Royal Albert Dock, East London

After a few weeks absence I was back sculling on the Royal Albert Dock this weekend. The fork-tailed birds are back too; the first time I have seen them this year. They swoop low over the water. As they are moving, and I am moving, it is hard to see them clearly. Looking in my birdbook, I would guess they are swifts. Could they be swallows though?
  • Swallows have much longer tails with a very deep fork, and they have white bellies. Swifts are dusky blackish all over (apart from a tiny pale chin patch. The low swooping behaviour is more typical of Swallows, Swifts spend more time flying high :)

    ETA - a Swift:

    A Swallow:

    It's also possible you're seeing House Martins (shiny black with white underside and rump), and Sand Martins (mid-brown with white underside, brown breast-band and no white rump).