See the main page for notes, photos, and diaries for other years.
The numbered nestboxes can be seen on this photo, and the entrances to the internal boxes on the gable end in this photo.
2016-August-23 The 2016 swift-season has ended, and the live video is now offline. 2 chicks raised in each of the camera boxes, probably 5 other breeding pairs (including 1 in the new gable boxes). With a non-breeding pair resident in one of the 6 gable boxes as well for a while, things look good for even more use of these next year.
2016-August-22 I just saw the 2nd and last young swift fledge from gable-box #g3 at 4.08pm. It paused more out than in the entrance before flying off, and I was able to watch it for about a minute. I checked inside the box, and indeed it's now empty. I can't 100% guarantee that it wasn't an adult swift, but it looked like the behaviour of a young one.
2016-August-21 I looked in gable box #g3 in the early evening of 20th August 2016 and again in the morning of 21st August 2016. On both occasions, there was a single young swift present, so the first one fledged sometime between 18th and 20th August 2016, and the remaining one will probably go soon. At least one adult is still visiting, but unsettled windy weather is causing too many motion-detections from the outside camera, so I can't be certain what's going on.
2016-August-18 The 2nd young swift fledged from nest #1a at 1.00pm, and was seen flying away on the outside camera. One of the adults returned with a full throat-pouch of food 75 minutes later, and stayed for 7 minutes. It still had the food in its mouth for at least the first 5 minutes, and then disappeared out of camera-view near the entrance, so I can't say what it did with it.
In gable-end box #g3, I was wondering if the two young swifts had left, as I didn't spot any feeding activity yesterday (though easily missed, especially if the motion-detection captures lots of movements of shadows, etc.). I did see one adult swift leave this morning. I took a look inside the box, and the two young are still there. Feeding often stops a little while before fledging.
2016-August-17 Yesterday evening, 16th August 2016, one of the two young swifts in nest #1a fledged. It was 9.00pm, and already dark. The outside camera showed it first blocking the infra-red light shining from the entrance hole, then leaving and heading off upwards, without swooping downwards as the adults usually do. Only one of the two adults stayed overnight. The other young swift is still there.
2016-August-15 The pair of swifts in box #g6 have left - they had two very late eggs at one point, but had removed them. Hopefully they will be back next year. The end of season 2016 is approaching, with the two young in box #1 due to fledge any time now. The two young in box #g3 are presumably still there, as the parents are visiting regularly. They are due to fledge in a few days time.
2016-August-5 I took another look in the gable-end nest boxes in the loft today.
The two eggs in box #g6, which would have been due to hatch soon, are no longer present. I haven't looked for a while, so they could have been removed by the birds some time ago. The adult swifts are still coming and going, and there is a well-formed nest on the concave, so good prospects for next year.
2016-July-31 After 5 days of thinking there was a young swift in box #2 not being fed (outside camera showing adults returning at night but not during the day), I looked in the box today, and it's gone. I guess it was nearer fledging than I judged on 26th July 2016.
The two adults in #4 returned for a final night on 29th July 2016, with a single daytime visit on 30th July 2016 by one of them (still bringing in nest material!). So unless they surprise me by returning again, they're now gone, which means they stuck around for 14 days after their young fledged - longer than I have previously observed, but then this was the earliest fledging I've observed.
2016-July-26 I took a look inside the 3 non-camera swift boxes at the back of the house, so here's the status of all boxes and other entrances:
2016-July-22 I took another look in the gable-end nest boxes in the loft today. I finally saw the young (2) in #g3 being fed by both adults, and was surprised to see two eggs (and an adult) in #g6. There were no eggs in #g6 on 15th July, so I'm estimating that the 2nd egg was laid between the 18th and 21st July - behaviour seen on the outside camera has been more like birds swapping over sitting duties since yesterday (as opposed to spending the entire day out).
2016-July-21 Around mid-day, I found a fledgling swift on the ground in the garden. I cleaned spider-webs from its face, and weighed it: 42g, so essentially fully grown, though wings only about the same length as the tail. I tried test-flying it on the recreation ground (plenty open space, so it couldn't get lost if it didn't fly). It was willing to try flying from my hand, but could only manage a gradual fluttery downward trajectory. So I took it to swift-carer Judith Wakelam (she successfully raises a considerable number of young swifts each year). It was happy to accept some insect food. Judith thought it was maybe 6 days short of being fully ready to fledge - the 'sheath' or 'pin' from which the feathers emerge was still visible on wing and tail feathers. Putting it back in its nest would have been a possibility, but I don't know which nest it came from - I'm guessing soffit-space #w2r.
2016-July-20 Since their young fledged, the two adults in box #4 have still returned to the nest on each of the 3 nights since, after spending the whole day out. I was a bit surprised when one entered near mid-day today carrying nesting material, and stayed for nearly an hour. I can't help wondering if there could be an attempt at a 2nd brood (rare, but not unknown, e.g. many at Erich Kaiser's colony in Kronberg, Germany, in 2004), but I really think it's too late in the year to expect success.
2016-July-16 The two young swifts in box #4 fledged around 21:35 in the evening, precisely on the expected day.
2016-July-15 Nothing different to report, as we approach the time when the two young swifts in box #4 might fledge. The 10 day old young in box #1 look fine - often being left alone between feeds, but both adults present at night. There is a young swift often looking out of box #5, and adults regularly visiting #2, #w1r, and #w2r. At the gable end, there are presumably young in #g3 (not yet seen, as always an adult in the way when I have looked). A pair are spending each night in #g6, but there are no eggs. From what I see on the outside camera, my interpretation is that the birds in #g6 still often briefly enter #g4 and #g5.
2016-July-6 I saw the 2nd chick in box #1 this afternoon, with both of them being fed. It's not something I've experienced before, having 5-week old and 1-day old youngsters on the two cameras - all the more fascinating that the one turns into the other in such a short time.
2016-July-5 At least one of the eggs in box #1 hatched today - chick first seen on video at 15:40, though of course may have hatched earlier. I've not yet managed to spot a second chick, but as usual, the adults are always in the way of the view.
2016-July-4 The outside camera shows a pair of swifts regularly going in gable entrance #g5, and spending the night. I thinks it's the same birds sometimes going in #g6, perhaps in error? Could there still be time for eggs, as it gets later in the season? The latest I've seen a swift fledge from here (2012-2015) has been 28th August last year (2015). If birds laid now, we'd be looking at fledging around 5th September 2016.
2016-July-2 At least one of the young swifts in box #4 is now spending time looking out of the entrance - just 2 more weeks until expected fledging now. The two eggs in box #1 haven't hatched yet - expected in 4 more days. I checked inside the 6 gable-end boxes: a swift was sitting in #g3, where eggs are expected to hatch in 6 days time, but nothing in the other 5, though I saw a pair of swifts enter one of the others a few days ago.
2016-June-26 At 3 weeks since hatching, with another 3 weeks to go until expected fledging, the two chicks in box #4 are exercising their wings, and can get around the nestbox, though they are not yet at the 'looking out of the entrance' stage. It's 10 more days until the expecting hatching of the two 'replacement' eggs in box #1, so there is almost always an adult sitting on them. The swifts still come and go at gable entrance #g3 - their eggs are around 2 days later, so 12 more days until hatching. Swifts continue accessing all the 'usual' places - 4 external boxes (still #3 is unused), the gable entrance, and 2 soffit-spaces (top right of both windows) - so I think 7 breeding pairs, and still plenty spaces for more. Since swifts first raised young here (at least in recent years) in 2012, it's now possible that swifts which left in past years might be already breeding, or seeking new spaces - I've not read one way or the other whether young swifts are likely to return precisely to the area where they were raised.
2016-June-19 A 2nd egg has been laid today in gable nest #g3 (now added to the table of dates) - will there be a 3rd? Finally had a clear view of nest #1a in early evening, and there are still 2 eggs. I've had eggs laid 3 days apart in the past, but today's behaviour today looks like 'incubation', with the birds changing over each hour or so, so I'll assume the clutch is complete at 2.
2016-June-17 A 2nd new egg was laid in nest #1a this morning, I think at 09:11.
I just checked inside the boxes behind the gable-entrances. There is 1 egg in the concave in #g3 (no extra nesting material), where a pair have been staying each night. As when I last looked, there is a small amount of long grass in all 6 - probably the work of sparrows, though I have never seen one going in.
2016-June-15 A 1st new egg was laid in box #1 this morning at 08:46 or earlier. I'll call this nest #1a in the table of dates.
All the activity at the new gable-entrances about 10 days ago seems to have resulted in a single pair spending each night in box #g3, with occasional prospecting of the others.
2016-June-8 The 'new pair' (probably one of the original pair, plus a new swift) spent the night in box #1. The 2nd egg has now been displaced from the nest, and I think new eggs are likely.
2016-June-7 A single swift returned to box #1 at 20:50 last night. It sometimes sat on the nest, and at other times didn't. Looking at the video early this morning, I was surprised to see two birds. A 2nd one arrived at 05:00, and after about an hour of screaming, squabbling, mutual preening (whatever all this behaviour is), they have settled down. So what now? More eggs?
2016-June-6 There were two visits to box #1 by what I'd interpret as a 'stranger' bird. It screamed on entering, and seemed to investigate the box (looking at the camera, and looking at the crack at the side of the inspection-door), with no attempt to brood the eggs. Not the normal behaviour of the resident bird (which wasn't there). On the second visit, it appeared to intentionally eject an egg from the nest, with a flick of its head and beak. The 1st attempt failed - the egg bounced back off the side of the box, but the 2nd attempt displaced it to the end of the box. I could replace it, but I see no point - with one adult, the brood was doomed to failure, and maybe this is a new bird, which might start a new clutch.
2016-June-5 I spotted the 2nd chick in box #4 around mid-day during a change-over of the parent birds. It could have hatched yesterday.
The nest in box #1 was unattended from early morning until evening, when the single adult returned. The eggs probably won't hatch, and even if they do, a single bird isn't thought able to raise young from the earliest stage.
During the day, there were 80 comings and goings by swifts from the 6 gable-entrances, but only 2 or 3 are staying overnight.
2016-June-4 One of the two eggs in box #4 has hatched (precisely on the predicted day). There were still 2 eggs at 12:21, and I first saw the chick (with the other egg) at 17:33.
The weather has finally returned to something like we expect for the time of year. By the afternoon, there were over 40 comings and goings by swifts today at the new 6 gable-entrances, with only #g1 (where the call-player is) un-visited. I believe there was a pair in #g3 last night, and a single bird in #g4. It's still possible that all this activity could be just 3 birds (the maximum that was inside at any given time), but is likely more.
2016-June-3 The bad weather continues. It seems we are due for an improvement tomorrow. In box #1, there is still only one adult, and it was absent from 11:17 to 17:01 today. Even the pair in box #4 are leaving their eggs for longer periods: from 11:22 to 17:36 today.
I hear reports of similar absences from camera-nests nearby from Dick Newell (of Action for Swifts).
2016-June-2 We are now into the 4th day of a spell of very poor weather for the time of year: cold, rain, and wind. Since around midday yesterday, 2016 June 1st, there has only been one adult swift in nestbox #1, including overnight last night. It is alternating between sitting on the eggs, and going out to feed - perhaps an hour or two of each. I read that swift eggs can survive chilling, and maybe the other bird has gone somewhere to better weather, but I'm hoping it returns. The pair in nestbox #4 are sometimes leaving their eggs unattended as well, which further suggests that this might be weather-related.
2016-May-27 Thanks to the outside camera, I've now seen swifts entering all 6 of the new gable entrances - sometimes pairs entering one after the other. It still might be the same birds trying out different ones, or else being confused.
2016-May-26 I'm now certain that the clutches in both camera boxes are complete at 2 eggs. Someone let me know they'd finally spotted the eggs with no birds in the way in box #1, and I've now found the saved video clip myself.
Today I have moved the call-player speaker from gable-end box #g4 to box #g1, since there are swifts going into #g4, but I haven't yet seen activity at #g1 or #g2. The outside camera captured a pair entering #g3, so I've now seen swifts entering 4 out of the 6 (of course might not be different birds).
2016-May-25 I haven't had a clear view of either nest for some days - always a bird in the way, so although I think both camera nests (#1 and #4) have a clutch of 2 eggs, there could be 3 in box #1 without me knowing yet (today is probably the last possible day for a 3rd if there was going to be one). Swifts are also regularly entering #2, #5, #w1r, and #w2r - the ones which appeared to be used last year.
I checked the new gable-end internal boxes from inside the loft today, having seen a swift enter #g5 and #g6, and cling on the outside of #g4. I found that all 6 had some nesting material, but it looked more like 'sparrow' than 'swift' - long pieces of grass, though not a complete nest. I was going to move the call-player from box #g4 to maybe #g1, to get more interest in the 3 leftmost entrances (from outside). But on gently opening the back of #g4 (in darkness in the loft), I found a single swift in residence, so have left the call-playing speaker there for now, so as not to disturb the bird. The swift remained very still, but clearly alive. It didn't seem to notice what I was doing, or (as others have found) mind loud calls being played from a few inches away. The concave had been moved a bit from where I originally placed it. I might look another time, and move the speaker provided that there isn't a bird there. I haven't actually seen sparrows taking interest in these entrances, but I can't look at them as regularly as the ones visible from the back garden. Maybe I'll set up an outside-camera.
2016-May-22 Second egg in nestbox #1 today, first seen at 11:05, though likely laid earlier in the morning.
This morning was the first proper session of 'prospecting' behaviour - swifts looking for nest spaces. There seemed to be a 'fight' in soffit space #w2r, presumably after an 'intruder' entered. Again a swift seemed to be looking for the old entrance under the slates (now filled in), but it must have also noticed the swift-calls which I'm playing from inside one of the new internal boxes on the gable end (#g4) - I saw it briefly cling to the outside of this entrance. Later in the day, I saw a swift properly enter the next one to the right (#g5), so it's promising that one or more of these new entrances will be used in their first season.
2016-May-20 First egg in nestbox #1 today, first seen at 08:19, though possibly laid earlier in the morning.
2016-May-19 Still just the 2 eggs in nestbox #4, so as it's now 3 days since the 2nd egg was laid, it seems that they are sticking with a clutch of 2. Still no eggs in nestbox #1, but until this year, May 19th was the earliest I'd had an egg, so plenty time yet.
2016-May-17 Is the clutch complete or not in nestbox #4? Today they sat on the nest for some of the time, and I watched a traditional 'change-over' between birds. But they've also left the eggs unattended for plenty time as well. With such an early start, and often having three eggs in the past, I was thinking three (or even more?) likely. Perhaps tomorrow will tell.
2016-May-16 Second egg in nestbox #4 today, first seen at 10:17, though possibly laid earlier
2016-May-15 Nothing new in the two camera-boxes, but in the evening, a swift was evidently looking for the old entrance under the slates at the gable-end of the house. This never appeared to be a suitable nest-space, with only the thickness of the battens providing height between the roofing-felt and the slates, still swifts had been entering in both of the last two years - one guesses that they bred somehow. The entrance, where mortar had fallen out, has now been filled in, but there are 6 new entrances with the closest about a meter to the left, and indeed I'm playing calls from one of them.
Also I saw a swift confidently enter one of the 'trial brick-size' boxes (the right-most one, #b2), which have been there since 2014. I saw a swift enter once before in 2014, despite resident sparrows, but it didn't stay. The swift appears to be staying the night - one of its feathers is sticking out of the entrance.
2016-May-14 First egg in nestbox #4 today. It wasn't there yesterday afternoon, and I first saw it on video at 08:44 today, though someone reports seeing it at around 08:15. I can't rule out it being laid earlier - difficult with birds so often being in the way of the view. In my 4 years with cameras, this is the earliest egg (beating last year's one in the same nest on 2015 May 19th).
The pair in box #1 have assembled a good collection of nesting material (they started with nothing this year).
2016-May-8 Today, I saw evidence (I think) of a fight in box #2 (no camera here). In early evening, a swift was 'stuck' for several minutes with head and half its body hanging out of the hole - I assume a swift inside was still clinging on to it so it couldn't get away. A starling started showing interest - the swift would have been an easy target for attack, but around then it got away, followed by 'duetting' from the swifts still inside.
2016-May-7 This morning, at 07:50, two swifts entered box #1 one after another - the first appearance this season of the 2nd member of the pair. At 11:50, I saw two swifts leave box #5, so the first confirmation of both members of a pair in there this year. At 18:39, I saw two swifts enter box #2, so that's another pair. And I saw a swift entering soffit-space #w1r, so at least 5 nest spaces appear now to be 'active'. Still nothing at the seemingly unpopular #3, despite it being identical to #5, and not far away.
2016-May-5 The single bird in box #1 stayed out all day, returning in the evening. At 18:49, a swift entered box #4, joined by a 2nd (pursued by a starling) at 19:25. One or more swifts were in and out of box #5 (no camera, occupied last year).
2016-May-4 This morning I saw my first swift of 2016, flying over the village. At 16:41 a swift entered box #1. It stayed for about 20 minutes, and at 18:55 it (presumably the same one) entered the box again, carrying nesting material. After one more excursion outside, it settled in for the night at 20:38.
This year, in addition to the usual 5 nestboxes plus various holes in the soffit which they use, I have 6 new boxes installed in the loft, with access through the brickwork in the gable end (photos here).
The two video cameras are now online for the 2016 season (link to live video above).
This is nest box #1 in which swifts raised young for the first time in 2012.
In 2013 (with a camera in the box for the first time) they raised 3 chicks; 2 in 2014; and 3 in 2015.
The dates of arrival of the first swift in this box were: 2013 May 6th evening; 2014 May 5th evening; 2015 May 5th evening; 2016 May 4th afternoon.
Over the winters of 2014-2015, and again in 2015-16, the nest was reduced to a pile of debris by insects (this is quite common). I've cleaned it out, so they have a fresh start in 2016.
This is nest box (#4) in which swifts raised young for the first time in 2014 (with a camera in the box).
The dates of arrival of the first swift in this box were: 2014 May 7th evening; 2015 May 4th evening; 2016 May 5th evening.
The birds built their nest on a 'concave', and unlike the one in box #1, the nest has remained intact over the winters of 2014-2015 and 2015-16.