Wonderful news. Yes an egg has arrived in the nest. Was watching this morning and saw this.

Though it may be an egg so waited until they had both gone out and sneaked in. Managed to get this slightly out of focus picture.

Over the last week they have been out from about 08.30 until 19.30ish. Lots of preening and clearly a close couple. There are 4 swifts flying round the house on a regular basis but as yet have not been able to locate another nest but I am fairly sure there is one. I am a bit disappointed as 3 years ago there were 5 successful nests, last year 4 nests but only two successful and it appears only two nests this year. Lets hope we get another egg or two over the next few days.

The day after they both arrived in the nest they spent most of the day at home. Yesterday they were out all day but today we had heavy rain until about 4pm and they stayed in until the rain stopped. then an hour flying and feeding then back home for the night. I am beginning, with no evidence, to think that this is the same pair from last year. The approach to the nest site is quite difficult having to swerve around a tree so blind to the very small entrance until the very last minute. They are both arriving with such aplomb that I am sure they are not new to this nest.

A short video from this evening showing typical behaviour on the nest.

Great news. Yesterday afternoon there were two swifts in the nest from last year. I will call it the bedroom nest as it is just above our bedroom. I first saw a swift in this nest on the 5th May. For a week or so the swift spent most nights in the nest then last week disappeared. I am therefore unsure if the first swift has been off to find another mate or if this is its original mate who arrived late. From the net swifts are still arriving most colonies still have about 50% to arrive. As they do not see each other between nesting and do not travel together either scenario is possible. The other nest I have a camera on remains empty. This is a bit strange as I have video of two swifts on the nest 2 weeks ago. This is the nest where they ejected two eggs last year. There are at least 4 other swifts flying round the house but I have yet to find if and where they are nesting. A warm dry evening when I can sit outside and watch may help.

Two short clips first one from yesterday showing them both in nest and another one from this morning.

I am not sure what is happening. Yesterday evening, about 18.30 had a brief screaming fly pass with 6 swifts. Last night however both nests were empty all night. Today a brief view of 2 swifts flying high but still both nests remain empty. Nothing else to say at the moment but I will search the loft to see if there is any evidence of any more swifts but I am not feeling very optimistic.

Was quite excited on Friday last when I counted 8 swifts screaming round the house. I have been out a lot but have only seen up to three at one time since then.

Feeling a bit sad at the moment. The camera on last years nest where 2 swifts fledged successfully I have only seen one swift. It is out all day and returns around dusk and stays the night alone. This is particularly sad as I believed that last year. was their first year and I am beginning to believe that one of the pair has not made it back.

A short video from tonight.

The other nest has a new camera. I have had to place the camera further away both to focus and to cover a larger area used by the swifts. I have seen two swifts on this nest but only one for the last two nights. A longer video giving a view of the area where the nest is.

I have been looking out for the return of our swifts for a couple of weeks. We were in Florence for a few days in the middle of April and the morning and evening skies were full of hundreds of swifts. I returned home from a few days grand child sitting this afternoon and the first thing I heard getting out of the car was 4 screaming swifts flying around the house. I have invested in another IP camera so I have both the nests I filmed last year covered. The new camera is a bit too near the nest and is a little out of focus so will need to move it over the next few days. I was delighted to find that the nest with the new camera had 2 swifts in it busily preening each other but only one swift in the main nest from last year. Firstly from the new camera.

From last years camera.

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.