My last blog this year. I was surprised on both Friday and Saturday night to find 2 swifts in each nest. The weather has not been great but I can now confirm that it was the adults roosting. All 4 left early in the morning and both nests empty all day. The chicks are already on their way to Africa whilst the parents feed up before setting off on their journey. 3 successful fledglings this year.

Thanks for those who have been following this blog.

Was sure all the chicks had gone but they can hide out of the cameras coverage. Tonight 2 swifts in each nest. Is it the adults roosting or was I wrong. Time will tell as thinking they had fledged I have not been monitoring the nests.

Returned home today to find the bedroom nest empty. As expected the chicks have fledged. Hopefully successfully. The chick in the chimney nest is still here. Not a great clip but evidence of it in the nest.

Cool day with a few torrential downpours this afternoon. Not much action. Managed a clip of the bedroom nest family again today and a sparrow by the chimney nest. Just above the sparrow is its nest with sparrow chicks present. This area of the attic is always shared by swifts and sparrows.

Am going away for a few days. The chicks may well fledge whilst I am away.

Reasonable weather today. Out most of the day but when I have looked at the cameras little has changed. Short clips from both nests.

Overnight storm. Very windy day. Didn’t see any flying swifts today. Adults away from mid morning onwards. Clip of the whole bedroom nest family showing how difficult it is now to distinguish between the adults and the chicks. Second clip of the chimney nest chick preening with adult behind.

Cold breezy day today. Not too much time to monitor the cameras. No new things to add today but the chicks are getting very difficult to distinguish from the adults. Short clips from each nest.

Storm due over night and windy day tomorrow.

Much cooler today. More windy and a few light showers. Family staying so not much time to check cameras. Not seen the adults at all today. One of the bedroom nest swifts used the space in the attic to stretch his wings and almost a press-up. This is one of the signs of preparation for fledging. A clip showing this and a short clip of the chimney nest chick.

Cooler day but dry most of the day. I was able to spend some more time looking at the cameras. Almost thought I had got the loss of a chick wrong but decided in the end that an adult was staying with the chick most of the day. Now at 8.30pm it’s clear that the chimney nest has only one chick. The chick last thing tonight did some wing press-ups showing it is getting near fledging. The bedroom nest chicks wandering round the attic.

I think it’s a sad day today. I have only seen one chick in the bedroom nest all day. It’s a very hard to access part of the attic with a 5 foot wall very close to the nest. I have rescued a chick in a previous year successfully but a 20 minute scrabble lying below water pipes failed to find the chick. No evidence on the ground outside the nest site so I think we have lost a chick. In the bedroom nest one of the chicks has started stretching a wing one of the first indicators of preparation for fledging. Heavy rain over night and this morning.