Yesterday afternoon we found out that an Alpine Swift was seen briefly over Lodmoor during the afternoon but quickly disappeared, so we were delighted to see it flying around over Radipole Lake this morning.
Alpine Swifts are rare visitors to the UK, mainly in spring. They usually found in the mountains of Southern Europe all the way to the Himalayas. Because of the southerly wind over the past week, this bird has overshot its migration along with over 20 others which are flying around various other parts of the UK as far north as Scotland! Unlike some other lost migrants, this bird will almost certainly make it back to it breeding grounds in time for the breeding season.
It will be another month or so before our normal Swifts arrive back which makes this bird easy to pick out. It differs from Common Swift in being much larger and having a White belly and chin. They roost on vertical surfaces such as walls and cliffs, so hopefully it will roost in Weymouth overnight and wow even more visitors tomorrow.