Still waiting for our Swifts to return to Sunderland (22 years running), has anyone got theirs back yet further south :)
Saw my first Swifts on Thursday afternoon - three or four swooping over fields in Acol as I was driving to Birchington in Kent!!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Good news, Wendy!
Just been for a bit of a drive around some likely swift areas - didn't see a single one...... I'm beginning to think there really are only a small number (max 50?) of nests in the whole of Cardiff - very sad.
Still, we've got a few more areas to explore, so fingers crossed!
Usually see them overhead where I live GB which is only a mile or so from Acol, but not a one so far - very disappointing & a bit worrying!!
It is worrying - they really do seem to be in trouble. Let's hope, though, that we have a reasonable summer, so they have a good breeding season. I think a large part of the problem is the lack of nest sites, so we need to start sticking up boxes. I've given my father two boxes and a call player for his birthday!
I was considering Swift boxes this year but have run into nasty opposition from my miserable neighbour who is out to cause me trouble for feeding birds in my garden as he doesn't like them waking him up early - already had a letter from the management telling me to tone it down!!
What a shame, Wendy - that's so depressing....... No wonder nature is in such a state with attitudes like that.
And in other gloomy news, we went out again on Tues eve to try to find swift nests - none. Saw about 2 or 3 swifts in total, despite driving around quite a large part of Cardiff. Didn't see any sparrows or starlings either - there just don't seem to be any suitable holes for them. Almost all the houses seem to have been tidied up, had cavity wall insulation installed, etc, etc.
I really am beginning to think that we aren't going to find any other significant concentrations of swift nests in the city. And the ones we know about are SO vulnerable - almost all in private houses. Their nest holes could be blocked up at any time - and that that would be that.
Going to air my concerns at the Council's biodiversity meeting on Tuesday - just hope they can find a bit of money and co-operation to get some boxes up on some of the schools near where we know swifts nest.
Here we are on 7th May 2014 and I've just spotted my first two swifts in Stevenage for this year. Exactly the same arrival date as last year! I suspect they've been waiting for a nice strong southerly to help them in. I'll update later with a final count of the day.
We had a flight of aprox 50 Swifts arrive on our local reserve this afternoon up here in N.Yorks.They seemed to arrive ahead of a weather front.They made a nice sight while they flew over a Spoonbill we had gone to "tick"
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Getting a lot of rain here at the mo.No more arrivals today.
There`s a 2014 Swift thread already up & running by the way.
Early for this far north, looking at late May for us. We've never touched the nest over the last 26 years, so i suppose best left alone. But has anyone ever cleaned out the nest ready for the next year and they still nested?