Gone, swiftly

13 Friday Aug 2021

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Swift, Swift migration

It’s been two days now since I last heard them, so I have to assume they’ve gone, the Swifts that nest in several local buildings and streak as fast as speeding bullets along the local streets, screaming all the while.

210813 swifts (1)

Records show that Swifts usually depart Britain in late July, though I’ve read a report on line this morning that says they’ve stayed a little longer this year, perhaps because they appear to have arrived a little later in the spring. I also watched a short video on Twitter of thousands of Swifts streaming through mist and cloud as they crossed the Swiss Alps – what a sight! And this year they have also to cope with the incredible heat that’s currently bubbling up out of north Africa. Go safely, you beauties!

Wild out the window

11 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, feral pigeon, house sparrow, Swift, wildlife at home

‘The best laid plans….’ Due to the unforeseen circumstance of untimely tradesmen I was forced to set aside my plan to go searching for butterflies today and instead spent day 11 of #30DaysWild at home. Still, there is always something wild to be found, just by looking out the window.

In the lovely tree outside my living room window, a young Feral pigeon has recently been spending much of its time, either perched or moving tentatively along the swaying branches, while it waits for its parents to return and feed it. Each time I heard it make its faint pleading peep, I popped up with my camera to try to get photos, though mostly the leaves got in the way. – a fact which, in fact, might please you when I tell you the pigeons regurgitate a type of ‘milk’ to feed their young!

180611 (6) House sparrow females

House sparrows also popped in and out of the tree, heralded by their familiar cheep cheep, and I also caught them sitting on the back wall downstairs, looking around for anything edible.

180611 (7) House sparrow male

The Swifts have been very active overhead much of the day, with four sweeping very low around the back of the house at times, even coming very close to the eaves. I’m not sure if they were checking the area for potential nesting sites or, more likely, swooping in to pick off insects to eat. They move so quickly I only managed one photo but watching their aerial agility was certainly the highlight of my wild day at home.

180611 (8) Swift

Glamorgan swift champions

05 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Glamorgan Swift Project, nest boxes for swifts, Penarth swift champions, Swift, Swift nest boxes, Trinity Church Penarth, Trinity Methodist Church

As you all know, I’m a very keen birder and member of the Glamorgan Bird Club. A couple of months after I moved here to Penarth, I was delighted to hear Swifts screaming almost daily in the sky above my flat, and to see them practising their aerial acrobatics when I was out walking in the local area. I was aware that Swifts are an endangered species – in the last 30 years, numbers in Glamorgan have declined by 50% – and wondered what I might do to help. Here’s what happened:

11 June 2017 While on a club outing, I got chatting to Alan Rosney, the bird club’s committee member who co-ordinates the Glamorgan Swift Project. I mentioned that I heard the birds screaming overhead a lot and that there was a church across the road from me (the Trinity Methodist Church), with a tower that might be a possibility for some nest boxes. The next day I emailed Alan the church’s details so he could check it out and follow up if he thought it a possibility.

180305 Swifts Trinity (1)

19 July 2017 Alan paid a visit to the folks at Trinity Church, to discuss the plan.

7 August 2017 A positive response from the church – the boxes could go ahead, ready for the following year’s return of the Swifts.

29 September 2017 Alan and other project members visited the church to check where the nest boxes might be located and for Howard, the box builder and installer, to measure up.

23 February 2018 Installation day, and Alan invited me along to see the result of my original suggestion. I had a lovely chat with Julia and Ian, other keen birders involved in the project, and with Chris, the church’s representative, and got to see inside the church tower but there was no way I was venturing up that ladder.

180305 Swifts Trinity (7)

So the boxes are in, but there was an issue with the speaker system so that will be installed in late April / early May, ready to call the Swifts to come a’nesting. The speakers are set on a timer system to play the sound of screaming Swifts, in the mornings and evenings, to try to entice the birds to use the boxes. Of course, the birds might not oblige – we can but keep our fingers crossed that they’ll take a fancy to their new accommodation. The day they traditionally return to Britain is May the 4th so, little Swifts, I’ll be looking out for you from my living room window, and may the fourth be with you!

180305 Swifts Trinity (8)