Lovely news. The second chick fledged this morning. Just to summarize. I first started watching this nest during the fist week of June. The first egg was laid on the 22nd of June and the second on the 24th. The first chick hatched on the 12th July and the second on the 15th. Despite some very poor weather fledging on the 22nd and 29th of August was well within the expected range. Following web sites in Bristol and Oxford University Library this has been a bad year for swifts. We usually have 4 active nests but 2 were abandoned this year with only 2 successful nests. I am sure this was this pairs first brood and think they have been exceptional parents in a very challenging year. The parents will feed up for a few days before setting of for southern Africa. The youngsters are already on the way going separately and will probably not see their parents again. They will travel back to England next May then back to Africa then when they return in 2017 may touch the ground for the first time since leaving the nest. The parents will not meet up again until, hopefully, they meet again next May at the same nest. What amazing creatures.

I finish with a rather sad short clip.

It would be nice if any of you could let me know if you have enjoyed the blog and if I do it again how I could make it more interesting. Thanks for watching.

The last chick is still here. I have only seen one adult in the nest over the last 24 hours but that doesn’t mean they are not both around. I expected it to fledge earlier this week but we have had rain every morning so maybe tomorrows the day. A couple of clips The first shows the last chick with one parent with the other one arriving. Its a long clip but shows the chaos of returning parent.

The second clip shows the last chick strengthening his or her wings. We have seen them flapping them before. This looks more like physio.

Great news. The first swiftlet fledged this morning. At 08.30 he or she had already gone. This is just the right fledging period so the last one will be off over the next few days. The weather this morning was good for a change and most of the day was hot and sunny. It will be very wet over the next few days so the last one may hang on for a bit. I saw at least one parent at the nest today so I am sure the chick is being fed.

Two photos I took yesterday expecting imminent fledging. They are both there!

Now a clip of the last time they will ever be together. last night.

This photo was taken an hour ago. The last very shy chick.

Now a couple of clips of the last chick.

Just realised its been nearly a week since my last blog. Weather wise an eventful week. Wednesday and most of Thursday we had very heavy rain. The adults stayed in most of Wednesday. The chicks have grown well and its hard to tell them apart from the adults. I believe that Tuesday will be the earliest day that the first could fledge but expect the due to the weather it will probably be later in the week.

Some clips from the week . Firstly last week one stretching and trying out wings.

The second showing all four in a now very small nest during the rain.

The chicks are getting fidgety, one on walkabout.

The other chick testing out his or her wings.

The two chicks preening each other.

Finally the two chicks almost fully grown.

Sorry, have been busy the last few days. Very little flying activity, saw three in a very short screaming party last week. On the whole the weather has been good. Today we had a very wet morning but the afternoon was fine and sunny. I probably have not said this before but these swifts have been great parents. When its been cold there has always been one adult in the nest, when the weather has been good there has been plenty of food they bring food almost hourly. I have still not seen any parasites so am fairly sure this is a new nest and almost certainly first time parents. They seem to be a little less tolerant of the hassle when they return with food but all four huddle up for the night.

One photo from today. its so difficult. They are a couple of feet from the only position I can get the camera, I have to use the screen as can’t get my eye to the eyepiece and need a torch held in my other hand to focus. This photo took 40 minutes to get.

First clip is one parent arriving with food

Second clip shows the chicks with an adult. They are almost full size now but a bit paler.

The earliest the first one may fledge is the 18th August. Its very late and may be a bit later as the food supply has been on and off. Many swifts are already on their way to S Africa. Its so hard to understand that when the chicks leave they will not touch the ground again for at least two years. The adults will not see each other until they return to this nest next May.

Sorry its been a few days. Up until today the weather has been great. Plenty of food and both chicks growing fast. Today has been wet and windy. I read today from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History where they have a swift tower with cameras and have been ringing swifts for 50 years that my experience this Because of the weather the breeding season has been extended. Usually they have all gone by mid August but they expect to still have swifts fledging in September. Its nice to have your own thoughts confirmed by experts in the field. Some photos from the nest. All very similar as I don’t want to spend too much time in the eves disturbing them.

These are uncropped but heavy removal of shadows as flash is behind a beam. Now a couple of clips. The first shows a common sight with the two chicks patiently waiting for food.

The second shows the second adult arriving for the night I expect as its raining outside. Now 19.30.

Not much room for four swifts!