Swifts gone already???

[zail]

I was sitting out in the garden earlier this evening and suddenly realised that I hadn't heard or seen my local swifts (they had a nest under the roof 2 houses down) for a couple of days... Would they have gone back to Africa already or could they just have gone off elsewhere??

[Gill Catton]

Heard plenty yesterday so they're still around Oxford...

[aeshna5]

I'm still seeing some daily, but get a feeling the numbers have fallen over the last week. One day last week saw c20 screaming loudly chasing each other as if nervous excitement over the journey ahead. Let's hope they had a reasonable breeding season!

[djackso]

Still hearing plenty here in North London

[Deer Stalker]

Still around here too.

[zail]

Hmmm.. I'm in Bristol - even if they've been away during the day they normally feed over my garden early evening as I have a nice insect rich garden ... been looking out for them most of the evening now and still no sign.

Do they go off and flock (like swallows do)before migrating and am I right in thinking they are the first to leave as well as the last to arrive? They were definatley having good old chasing session round here last week - maybe as aeshna5 says they were anticipating the journey..

BTW they definatley raised at least one brood here - I think there were two pairs and one night last week I think I counted 14 (best estimate - they're difficult to count!!!) flying around my street...

[agrumpycow]

Have seen plenty here too, flying very low and screaming loads particularly tonight

[Fourwings]

Still plenty around in Leicestershire and Rutland.

[Jason Green]

Originally Posted by zail

...Would they have gone back to Africa already or could they just have gone off elsewhere??

Maybe they were only in that immediate vicinity for breeding and what you're seeing now is how they normally move through your area, having been more active with feeding trips??

[rlchew]

I saw plenty yesterday during my trip around Suffolk and Norfolk.

Having said that, zail's message made me realise I had not seen any locally for a few days.

Swifts do migrate earlier than Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins so enjoy one of the summer sights and sounds whilst you can.

Richard