy, no nesting sites have ever been restored.
This is yet another nibble taken out of our fragile and fragmented natural environment. I hope that the swift campaigners have more success than we did in dealing with Network Rail.
Sue Atkinson
Inver, Perthshire
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