KenM
Well-known member
Over many decades...(too many to mention), there has been a more or less regular consistency to the incoming migrant Swifts. If your lucky, you might see your first within the last week of April before they arrive en masses in the first week of May.
This has been my experience in NE.London, particularly the Lee Valley with it's large reservoir groups. To try and put it in a time frame perspective, my earliest records have been a single over the KGV April 18th many yeas ago, and last year a single "whistling through" on April 27th (at home).
Last Saturday April 21st, at home late afternoon, just as it clouded over and was looking a bit stormy, I picked up "high" circa a mile+ away over the KGV group of reservoirs, first several, then counted up to a dozen at least, before they disappeared into the cloud. To my mind based on the last 45 years of observations, this was an unprecedented number at such an early date!
The following day from the same reservoir a dozen+ were reported, no doubt the previous days birds lingering, following on to yesterday another circa 70 reported from the Staines group!
Would anybody else like to comment on these early records?
Cheers
This has been my experience in NE.London, particularly the Lee Valley with it's large reservoir groups. To try and put it in a time frame perspective, my earliest records have been a single over the KGV April 18th many yeas ago, and last year a single "whistling through" on April 27th (at home).
Last Saturday April 21st, at home late afternoon, just as it clouded over and was looking a bit stormy, I picked up "high" circa a mile+ away over the KGV group of reservoirs, first several, then counted up to a dozen at least, before they disappeared into the cloud. To my mind based on the last 45 years of observations, this was an unprecedented number at such an early date!
The following day from the same reservoir a dozen+ were reported, no doubt the previous days birds lingering, following on to yesterday another circa 70 reported from the Staines group!
Would anybody else like to comment on these early records?
Cheers
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