Eyes to the skies... and look swift about it!

'Even the stork in the heavens knows her appointed time; and the turtle dove, the swift and the swallow. Observe the time of their coming' Jeremiah 8:7

Our swallows returned to their nesting site together on Saturday, the 24th and now I watch them daily going out to feed. Everywhere about us the birds are pairing up and breeding. I don't know about you but the dawn chorus here is amazing at the moment. I've never known a Spring like it, but whilst I can enjoy all these beautiful birds I know it's unlikely I will see swifts in my near vicinity. They don't fly over the open farmland around me but I've enjoyed watching them in previous years screech over my local town of Narberth in a large group ; flying so fast that it's only that distinctive arrow head shape that confirms what you're looking at, but their season is fleeting. They are the last migrating birds to arrive and the first to leave in August and those babies that take to the sky for the first time this year will stay in the air continuously until 2013.

These wonderful birds fly in perpetual motion and radar has even confirmed that swifts sleep in heaven. At night their ascent takes them high enough to glide. They sleep for no longer than five seconds at a time . If they are at altitudes high enough for planes I wonder if the volcanic ash debacle will have had any effect on their travels? I hope not.

The latest RSPB magazine, from which these wonderful images come, has a fascinating article about the swift. There are incredible facts to digest : 'over it's lifetime, this bird, weighing as little as a hen's egg, will fly two million miles - the equivalent of four round trips to the moon'. Of course the swift is constantly on the look out for food, feeding on the insect life that drifts into the upper atmosphere, but it is a discerning eater. From our point of view we were amazed to read that one beekeeper discovered that the swifts flying around his hives were only taking stingless drones and ignoring the almost identical worker bees alone. How wonderful is that?

But, in truth, all is not wonderful for the swift. It has suffered a huge population crash in recent years. Within a decade it has slipped from green to amber status on the list of Birds of Conservation Concern, and it is only 'a shade of orange away from red'. The reasons why are not clear so the RSPB is asking people this Spring and Summer to tell them where swifts are nesting. Lots of their old sites are gone with the advent of new bulding techniques and the RSPB will hope to use the information gathered to help existing colonies and to help find new places for them to nest. They also want to know about groups of screaming swifts if you see them flying at roof level. This may indicate nesting sites nearby. Please go to this link and have a look. If you can help please do. All of this information is vital if future generations are to enjoy the sounds of Spring that we're lucky enough to still have.