Back in May I blogged about the return of swifts to my town. Back then, summer was just starting out: England were beating the West Indies at Lord’s, a barbeque summer was forecast and the swifts were screaming above my head whenever I ventured outside. Now the scythe-shaped birds have left my part of rural Bedfordshire, the barbecue summer has been downgraded and, as for the cricket, well there’s one last chance.
Now, I’m lucky enough to be able to see nesting swifts from my bedroom window. Which is great! At least three pairs nested in my street, which is pretty good going really. By now those chicks have grown up, flown the crevice in the eaves they call a nest and will be flying over southern England, or even the Channel, as they seek out the warmer climes of Africa. I envy them, I really do!
It seems that swifts are leaving from most areas too, judging by comments on the forums. I took a trip over to our Lakenheath Fen reserve at the weekend, and the swifts were notable by their absence. It won’t be too long before they’ve left us altogether, there must be a few stragglers hanging on. Is there any left where you are? We've been asking you to look out for them this year with our swift survey, there's still time to send in your sightings!
It seems wrong to think that our summer has finished, the birds, swifts in particular, may have had enough of Britain for another year, but for those of us who stick around there is still plenty of winged beauties to look for.
One of the reasons for my trip to Lakenheath was to look for dragon, damsel and butterflies. I wasn’t disappointed! They were buzzing, fluttering and generally looking funky for my amusement. This wetland reserve just squeezed into Suffolk is perfect for them, if you get a chance go and take a look for yourself. Or if a trip to East Anglia is out of the question, find a wetland closer to home and see what you can find. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
So, that’s that until May for the swifts, shame, I’ll miss them, their stay is always too short. But as the saying goes, it’s not over until the fat lady sings, yes she’s warming up, but there’s still plenty of great summer wildlife out there. But not for long, so make the most of the rest of this summer and its wildlife in next few weeks.
Why not tell us about anything that’s made you go wow, what’s that? that’s cool…you get the drift, leave a comment after this blog…
For more on our science, check out the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science web pages.