Hello, I've been a fairly regular visitor to the reserve over the past year but am still a novice when it comes to bird identification. I have a question which I have been meaning to ask for some months now but to be honest i've felt a bit of a twit for asking it!
I came to the reserve in February this year and saw what I thought were two swifts flying over the car park. They were making a fair bit of noise which is how I noticed them. They flew out over the river. I was so excited to see them, but given the time of year I thought I must have been wrong with my identification, but having seen the summer swifts I'm now sure of what I saw. Am I right though or am i mad? Were you aware of them? I remember numbers were reported in the Big Garden Birdwatch and that some swifts do stay in the UK for winter.
Thank you! :)
Hi Skyelark
Don't feel a twit about asking a question as it's how we learn, and this is a very good question anyway lol.
Swifts usually arrive in the UK around late April or early May, and then leaves in August, but like you said some birds can be seen in Winter too. I imagine the swifts you saw were catching flies over the river. Hope this helps
WP
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books. - John Lubbock
Hi Woodpigeon, thank you so much for your prompt reply. I feel very lucky and privileged knowing I had an early glimpse of these amazing birds. I did think about asking about this sighting afterwards during subequent visits, but thought I would I would be laughed off of the reserve! Having said that, everyone there is lovely and very welcoming so I'm sure they would have been far too polite to do that!
Thank you again.