As I walked down our street yesterday, I noticed a large number of birds above my head. They turnbed out to be swifts, with a couple of pigeons mixed in. I started counting and had to give up at 35. There must have been upwards of 40 swifts, wheeling and whirling, coming together in groups, then flying apart.
I wondered if they could be assembling ready to leave our shores, but when I looked it up, I found out they don't leave Britain till August. Still puzzled, I emailed Edward Mayer of Swift Conservation (http://www.swift-conservation.org) and told him what I had seen. He's always happy to chat about swifts and he replied, Now's the time for big Swift get togethers, we can sometimes get as many as thirty high overhead here. Watch the skies - last week I saw a Hobby passing over, being chased by the ten Swifts!
By the way, (oops, the font has changed!), the RRPB would like it if we all recorded our swift sightings. Here is the link: http://www.rspb.org.uk/applications/swiftsurvey/
Incidentally, Edward didn't tell me why the swifts held their 'get-togethers'. Does anybody know?
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