Swifts…….they are about

[Brighty1674]

Just seen 4/5 swifts flying high over Shepton, first ones this year…..lovely, just the job……..

[Jeremy Cumberland]

We've had them up here for a fortnight, I think, but it might be three weeks now. It was a Friday when I saw my first ones at any rate, alerted by their screeching overhead, and there's a few flying close to the house as I write this - I can hear them, and occasionally one comes into view.

[ejstubbs]

I saw one - just one - rather unexpectedly on Wednesday last week when I was walking on Dumyat above Stirling.  First of the summer for me.  Rather disappointingly: we'd been to Portobello the week before which is the most reliable spot for swifts round here, but nary a one to be seen.  I suspect that the continuous, nagging north-easterly winds we've been experiencing don't help - neither the birds themselves, nor the insects they feed on (it has been a notably poor spring for flying insects so far - as noted on Springwatch the other day).

 

We used to get swifts flying over our own neighbourhood on a regular basis but I've seen very few up here in recent years.  The local starlings often raise hopes, only to be dashed, when they fly around in small squadrons screeching at each other in a very swift-like way.  That said, I'm partial to starlings as well, and I'm pleased to say that we have several newly fledged families of starlings coming to our garden regularly at the moment (and getting through astonishing quantities of bird food!)

Edited June 10, 2023 by ejstubbs

[Bernard Lamb]

They have been here for a month. They usually arrive about May 10th.

Numbers declined three years ago but this year there are about the same number as last year with 7-8 pairs.

I have only ever once held one. It came in through an open window in the bathroom and fell into the bath. Close up they are a very fine bird and the wings are very powerful.

Mention of starlings. They are on the increase  with a winter flock of over 40. The last few years they were down to single figures.

Bernard

[MarkC]

Very nice. Summer is here 😎

 

However, I'll now see your Swifts & raise you some Little Terns. Not far from where I live, at Crimdon, there is an area of the beach which is one of the few places in the country where Little Terns come for the breeding season. Always good to see - from a distance, of course...

 

Mark

[phil_sutters]

One flew over yesterday. The flying insects do seem to be in very short supply in this bit of the Sussex coast. Apart from a pair of blue butterflies, there have only been three individuals from other species that I have seen at all so far. The only insects making regular appearances are ants and they don't fly!

[pH]

42 minutes ago, phil_sutters said:

The only insects making regular appearances are ants and they don't fly!

 

Yes, they do:

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/animals/insects/flying-ants/

[ejstubbs]

Spotted another single swift yesterday, during an outing to the lagoons near the romantically named village of Skinflats on the south side of the Firth of Forth, a mere* stone's throw from what one might reasonably assume to be the not particularly wildlife-friendly Grangemouth refinery.  There was a decent number of swallows and martins about, so there must have been a reasonable quantity of flying insects out there too.  Swallows and martins, however, are happy to hunt at low altitude: I've seen swallows flying between the seed heads of tall grasses when hunting over meadows, and the sand martins at a site nearby to me will fly between your legs when focused on gathering food for their nestlings!  Swifts, on the other hand, tend to prefer to take higher-flying prey; yesterday's bird did venture close to the lagoon surface a few times, but I got the impression that it wasn't that impressed with what it found there since it departed the scene shortly afterwards.

 

* Er, see what I did there?

[Mallard60022]

Swift are down in numbers by a huge amount this year. They were also 5/6 weeks late to North Notts then about 100 turned up a month back, in a bunch, feeding over our Local Nature Reserve Lakes. Gone the next day. AS were the 300+ Sand Martin, also very late. What hasn't appeared up here/over here/ down here, are the House Martins. 

The Pathfinders usually arrive mid to end April and then in numbers in the last week of April. That happened for years here, almost to the day. 60 Breeding pairs locally to my House 10 years ago. This year, none locally but Two that appear to live a few Streets away?

Shocking drop in numbers for these migrating birds. Netted in North Africa is the local reckoning?

Phil

Edited June 11, 2023 by Mallard60022

[25kV]

A good few screeching around up here in Aberdeenshire - always nice to see/hear - but perhaps not as many as in years past.

 

Railway related swifts from 2021 - some of the locals who were nesting in the roof of Alton Station (Staffs) as seen from the window:

 

 

[DaveF]

I saw my first swift this year about 20 minutes ago flying in circles just inland from the beach here in Northumberland.  After about 5 minutes it flew off in a northerly direction behind some buildings.

 

David

[The Lurker]

We have had them here in Sidcup for a couple of weeks now - as usual I tend to see an odd number of them flying around but the numbers fell a few years ago and now it seems to be just 3 or 5 - although if last year is anything to go by, there will be evenings when we see more. 
 

last year Mrs Lurker was trying to get a swift box, courtesy of the Swift Trust placed at the school she works at. They had a plan to place boxes at 100 schools in the London area where swifts were known to be. Unfortunately they could not locate a spot that met the relevant criteria so had to turn it down.

[Jeremy Cumberland]

Swift and swallow numbers seem very healthy where I live. I've been rather remiss at checking out the local sand martin haunts this year, but if the weather holds I'll walk over to Broughton High Bridge one evening this week. It's a lovely walk anyway, along the River Derwent, even if there aren't sand martins. I might see house martins too, since there are sometimes some near the river closer to home.

[ejstubbs]

Three swifts whizzing over the rooftops in Balerno yesterday, which was nice.  The sand martins have returned to their nesting site in the middle of the Pentlands, too, which is good to see:

 

 

[exmoordave]

In fact numbers of Swifts (and Swallows + House Martins) have sadly been on the decline for a number of years. Netting on the continent is one reason and being blasted out of the sky by loony tunes in France & Spain is another.

[Jeremy Cumberland]

I took a walk out to Broughton High Bridge this evening and the sand martins were there in abundance. They're difficult to count, but there must have been over a hundred within a quarter of a mile of the bridge (they nest in drainpipes in the bridge itself, as well as in holes along the southern bank of the river upstream of the bridge). I'd hoped to see some chicks poking their heads out of a hole, but I couldn't spot any.

 

No house martins that I noticed, but by the time I reached where I might have seen them, the light wasn't so good.

[robert17649]

On 13/06/2023 at 19:14, exmoordave said:

In fact numbers of Swifts (and Swallows + House Martins) have sadly been on the decline for a number of years. Netting on the continent is one reason and being blasted out of the sky by loony tunes in France & Spain is another.

And eyetalians

[5944]

On 10/06/2023 at 07:57, Bernard Lamb said:

They have been here for a month. They usually arrive about May 10th.

Numbers declined three years ago but this year there are about the same number as last year with 7-8 pairs.

I have only ever once held one. It came in through an open window in the bathroom and fell into the bath. Close up they are a very fine bird and the wings are very powerful.

Mention of starlings. They are on the increase  with a winter flock of over 40. The last few years they were down to single figures.

Bernard

Funnily enough, the local swifts arrived here around 9/10 May this year. Slightly earlier than last year as I recall. About 30 or so at the moment flying around screeching away.

[Gilbert]

6 minutes ago, 5944 said:

Funnily enough, the local swifts arrived here around 9/10 May this year. Slightly earlier than last year as I recall. About 30 or so at the moment flying around screeching away.

I certainly saw a few on my early morning dog walk today...

[AY Mod]

6 minutes ago, 5944 said:

the local swifts arrived here around 9/10 May this year.

 

Same here, as with the swallows. Turned up on the first warm winds last week - they're not daft.

[sb67]

Saw my first ones this year in Romford, I was 'buzzed' by three screeching and in formation! Later on there were a few higher in the sky. Amazing to think how far the come and how they come back to the same spot! Dunnow what's so special about Romford! 😉

[tigerburnie]

No Swifts here in Angus yet, we have the Swallows in the garden and House Martins and Sand Martins arrived last month, what really disappoints me is young families in our village are putting up bits of plastic/string/fabric under their roofs to deter the birds from nesting on their houses, we used to see it as a huge privilege to have them, people are so intolerant these days.

[J. S. Bach]

Do they do any unintentional damage by roosting? Not counting the droppings.

[Flying Pig]

The first report of Swifts in Wilts this year as on 20th April and sightings of up to 50 were reported in the following few days, but these were over water and not breeding sites.

 

1 hour ago, J. S. Bach said:

Do they do any unintentional damage by roosting? Not counting the droppings.

 

I don't think you can safely ignore the droppings.

 

 

[Brighty1674]

Swifts are back at Shepton……last year first ones I saw was 9th June, today I saw about 10 of the birds over shepton so They are about three weeks earlier, still very nice to see. And I hope to hear their screeching funny five minutes at some stage………