What have you seen

Hi Bakers

Firstly you will most likely only ever see the 1 type of Swift in the UK. Those that tend to appear mid April/start of May and generally are gone by end of August. They're the "screaming swifts" (a name I considered adopting for my rock band that never got off the ground).

The rare ones such as the Alpine Swifts currently seen in quite a few places in UK and Ireland are bigger than the common Swift and have a nice white belly (which wouldn't have been such a good name for the group). They usually nest in high altitude as their name implies but have started expanding their range and may become more regular soon.

Common Swifts are losing nesting spaces. I'll put a link up for the type of boxes they like to nest in. It reminds them of crevices in rocks.

Other Swifts that might make an irregular appearance are Pallid Swift and Little Swift. I've been very fortunate to have seen all 4 on one magic day in Spain one year.

Hope this helped.

https://www.nestbox.co.uk/products/swift-nest-box

Not swifts, or even closely related I know but we’ve apparently got Red Rumped Swallows at various location in the UK presently. Ours Barn Swallows, as the rest of the world calls them, are just appearing.

We’ve also got several white Storks right now doing the rounds north of the Humber along with those Alpine Swifts. A sight to see then circling high above the landscape and feeding on the meadows. I’ll have to venture up there stalking them!🤣

A lot of new houses being built around here are using Swift bricks so hopefully we will see an influx in future years.   Still got Swallows and Sand Martins in coming over our house

Thanks Wherenext. I'll explore the link and add it to the list 🤣

Coming to a site near you! Baltic Wharf?

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2023-04-14/beaver-spotted-in-city-centre-river-for-the-first-time-in-500-years?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR27yjiGvhc8Kif_D3_ikSexuMmpfWC9dXtn9qjNkDSo4rQODVGOE1OyRZg#Echobox=1681495679

Apparently these creatures are often seen in and around the city rivers in Europe. 

How about a stay at this CL, where you can see Beaver activity for real. 

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/certificated-locations/england/devon/holsworthy/venn-farm/

Some apparently have been seen on the River Brue, brue!

Yes Micky, having seen the habitat they have created at Venn Farm I can see how their introduction needs to be very carefully managed for their own safety and for any nearby humans.

I spotted this regarding the pitfalls and gains of introducing them.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2023/march/beaver-families-thriving-west-country-after-unofficial-reintroductions.html

Yes, I read this article too. It seems with help we can live alongside them and the positives may be particularly helpful. They seem to live along side humans elsewhere in Europe even in some built up areas. I think the biggest issue is water quality. Many of our rivers, even in remote areas, have poor water quality due to human actions. We need to clean our act up, not just for beavers but all aquatic wildlife.

Have just heard the Nightingale singing in the little plot next to ours whilst hanging out the washing made my day, also heard quite a few Warblers about and the cuckoo has arrived, also saw my first Swift yesterday and a pair of House Martins so Spring has arrived.