Much better day weather wise today. Still a little cold but no rain and cloudless sky’s this afternoon. All three swifts were in the nest still first thing but went out almost together at about 10am. All three arrived back at 5pm and have stayed in since then.

Only one clip tonight. The single first arrived in the chimney nest stood in front of the camera for a while. Sorry too close for focus but a nice view of the whole bird.

Very wet and windy today. More swift sightings locally today. Much calmer,drier and warmer weather forecast for the weekend so I expect the flood of returnees later in the week. Still the lone swift in the chimney nest. He went out for an hour this afternoon in between heavy rain. The pair have spent the whole day snuggled up together in the bedroom nest. If you have been flying non stop for 9 months and not seen your partner for the same length of time what else would you do?

Very short clips from both nests. Nothing else to see all day.

I was so lucky today. Spent a lot of time watching the cameras and wondering what to add tonight then at about 6.30pm the second swift arrived at the bedroom nest. The first clip was about 20 seconds after it arrived for the first time. Obvious delight at the meeting and lots of chirping, sorry no sound on video. The other 2 clips were taken over the next 45 mins.

Last year it was the 14th when the second one arrived.

Watching, at the same time as line of duty and saw no more than I reported yesterday. More nest material gathering from the one returnee in the chimney nest. At 9am saw the first swift in the bedroom nest. He or she stayed about 1/2 hour then left. There is some speculation that as it is still so cold here some may have skipped back over the channel were it is a bit warmer. Thousands reported in mid France yesterday.

A short clip of the second arrival this year.

It’s now 6pm. After some excruciating contortions squeezing between header tanks multiple pipes and trying not to put my foot through the bedroom ceiling I managed to move the chimney nest camera so I can now see into the nest. Also tried some WD40 on the moving parts of the camera as it’s not always moving when I want. At least the nest view is as good as I can get. The camera is a bit too close for sharp focus but there is no room to move it further away.

Short clip showing our first returnee in the nest.

Still just the one early arrival. The Bristol house is in a similar situation with only a few arrivals. I have only seen the one flying.

The arrival is spending some time tidying up the nest. A short clip showing it collecting nesting material from out attic. It’s full of hay and straw from numerous house sparrow and starling nests over at least 300 years.

Cold north wind today but sunny most of the day. Still just the one swift as far as I can see. Thought in the sunshine we way have more but not today. A couple more clips of our so far lone swift.

Not much to add today. No flying swifts seen. Now I have a stiff neck. The single arrival was out by 7.30 this morning and returned about 5.50pm. There is an informative Bristol swift blog. He has nest boxes round his house most with cameras. He is expecting about 20 pairs and has only 6 arrivals to date. That is about the same percentage as here. Yesterday there were over 1000 over a lake near Bristol and about 30 over Slapton Lea. As it’s so cold there are not many flies in the air but with water temperatures increasing more flies are over inland water. Last year we had 3 nests in the attic one of which was inaccessible so could only comment on the two nests with cameras. There were however more than 6 flying round the house so I am hoping some were too young to breed and were casing the joint for nest sites for this year. Will just have to wait and see.

A clip from our first arrival this evening.

Still just the single returnee. He or she was out early this morning returning at about 5pm. Spending time snuggling in the nest and then shuffling up to the entrance hole as if looking out for its mate. We believe that they flew to South Africa and back separately and probably not seen each other since they left the nest last July. I have only seen 1 swift flying near the house so expect it’s the one I have filmed in the nest.

A couple of clips of the one swift from this afternoon.

I have been following reports of the expected arrival of this years swifts. Yesterday was the first day when significant numbers of swifts were reported from Portland Bill, a well known arrival location that is well monitored. Spent most of yesterday looking up but was not rewarded with any sightings. Was also checking my cameras and at 9pm last night saw a pair of unmistakable wings in the chimney nest. I will have to try and move the camera as it is just missing the nest.

Here is the view from last night.

The swift left early this morning and no others seen about up TIL now. 3pm.

It’s now 9pm. The first one back returned at 8pm and has been wandering around reacquainting it’s self with our attic space.

A couple of clips showing the whole bird.