We spent some hours at a BBQ party in Grammar School Road, Brigg, at the weekend but still didn't see any swifts. Can anyone put our mind at rest by saying they've spied some of these spectacular birds in town?
You used to see lots of them in Brigg decades ago but numbers have declined considerably in recent years. Or so it appears to us.
Are you sure the birdies are meant to be swifts, Nige.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I've read in previous posts the flocks of these birds nested under the eaves on certain housing estates in ages past.
If so, the birds would not be swifts...swifts nest in such things as crevices and other suitable holes on cliffs and buildings...not in distinctive nests.
For example, there are some house martins nesting under the roof eaves of Boots in Wrawby St....their nest resembles a wasps' nest.
Could these be examples of the 'missing' flocks - house martins, not swifts...?
As previous indicated ...the Boot birdies are not swallows...swallows have patches of red on their chins/throats....the nesting birds have black(dk bluish) & white faces.
ReplyDeleteThere is, however, a swallow in the same locality - spied one outside McColls last Saturday pm..
ps I'm no expert....but their are clear differences within this family of birds.
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Yes, definitely swifts, Ken. No doubt about that.
ReplyDeleteRe your clarification over a pint in the Nelson - as you indicated, the estate houses of a generation ago had open eaves with lots of nooks an crannies - excellent nesting for swifts.
ReplyDeleteNow, such eaves are boarded in - hence few, if any swifts using the houses for nesting purposes.
A good example of how small changes to a localised environment can have a profound effect on localised ecology.
Another example is the decline of hedgehog numbers..they have declined almost proportionately with folks using stout garden fencing and the seeming need to keep gardens spotless.
They need to be able roam in about an acre of land and to scour natural garden rubbish for insect and slug life.
But fencing now often causes them insurmountable problems......and, if one adds to the mix, slug pellets to kill sluggies....one might as well give hedgehog the poison directly..