Bird Notes - North Wales
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Talks and lectures
  • About
  • FEATURES
  • The Birds of Wales

Putting Swifts on the map

11/7/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Swift (Michael Thackeray)
One of the joys of sleeping with open windows has been waking to the sound of Swifts that nest above our roof soffits. The adults have been screaming down the street until sunset, and then at first light drop from the nest above the bedroom window, off to find flying insects to feed their young. We came home recently to the sad sight of a young Swift that fell to its death on the doorstep, just days before its maiden flight. Despite this disaster, all three nests remain active within our eaves. The chicks should fledge in the coming days, destined to remain airborne until 2024, when we hope to welcome them back. I added these nests, and others spotted in recent days, to swiftmapper.org.uk, so the information is available to those working to save Swifts.

The prospect of record-breaking temperatures should concentrate all our minds on the need for urgent action to tackle climate change. New research by the British Trust for Ornithology adds another example to the growing list of rapid changes facing nature. Willow Warblers have become scarcer in England in recent years but more common in Scotland, and climate has been a suspected factor. The study shows that optimal average ground temperature during the breeding season is 11° Celsius for Willow Warblers, and 13.5°C for the similar Chiffchaff. In just over 20 years to 2017, the breeding season temperature averaged 12.7°C in England where Willow Warblers are declining and 10.2°C in Scotland where they are increasing. Although the study didn’t analyse data in Wales, we might expect a similar northward shift, and that further temperature increases will be bad news for Chiffchaffs too. The heatwave should remind us to ensure we maintain water in gardens to help wildlife, but also to ensure that birdbaths are cleaned regularly to minimise the risk of transferring disease.

Waders are trickling back from the Arctic as the breeding season draws to a close. Whimbrels from Iceland, Green Sandpipers from Scandinavia and Greenshanks from Fennoscandia are at the forefront of migration, while Curlews landing on our beaches may have come from elsewhere in Britain, or as far east as Finland and Poland, while Great White Egrets on the Conwy estuary and at RSPB Cors Ddyga may have originated from France or the Low Countries.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Bird notes

    A weekly update of bird sightings and news from North Wales, published in The Daily Post every Thursday.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Talks and lectures
  • About
  • FEATURES
  • The Birds of Wales