Swift Half update - 30th July 2010

• Today has been the first day since April 23rd that I've not seen any swifts over Berkshire, or our house (Swift Half).
• Have they (the swifts) had such a successful year here (all full of flies and fuelled up ready to migrate) that they've left the area for the south west already? Maybe.
• Anyway - I don't think I've noticed swifts leave middle England before August before, so its slightly strange I think.
• I'll miss them.

Swift Half Update - 28th July 2010 - ROOF EMPTY.

• It is with a heavy heart, tinged with a little pride and relief that I blog today to tell anyone interested that our family of Swifts have now ALL left their nest for the summer. The last to leave was the female, who had been roosting in the roof on her own for the past two nights - but not last night - the nest space was empty for the first time in over 3 months. A timeline to their season can be seen below:

1. 23rd April - I see my first Berkshire Swifts of the year.
2. 24th April - Male Swift roosts in our roof for first time this year. (Day 1 of occupation).
3. 27th April - Female Swift takes up residency - nest buidling immediately begins.
4. 5th May - Both adults start to roost together in nest space.
5. 17th May - First egg (A) laid (Day 24 of occupation).
6. 19th May - Second egg (B) laid (Day 26 of occupation)
7. 21st May - Third and final egg (C) laid (Day 28 of occupation).
8. 23rd May - Second egg (B) rejected and ignored, eggs A and C incubated still.
9. 6th June - Egg (A) hatches (20 days after being laid).
10. 10th June - Egg (C) hatches (20 days after being laid).
11. 18th July - Chick from egg (A) fledges (42 days or 6wks exactly after hatching). Chick not seen again (leaves nest, leaves for good). One chick left in nest with parents.
12. 22nd July - Chick from egg (C) fledges (42 days or 6 wks exactly after hatching). Chick not seen again (leaves nest leaves for good). Only adults left in nest.
13. 22nd/23rd/24th July - both adults continue to roost together in nest at night.
14. 25th July - Adult male leaves nest, 92 days after arriving. Adult female left in nest alone.
15. 25th/26th July -Adult female continues to roost alone in the nest at night.
16. 27th July - Adult female leaves nest, 92 days after arriving. No swifts in nest at night. All swifts gone.
17. Swifts still flying over house, I can't tell whether these are are family or not.
18. I expect ALL Swifts to be gone from berkshire by 1st week of August (we are on holiday then, so won't see them leave).

• A few points to note - All three eggs laid two days apart.
• Both incubated eggs hatched exactly 20 days after laying.
• Both chicks fledged exactly 42 days (6 weeks) after hatching.
• Both adults spent exactly 92 days/nights in nest (female arrived a few days later than male).

• There you are grapple fans, I wish our swifts well, and if Anna and I are still around next year, I'll welcome them back with a fair amount of joy, at the end of next April.... Until then, you'll excuse me if I get quite sad, I'm sure...

Swift Half Update - 26th July 2010

• I've left any Swift Half (general) update for a fortnight or so now, because of our computer woes if nothing else - so here is a bulleted update.
• Plenty of dragonflies out and about now - common darters finally visited the pond about a week ago (and laid eggs).
• Water lily produced two flowers this year, this week.
• Sunflower in garden now well over six feet tall, and producing flower head this week.
• Gatekeepers (butterflies) on honeysuckle last week.
• First potter wasp of the year spotted by bee post.
• Spider-hunting wasps very obvious at present (even had one in the office last week!)
• Otter prints spotted on local river - will try and investigate before too long.
• First (LARGE!) potatoes dug up last week - delicious!
• First raspberries of season from canes in garden last week - need a fortnight or so more.
• Damsons and pears doing well on trees, even with the lack of rain in these dry 5 months.
• Comma butterflies doing well in garden - as are red admirals, but no painted ladies yet (unlike last year).
• Two flying ant days in last week (hot and humid) - the dragonflies and birds (and chickens!) adored those days!
• As for the chickens - egg production has tailed off significantly - cutlery just produces a mess these days (and doesn't look too comfortable - I wonder how long shes got left sometimes) and couven hardly produces anything at all. All very strange, but at present they seem reasonably content.
• Pigeons still nesting in damson tree in the garden.
• Grass still hardly needs mowing - no rain really. I know the parks around south UK look like deserts - our garden is no different really - no significant rain in the next two weeks may mean a hosepipe ban down here also, come september.
• Only the female (adult) swift roosted in the nest last night - both her chicks have fledged as has her "other half". I guess breeding has taken it out of her somewhat, and she's building up energy for the big trip south - I wonder if I am a day or days away from saying goodbye to ANY activity in our swift nest -quite sad really!

Swift Half SWIFT update - 25th July 2010

• This (unique, I hope) SWIFT update post should put you in the picture re our family of swifts, which we (and you?) have been watching all summer, until that rather untimely computer incident on the 16th July here, put pay to any live web feed of our growing family.
• On the 18th July 2010, the eldest of the swift chicks fledged. We haven't seen this chick again, since this date. From the 18th (night) there were 2 adults roosting in the nest, and the youngest chick.
• The youngest chick, between the 18th and 22nd July, was left alone for very long periods during the day. The parents would come back with food, but not as often as before. This growing (and sole, now) chick would spend the majority of its day, stretching its perfect little wings, fanning its tail, and preparing itself for the big off. We expected this to happen every day after the 18th.... but:
• The second and last chick to fledge didn't do so until the 22nd July. We've not seen this chick since either. On that day, there were a series of ALMIGHTY thunderstorms round here, and south England - what a day to fledge! I hope the little chap (chappess) avoided all the storms - or its first day out of the nest would have been its last. I would like to think he/she would have avoided these very heavy but very localised downpours (and lightning bolts) just fine.
• Since the night of the 22nd July, I haven't seen the two fledglings, but BOTH parents still return to the roof space each night to roost together. There's something quite endearing about that I think - I felt sure that once the young had gone, the adults would to. NOT so. I can't speak for tonight yet (obviously) but last night, both parents were roosting overnight in the roof again - reserving strength for the big push back to sub-Saharan Africa I suppose.
• When will they ALL go? When will the nest be empty until next year? Who can tell. I would fully expect though to have both parents (and chicks, wherever they are) to migrate down to the SW of England first (Devon/Cornwall) in August and then once their reserves had been built up, fly over the channel, over continental Europe, over Gibraltar, over N.Africa, over the Sahara and back to sub Saharan Africa - arriving there, mid September at the latest (if they make it at all). Anna and I are on holiday in early August - I expect our adults will start the push south (and not roost in the roof) about that time.
• NB. In case you've forgotten - (for both young fledglings this year) - they spent 2 or so months in our roof - in a nest space about the size of a shoe box. When they launched into the air for the first time (18th for Swift a, 22nd July for Swift b) the change to their life was absolutely IMMENSE. Both of the young swifts would have had to taken flight (and not landed in error) immediately - they wouldn't have the capacity like all other birds, to take a short training first flight and land on a nearby wall, fence or tree. Fly they did, or die they would. Completely and utterly unique amongst ALL birds.
• Each new flying swift would have to immediately rely on instinct and other surrounding swifts, to fly higher and higher at dusk, and rely on sleeping on the wing, rather than what they'd been used to for the first two months of their lives, sleeping in the nest with three others to keep them warm. Another IMMENSE change.
• Each new flying swift would have had to rely on instinct (purely) to immediately start hunting for itself. If it didn't start to catch food for itself, it wouldn't even last a day. Another IMMENSE achievement.
• Both of our our swifts will now have to fly to sub Saharan Africa in August (not landing once) spend the winter there (no landing) and fly back to this part of the world in April next year (no landing still). If one of our fledged chicks was a female - there's a chance she might breed in her mother's nest (our roof) next year (only if her mother doesn't return though - swifts return year after year not only to the same locality, but to the same NEST!) If the nest that she was born in this year is already taken, our 1 year old female will have to find another - and then finally land (touch down) for the first time in May next year. NINE MONTHS after she left our roof this year and she's been to south Africa and back in that time, and not stopped flying AT ALL during those months. Incredible eh, but not as incredible as the case if any of our swift fledglings this year were male....
• IF any of our little swifts that fledged this year are male, they will face all the tests immediately that any young female will face, and they will return here next May. But. Chances are they will not breed in their first year and spend the summer here, screaming around in "raiding parties", and perhaps (most probably in fact) not land at all here next year. It will be 21 (TWENTY ONE) months before any of the young male chicks that fledged this year, land again here or land anywhere for that matter - in those twenty one months, they will have not stopped flying ONCE, not landed once, and been to sub Saharan Africa and back TWICE.
• I hope you appreciate just how incredible these birds are. They may not be as pretty as Swallows for example, not as clever as Jays, not as majestic as eagles, not as pretty as kingfishers, but in my opinion - they beat ALL these birds. There's nothing like swifts, nothing at all, and I feel very humbled and very privileged to have seen the intimate life in nest of our young family this year. I hope you've enjoyed the footage I managed to pump through live on the web. Apologies again for the issues during the chick's last week.
• Good news is I have managed to record some lovely footage (with sound) of the Swifts last week via video. The parents feeding the last chick, amazing footage of the last chick preparing itself for its massive first flight, and the last few roosts. All very good quality (much better than the web feed). I will look to turn this footage into a DVD in the next two months and post the short clips on this website, so you'll not have missed anything after all -just need a few months to get that stuff onto DVD.
• Anyhoo - thats our swifts. The "Swift Half" swifts. First one arrived April 23rd. Last chick to fledge went July 22nd. Almost exactly three months. As I write this, I expect both parents will roost together in the nest again tonight. That will stop soon though. I'll let you know.
• Thanks very much for bothering to be a little interested in my favourite birds of all. They need YOUR help. Please visit all the Swift sites I've linked to on this blog, and in february next year, pop a swift box up under your eves. Go on....! TBR.

Swift Half EMERGENCY news - 24th July 2010

• If you've wondered where I've been for the last 8 or so days, or for that matter, where the live web feed of our swifts have been during that time - well... our computer fried 8 days ago, and its taken the full 8 days to sort the issue.
• Both the motherboard and hard drive blew up and we've lost everything that wasn't backed up.
• Luckily that did not include my photos and our important files, which were all backed up externally. But all our programs, including the third "Black Rabbit" book, lightroom and photoshop were all lost. When I get a chance I'll reinstall everything and start work on the book again.
• As for the Swifts - well, I have big news on our beautiful birds - I will reveal all when I get a moment later this weekend.
• Many apologies for the lack of swifts on this site for the last 8 days - the most important 8 days of all over the last 3 months. Anna and I have been watching the family on our little tv and recorded some excellent footage, which in due course, I'll turn into a DVD and upload onto my youtube site, so you'll not have missed anything.
• Thanks for your patience - A proper "Swift Half" update (and general (county) update) will appear some time this weekend.

Swift half news - 15th July 2010

• Both of the fox cubs gave a good show in the garden last night at around 10:30pm. I hadn't seen them for a few months - they are in very good nick and pretty-well adult sized now. Bold as you like also - happy(ish) to be there as Anna and I stood outside having a nightcap...
• Very blustery indeed today - quite difficult for the swifts to hunt - a lot of huddling in the nest!

Swift half news - 14th July 2010

• Anyone caring to check out our live swiftcam still, will notice that the two chicks (although I am biased) look beautiful - with their grey faces and bright, inquistive eyes. They are not discernably much smaller than their parents now - the nest space is very crowded at night with 4 birds roosting! Will they fledge this week? Maybe...

General (county) news - 14th July 2010

• Just a quick note to say that about a week ago now (first week in July) I noticed the first cinnabar moth caterpillars (same time as last two years in this neck of the woods).
• A week of blustery, showery (really quite wet) week this week, makes a change!

Swift half news - 10th July 2010

• Anna and I have been at Wicken Fen (a NT nature reserve and home of my Uncle's Dragonfly Project over the weekend, so there's not much to post re "Swift Half" today. At the reserve we were treated to masses of odonates buzzing around, including Scarce Chasers (which I've never seen before) and a lovely pair of Marsh Harriers in quite amazingly hot, sunny weather.
• The Swifts are still in the roof and live on the webcam, just. My guess is that they'll fledge this week, after the rain we're due (AT LAST!!) tonight.
• Our first water lily flower of the year (we'll have two this year) flowered whilst we were in fenland. Very nice to see.
• Interesting moths attracted to the trap before this weekend included a "Buff Arches" and a "Gothic"

Photo of month (June 2010)

June was one of my busiest months ever for photography, but I reckon the photo below was the best I took in that month. The choice may surprise some - I did not choose my photo of the elephant hawk moth sitting on my wrist that the beeb showed on this year's springwatch but a spectacular sunset instead - witnessed on one of our (Anna and myself) badger watching trips in June.



All my photographs of the month can be enlarged (and seen in flickr) by clicking them.
If you want to see all photographs of the month lined up - click on the "photo of the month" tag in my huge list of tags on the front page of this blog, or click HERE.

I'll try and remember to post my photo of the month (July 2010) at the beginning of August, rather than in mid October!

Photo of month (May 2010)

And May...
(I do know that some people might find this shocking, but it was recently voted as one of the most powerful images I'd ever taken). Click to enlarge.

Photo of month (April 2010)

In all my excitement with our swifts, I had forgotten that I was running what I considered to be MY opinion of my photo of the month since January.
So, to make amends - here's what I think my photo of the month of April was.
Click to see it larger.

General (county) news - 4th July 2010

• I set the moff trap up in Mr.T's (our neighbour bar one) garden last night and we had a reasonable hawl at dawn this morning, with a scalloped oak moth being my highlight. The night before that I had a wonderful hawl at the rear (rear) garden - catching huge numbers of moffs, including my third elephant hawkmoth and my first scarlet tiger moth. When we used to live near the river (other side of town) I used to trip over these striking day-flying moths, but not so much three miles south - so its grand to see one again.
• A walk along the river at dawn this morning confirmed that we have a pair of otters in the "secret river" not a mile away from the house! Certain sightings near the weir by a very credible source - looks like I might have to do some night time recces pretty soon! VERY good news though - maybe Anna will get a chance to see her favourite animal of all?!
• Plenty of demoiselles and damselflies everywhere but I'm still struggling to see many big dragons - a southern hawker on a bike ride this morning but thats all.

Swift half news - 4th July 2010

• We have yet another blackbird nest in the rear (rear) garden - the third blackbird nest this year and unfortunately the kittens have found it again. It looks slightly more protected than the other two, and both spostles will have a bit of trouble raiding it I think. Raid it they will though I'm sure - fending off a very aggressive male blackbird (he's been really dive-bombing both cats) on the way.
• Flower report - the eldderflower is gone and the honeysuckle & potato flowers are virtually gone.
• Still no rain of any sort to speak of - and not much forecast for the month ahead they say (not that I trust any weather forecast which delves more than three days into the future!)
• I am having great fun watching our growing swifts in the nest. They have incredible mouths don't they? Like Pac-man or Elmo (for Sesame street officianados). I think they will be gone within a fortnight now - maybe sooner - so much earlier than our original guesses of 26th and 28th July...

Swift half news - 1st July 2010

• Do we have a change in the weather on the way? I hear Ireland and Wales are getting pretty wet and we've had a properly cloudy and blowy day now. We may get some rain tomorrow, but it'll still be warm - this IS officially the driest start to a year since 1929 and the second driest EVER.
• Lots of nice moffs in the trap last night, including a common emerald, a common footman and a blue-bordered carpet (amongst millions of LBJs (Little Brown Jobbies)).
• I am well aware that the swifts are way ahead of shedule as far as fledging is concerned. They really do look like little adults now - a bit more grey (a bit paler) around the face and gob, a little bit of down remaining on top, but they both look in great shape and I'm sure will fledge WAY before the end of the month. Whether they spend their first few nights in the nest space after fledging - who knows? It will be interesting to see - I have a feeling when they're gawn, they'll be gawn.
• After they have gone, I will naturally post far less on this site. Will I take down the swiftcam and pop garden cam on instead? Haven't decided yet, grapple fans!