See the main page for notes, photos, and diaries for other years.
You can view live video here from some of the nestboxes (not guaranteed always online, but I try
to keep it running).
Now offline for 2023 season as the birds have left.
Here is a page with some explanation of how I do the video.
The numbered nestboxes can be seen on this photo, and the entrances to the internal boxes on the gable end in this photo.
| Year | Nest | Adult1 | Adult2 | Egg1 | Egg2 | Egg3 | Hatch | Fledge1 | Fledge2 | Fledge3 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #1 | May-7 | May-9 | May-22 | May-24 | May-26 | Jun-13 | Jul-25 | x | - | 1 parent only; 1 chick moved to nest #g1; 1 chick died. |
| 2023 | #2 | ≤May-6 | ? | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ≤Jun-19 | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | - | One egg failed. |
| 2023 | #3 | ≤May-2 | ≤May-14 | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ~Jun-14? | Jul-18/24 | Jul-18/24 | Jul-26/27 | |
| 2023 | #4 | May-7 | May-12 | May-27 | May-29 | May-31 | Jun-17 | x | x | x | Parent swifts disappeared. |
| 2023 | #5 | ≤May-6 | ? | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ~Jun-12? | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | |
| 2023 | #g1 | ? | ? | ≤May-23 | ≤May-25? | ≤May-27? | ~Jun-12? | Jul-22/24 | Jul-22/24 | Jul-26/27 | 1 chick added from nest #1, fledged Jul 30/31. |
| 2023 | #g2 | ≤May-23 | ? | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ~Jun-10? | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | |
| 2023 | #g3 | ≤May-10 | ? | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ~Jun-10? | ≤Jul-18 | ≤Jul-18 | Jul-18/19 | |
| 2023 | #g4 | ? | ? | ≤Jun-22 | - | - | x | Egg abandoned. | |||
| 2023 | #g5 | ? | ? | ≤May-29? | ≤May-31? | ≤Jun-2 | ~Jun-19? | Jul-28/29 | Jul-29/30 | Jul-30/31 | |
| 2023 | #g6 | ? | ? | ≤Jun-22 | ? | - | ≤Jul-8 | Aug-23 | - | - | One egg failed. |
| 2023 | #sb1 | ≤Jun-4 | ? | ≤Jun-20? | ≤Jun-22 | - | ≤Jul-8 | x | - | - | One egg damaged, one chick abandoned. |
| 2023 | #sb3 | ? | ? | ≤Jun-2 | - | - | ≤Jun-26 | x | - | - | Nest abandoned. |
| 2023 | #sb4 | May-20 | ? | ≤Jun-2? | ? | - | ~Jun-20 | ? | x | - | Young left early - likely died. |
| Year | Nest | Adult1 | Adult2 | Egg1 | Egg2 | Egg3 | Hatch | Fledge1 | Fledge2 | Fledge3 | Comments |
Predicted dates above based on the average for previous nests with camera: last egg to hatching 19 days; hatching to first fledging 42 days.
2023-Aug-24 So the end of another swift season here. One in which several nesting adult swifts 'disappeared', with evidence of predation by sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus), but still plenty chicks raised.
2023-Aug-23 After a day or two without the parent swift visiting, the single chick in nest #g6 was seen leaving on the outside-camera at 16:52, and the nest is now empty.
2023-Aug-21 Just an update to say that the single swift chick in nest #g6 is still there, and looks about ready to fledge. The outside camera is capturing plenty feeding-visits. It seems fairly certain that this chick has been raised by a single parent for most if not all of its development, which would explain why the egg, and then the newly hatched chick were often unattended. It's now 2 days since my predicted fledging date, based on 42 days since it hatching on or just before 2023-July-8.
2023-Aug-9 The season of swift-activity here hasn't quite ended, because there is still the single swift chick in nest #g6. It still looks small for its age, and I feel has been developing slowly, but otherwise looks fine. Wings nearly as long as tail now. Is this perhaps another nest with just a single parent swift?
2023-Aug-2 I've just taken the video offline, as this season's activity in the camera nestboxes has ended. Yesterday morning, there was a swift in the house - most likely from soffit nest-space #w1r, via the open loft-hatch. It seemed very 'ready to go' - I took it to a nearby open space, and it quickly flew off, doing a few circles above before disppearing.
2023-Jul-31 Nest #g1 is now empty, so 3 chicks plus one added from another nest have fledged. Nest #g5 is also empty, so the last of the 3 chicks has fledged. The single chick, looking under-developed, is still present in nest #g6 - eyes open, down nearly gone, wing feathers 'medium' - it is around 23 days old.
2023-Jul-30 A 2nd of the three chicks in nest #g5 has fledged.
2023-Jul-29 One of the three chicks in nest #g5 has fledged.
I can still see at least one swift chick in the loft-space near soffit nest-space #w1r. At nest #w2r, there was lots of flapping noise of young swift(s) the night before last - not sure if they have fledged yet.
2023-Jul-27 A third chick has fledged from nest #g1 (still one left, as one was added from another nest). The third and last chick has fledged from nest #3.
2023-Jul-26 The single swift chick in nest #1 fledged at 20:57 last night, with the parent bird returning for the night (with food) at 21:09. So at least some success here, with the chick being raised by a single parent for many weeks.
2023-Jul-25 Still two chicks remaining in nest #g1, and still one remaining in #3. In nest #g5, there are now 3 chicks (there were still 4 yesterday, after one added from another nest 4 days ago).
I still don't really know what is going on in nest #g6. The single chick looks under-developed, and at times I thought it was abandoned. But there is often an adult swift present, as when I looked today.
2023-Jul-24 Two chicks have fledged from nest #g1 (since I checked two days ago), so still two remain (1 was added from another nest to the original clutch of 3).
Two of three chicks in nest #3 have fledged - I only know for certain that this was within the last 6 days, but more likely recent, since my prediction was Jul-26, and also there still being one chick there.
2023-Jul-21 Yesterday, I found a small (14g) swift chick on the ground in the garden. It's not clear which nest this came from - the only possibilities are #sb4 (but there is often a larger chick looking out from this nest); #w1r or #w2r (but I judge chicks here to be larger from droppings outside); or a nest I somehow don't know about. I added the chick to the single chick of similar size in nest #g6, but today it was found dead on the ground outside.
Another small (24g, so larger than yesterday's one) chick on the ground in the garden today. Could this be the larger one which had been looking out of #sb4 - there were 2 there originally. I added it to nest #g5, where the chicks are not dissimilar, making 4 chicks in there.
2023-Jul-19 The remaining chick in nest #g3 has now fledged, sometime yesterday or today.
2023-Jul-18 Some swifts have fledged, hopefully successfully: all 3 have gone from nest #g2; in nest #g3 2 have gone and 1 remains; the 2 chicks in nest #2 have gone; the 3 chicks in nest #5 have gone.
The single chick in nest #g6 is growing - eyes still closed but looks about right for around 10 days old.
I haven't mentioned the non-inspectable nest spaces for a while: there are large droppings from swift chicks on the window-ledge below soffit-space #w1r and I saw a swift in the loft space near this nest today - I cleared the droppings today so I can check if more appear. There is plenty activity of adult swifts at soffit-space #w2r, but no droppings from chicks outside yet.
2023-Jul-13 In nest #g6, I reported 5 days ago that there was a single recently-hatched swift-chick. I suspected that it had been abandoned, even looking after dark a few nights ago and finding no adult swifts present. But today and yesterday, there was an adult swift on the nest - I didn't want to push it off the nest to check, but I can only suppose that the chick is alive and being fed. I will continue to check.
The tiny swift-chick in nest #sb1 reported 5 days ago was indeed abandoned and has died.
2023-Jul-8 I saw a swift taken by a sparrowhawk this morning - perhaps inevitable when there are so many swifts in the area, even though sparrowhawks don't easily catch swifts.
The 2nd swift chick in camera nest #1 died during the last two days. It was much smaller than the other one, maybe not competing for food with just one parent. The one I transferred from here to another nest still appears to be doing fine.
There is a tiny swift chick in each of nests #sb1 and #g6. No adult swift was present in either nest when I looked, perhaps surprising with a chick of this size, though it's a very warm day.
There has been a single adult swift in (now empty) camera-nestbox #4. It is getting very late in the season to start a new clutch of eggs, but still just about possible.
2023-Jul-3 Just a few updates: In 'starling' box #sb1, and adult swift is always sitting when I look - presumably on one egg, as the other egg appears damaged and was out of the nest some days ago; in nestbox #g6 an adult swift was sitting on one egg, and there is an infertile egg not in the nest. The single parent swift on camera-nestbox #1 continues to feed the 2 chicks - one appears considerably larger than the other, but they both participate in the scramble which results whenever the adult turns up with food.
2023-Jun-28 I've been paying a lot less attention to the video from the two camera-nests than in previous years (I've seen it all before!). So I didn't notice for quite a while, but there has been some loss of parent swifts - reasons unknown, though I did see a sparrowhawk carry something off, which could have been a swift from the feathers which remained on the ground.
Nest #1 has just had a single parent swift for a few days, so the three chicks were usually left unattended, and fed about once each hour. Today, I removed one of the chicks and placed it in nest #g1 with 3 chicks of similar size, to give the single parent more chance of raising the remaining two. Swifts never (rarely?) have 4 young, but (added later) all 4 still looking by 2023-Jul-21.
Nest #4 has had no parent swifts at all for several days, though a single adult swift roosted in the box on at least two nights (showing no interest in the chicks). So the 3 chicks will not survive, and it's possible that a new nest might still be started.
There is still a single egg in nest #g4, which I think has been abandoned. In nest #g6, each time I have looked, a swift has been incubating a single egg. In 'starling' box #sb1, swifts are incubating two eggs, though I think one is damaged. In 'starling' box #sb3, the single egg hatched two days ago, but I still believe that this nest had been abandoned.
2023-Jun-22 Checked all the accessible swift nests today. The 3 chicks in each of camera-nests #1 and #4 are developing, with those
in #4 still naked, whereas those in #1 (4 days older) have feathers coming through.
2 chicks in #2;
3 chicks (eyes still closed) in #3 est. 8 days old;
3 chicks (eyes just open) in #5 est. 10 days old;
3 chicks (eyes just open) in #g1 est. 10 days old;
3 chicks in #g2 est. 12 days old;
3 chicks in #g3 est. 12 days old;
1 egg in #g4;
3 chicks in #g5 (naked, blind) est. 3 days old;
1 egg in #g6;
2 eggs in #sb1;
1 egg in #sb3 (there was an egg here on Jun-2, so maybe abandoned);
2 chicks in #sb4 (naked, blind) est. 2 days old;
Things worth checking the next few days: more eggs in #g4 and #g6; 3rd egg in #sb1; anything in #sb3 or is the egg abandoned? No signs yet of swift-activity in #sb2 (the 'starling' box which is quite low down).
2023-Jun-19 Inspected swift nest #2: 2 chicks present (there were 3 eggs, so one appears to have failed).
2023-Jun-18 By 13:54, the second egg in nestbox #4 had hatched - 1 egg remaining. Just to confirm: all 3 expected chicks are present in camera nestbox #1 - I didn't monitor when the third one hatched.
2023-Jun-17 At 20:15, spotted on camera that the first egg in nestbox #4 had hatched - 2 eggs remaining. This is two days earlier than predicted, maybe a result of hot weather during the incubation period.
2023-Jun-14 At least one of the eggs in camera-nestbox #1 hatched yesterday evening, one day earlier than predicted. As usual, it's so difficult to see chicks or eggs, with adult swifts always in the way. At 13:26 today, finally a clear view of 2 chicks and 1 egg still to hatch.
2023-Jun-4 I've just seen a swift looking out of 'starling' box #sb1, where there was no visible sign of activity two days ago. Also saw a swift enter soffit-space #w1r - the equivalent place above the other window (#w2r) has been occupied for some time. Both these soffit-spaces are usually occupied, but not the ones at top-left of the windows - I don't know whether the space behind the hole is less attractive.
2023-Jun-2 The camera in nestbox #4 recorded a first egg on May-27, a second on May-29, and a third on May-31.
An inspection of all the non-camera nest boxes revealed: a further 2 eggs in #g1 making 3 eggs; 3 eggs in #g2; 3 eggs in #g3; 3 eggs in #g5; 3 eggs in #2; 3 eggs in #3; 3 eggs in #5; 1 swift egg in 'starling' box #sb3; at least one swift egg in 'starling' box #sb4. There is no sign of swift activity yet this season in #g4, #g6, #sb1, #sb2.
So 7 presumably complete clutches of 3 eggs, a nest with one egg (more likely), and a nest with at least 1 egg (adult swift in the way).
2023-May-26 Third swift egg in camera-nestbox #1 spotted at 10:27 this morning.
2023-May-24 Second swift egg in camera-nestbox #1 spotted at 08:19 this morning.
2023-May-23 I just inspected the gable-end nestboxes for the first time this season: 1 swift egg in #g1; and adult swift on the nest in #g2 & #g3, and nothing in #g4 #g5 #g6 (but of course the swifts might just not be at the nest).
2023-May-22 First swift egg of the season spotted this morning at 09:07 in camera-nestbox #1.
2023-May-20 Indeed there were two swifts in nestbox #4 last night, for the first time this season, and again there are two there this evening.
This evening, after thinking I heard swift-calls coming from somewhere nearby, I saw a swift looking out of 'starling' nestbox #sb4, leaving it soon after. This is (I think) the only one of my 4 starling nestboxes used by starlings this season, and it's only a day or two since a starling chick, most likely one of several, was looking out the entrance and being fed, probably ready to fledge. So a very rapid changeover between starling and swift - they fit together very well unless the starlings try for a second brood.
2023-May-19 At 16:33 today, a second swift joined one already there in camera-nestbox #4. As usual, their initial interaction looked more like a fight, but by 17:00 they seemed to have settled down. There hasn't been more than one swift in this box overnight so far this season, but maybe tonight?
2023-May-13 As yesterday, a visit for a while by a second swift to camera-nestbox #4, but only one again in the evening and after nightfall.
2023-May-12 This morning, a second swift joined one already there in camera-nestbox #4 for the first time this season. As so often, the initial response looks more like a fight until they settle down! Still only one swift there for the night though, but there are now two regularly ovenight in camera-nestbox #1.
2023-May-10 A swift entered gable-end nestbox #g3 - I just happened to be watching while some swifts were flying around.
2023-May-9 A second swift entered camera-nestbox #1 for the first time this season, and there were two periods with both birds present, though only one stayed overnight.
2023-May-7 A swift entered camera-nestbox #1 at 09:34 and stayed for about and hour, during which time it rearranged some of the grass brought in fairly recently by a house-sparrow. A swift entered camera-nestbox #4 at 14:24, so now there is one swift back in each of the two camera-boxes.
2023-May-6 I've just seen swifts almost simultaneously entering nestboxes #2 and #5. Swifts are also entering soffit-space #w2r. They have probably also arrived at some other nests (including the 6 gable-end boxes which I don't normally watch), but still nothing on the 2 nests with cameras.
2023-May-3 The live video is now online (nestboxes #1 and #4). No swifts have arrived in these nestboxes yet, but as reported yesterday, at least one swift has arrived in another nestbox.
2023-May-2 In early evening, several swifts were flying in the area, and at 18:42, one entered nestbox #3. This is the earliest arrival I've seen since starting observations in 2013, but of course it's a matter of luck unless it's one of the nest-boxes with a camera (#1 and #4).
2023-May-1 The swift nestboxes are ready to go for another season. I've cleaned them out if needed (not that it's ever really needed) - some nests had been reduced to debris by various insect-life, while others were relatively untouched.
I've seen swifts flying (high up) in the area for the last 2 days (2023 April 30th & 2023 May 1st), but I haven't seen any enter the nest-spaces yet.
This season, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) have added some dry grass to most of the nest-spaces, but I don't think they have any active nests at present. In nest #1 (on camera) the sparrows went to some effort to remove the existing swift nest material first.
The two video cameras are not yet online for the 2023 season (link to live video above).
This is nestbox #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; 3 in 2015; 2 in 2016; 1 in 2017; 2 in 2018; 3 in 2019; 1 in 2020; 2 in 2021; and 3 in 2022.
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; 2017 May 6th midday; 2018 May 7th afternoon; 2019 May 7th afternoon; 2020 May 9th morning; 2021 May 7th afternoon; 2022 May 8th evening; 2023 May 7th morning.
This is nestbox #4 in which swifts raised young for the first time in 2014 (with a camera in the box).
2 chicks were raised in 2014; 3 in 2015; 2 in 2016; 3 in 2017; 2 in 2018; 1 in 2019; 3 in 2020; 3 in 2021; and 3 in 2022.
The dates of arrival of the first swift in this box were: 2014 May 7th evening; 2015 May 4th evening; 2016 May 5th evening; 2017 May 5th evening; 2018 May 18th morning; 2019 May 15th afternoon; 2020 May 4th afternoon; 2021 May 9th evening; 2022 May 10th morning; 2023 May 7th afternoon.