Yesterday (Friday 8th May) saw the return of the first swift to be sighted over the Mull of Galloway this year. These miraculous aerial acrobats spend almost their entire lives on the wing, rarely ever touching land. Swifts are generally considered the last of the migrant birds to arrive in the UK and the first to leave, spending on average just 3 months here before returning on their 3000 mile transcontinental flight back to Africa.
Swift - Photo credit: Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
Swifts begin to arrive back in the UK from late April, early May onwards and quickly set about building their cup shaped nests, either in accessible buildings or crevices in cliffs and caves out of straw and other vegetation caught on the wing and cemented together with their saliva.
They generally lay 2 to 3 eggs which are incubated by both parents for around 19 days. Chicks can remain in the nest for anything from around 40 days to almost 60, depending on weather and availability of food.
As soon as the chicks fledge they are fully independent and young birds will not breed until they are 4 years old. Due to their specialised design to make them such effective aerial hunters, picking flies and other insects out of the air, if the do get grounded they can find it very difficult to get airborne again. Therefore when the young birds leave the nest it can be 4 years before they land again!
For help with identifying swifts from swallows and martins, here is a handy link:
Other sightings
On the Heathland meadow pipits, linnet, stonechat and wheatear continue to be seen regularly; often displaying and occasionally gathering nesting material, these have been joined in the last few days by whitethroat. Goldfinches are frequently seen around the willow patch, swallow and house martin can be spotted most days whizzing over head and pied wagtails often spend time outside the visitor centre or in the lighthouse garden.
Whitethroat - Photo credit: John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
On the cliffs the shags are continuing to sit on nests, some still on eggs, others, like the family we can view from the screens in the visitor centre, are feeding chicks. Guillemots and razorbills have been gathering in good numbers and look like they may be starting to settle. Herring gull, great black-backed gull and lesser black-backed gull have all been seen on the rocks and many of the herring gulls can be seen sitting on nests, but no confirmation of any egg laying yet. Black guillemots are mostly seen on the water, close in to the cliffs between Lagvag and the Foghorn view points and of course, the gannets are seen regularly gliding low over the water.
Many wildflowers are starting to bloom around the reserve, including, sea campion, thrift, common scurvygrass, tormentil, dog violets, bluebells and spring squill. This in return is attracting various insects including small white, green-veined white and small tortoiseshell butterflies along with red-tailed, white-tailed and buff-tailed bumblebees.
Green-veined white butterfly - Photo credit: Robert Conn
Harbour porpoise and grey seals are commonly seen off the headland, brown hare, roe deer, bank vole and stoat have all been spotted recently around the Mull of Galloway.
May is a fantastic time to come visit the Mull of Galloway, whether it is a swift one, or you spend hours taking in the stunning views and enjoying the wildlife that surrounds us, you're sure to enjoy it!