Swifts Diary 2018

 

  • 7 May 2018
    They are back! Today we have the first sighting, with six swifts 'patrolling' the tower this morning. The weather is very warm and sunny. 
     
  • 14 May 2018
    There is lots of activity in and around the tower this morning: there are five pairs and three single adults sitting already. The nest box visible on the webcam is occupied, but the pair are guarding the entrance, so not always visible on the nest. The weather this past week has been sunny with some rain – very good for the swifts.
     
  • 24 May 2018
    This week the swifts are beginning to lay their eggs. The first egg was laid in the webcam nest on Monday, and a second one was laid this morning. 
     
  • 28 May 2018
    Today we moved the camera to a new nest that provides a better picture. It has been a good week for the swifts: there are now 28 active nests, with a total of 23 eggs visible. When we inpected the nestboxes in the tower, there were 24 adults sitting.The weather continues to be warm and humid. 
     
  • 4 June 2018
    There are a total of 27 active nests, with 16 eggs visible, and 4 pairs and 22 single adults sitting. We had some showers this past week, but the weather continues to be hot and humid. 
     
  • 11 June 2018
    Thanks to a warm, humid week we now have 31 nests with eggs or young, plus two more possible nests, with a minimum of 14 young and 32 eggs. 34 adults are in the boxes, 4 are pairs. 
     
  • 18 June 2018
    Today the weather is warm, cloudy and breezy. There are 31 active nests with 34 young visible and a further 14 eggs. There are also 8 adults sitting where it isn't possible to check for either eggs or young. 
     
  • 2 July 2018
    The hot and sunny weather has aided development of the young swifts, and we now have 43 healthy youngsters and 3 eggs. There are 34 active nests and the 11 young that were ringed today will fledge within the next 7-10 days. It appears to be another good breeding season due to the hot weather. 
     
  • 9 July 2018
    Today there were 68 young and 27 adults in 36 active nests. There are still 5 nests where the adult may be on eggs or chicks but we are not sure. So far this is a very good year for our swifts. 
     
  • 16 July 2018
    There are 35 active nests containing 70 young and 15 adults sitting tight in the nestboxes. Three young have fledged, so we have moved the camera to a nestbox where there are younger birds. Three chicks should be here for 3 more weeks. The prolonged hot and sunny weather, with light winds, has been good for birds. 
     
  • 23 July 2018
    Today there were 51 young and 15 adults in 29 active nests. 19 young have fledged and there are many adults flying around the Museum's tower. 
     
  • 30 July 2018
    The weather this past week has been hot, but windy and overcast, with some thundery showers. There are 13 nests still actve with 21 chicks and 2 adults. There are also 2 more eggs in the nest. We have a total of 75 chicks this year, with 54 young fledged so far - a very good year for our swifts.
     
  • 6 August 2018
    The weather has been hot and sunny. There are still 2 active nests with 3 youngsters, but also 2 abandoned eggs. 72 chicks fledged from 75 eggs, and 3 are almost ready to leave.