FLIGHTS FROM AFRICA TO BRIGG AREA CONTINUE DESPITE CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

Brigg is now seeing a welcome and reassuring feature of normal late Spring and Summer in the town although the Coronavirus emergency has altered many  other things.
Over the weekend some visitors flew in from South Africa and will be making their presence felt well into August before making the return journey.
Some swifts are back in town to nest under the eaves of suitable buildings and will be feeding their young with insects caught in flight over Brigg. Hopefully, more will follow in the next few days.
Watch their aerobatics and listen out for their screeching calls over the coming weeks.
Swifts' usual strongholds include the middle section of Grammar School Road and East Parade/Central Square, with others to be seen over the town centre above the Old River Ancholme.
Relatively few have made it back so far. Migratory birds flying to the UK have suffered heavy losses due to wet and cold weather in northern Africa and The Med, national reports suggest.
This may explain why there are fewer swallows and house martins in Brigg at present than we have come to expect.
Have any locals heard cuckoo calls in recent weeks? This species also winters in Africa before flying back to Britain.