Swifts are only seen in the UK for a few months to breed before migrating back to central Africa (mainly). They eat and sleep on the wing. We usually see them from May until about now. Often the young start to move south quite soon.
Their return in the spring is always an important milestone in the year. Often they can be heard screaming. I look up and there they are again. Although numbers are meant to be down as nest sites disappear, at least locally there appears to be more than last year. I hope they have found ways of adapting.
After months seeing few house martins they seem plentiful around "our" windmill for the last few days. I have seen no swifts today. Have they flown south?
30 years ago this would have been unheard of. They are now common again, but they nearly went extinct in the UK. They were re-introduced and are now thriving.
They are unmistakable with their forked tail and slow soaring. They are often seen near main roads scavenging on road kill. Going to Devon by train about a month ago I counted 4 and I was not really looking.
At the moment I think I shall go on QRP 6m FT8 and QRP 10m WSPR. If things look promising I may try 8m.
