There is nothing better than sitting out in the garden at the end of a day, glass in hand and hearing swifts screaming overhead. It is a delight - one that I savour in my little, scruffy patch of Cambridgeshire during the precious summer months. Alas, like so many migrants, swifts are in trouble.
They have declined by a third in recent years, leading to them being placed on the amber list and meaning they are of serious conservation concern. The causes of the decline are still unclear, but loss of nest sites due to building improvement or demolition is a major problem.
We're keen to get a better idea of where they are seen and nesting. This is why a we launched the swift survey. The public response to the call for records has been overwhelming. We've now made almost 25,000 records of swifts around the UK available on the web, via the National Biodiversity Network. It uses the information to encourage developers, local councils and building companies to retain or create nest sites.
Swifts are not the only migrants in trouble. Wood warblers (down by 61%), turtle doves (by 70%) and cuckoos (by 44%) are all struggling. The RSPB is trying to get to grips with the causes of the declines (habitat deterioration on breeding and wintering grounds, mismatches in the timings of seasonal events due to climate change etc) but we remain largely in the dark.
We're not going to give up trying to get the bottom of the problem. We'll continue to do what we can in the UK and work with BirdLife Partners in Africa. Because that is what we do. Day after day, working with others to try to look after the millions of other species on which we share this planet. So that my kids and their kids can continue to be enthralled by wildlife around them.