Thanks for the shoutout Charlie. Was already loving the post so was a nice bonus to see my name at the end, and I actually discovered your writing through Chris too!
This post brought me so much joy! I have just relocated from rural Wales to Edinburgh where my partner is studying and we love to watch (and hear) the swifts swooping around our tenement building. Great news to hear they are on the incline this year!
Congrats on the move Ed, glad to hear you have swifts with you! I found a little more about these late movements, apparently they're mainly non-breeding birds. With nothing better to do than impress us. 🙂
One of my favourite sites is of swifts (or swallows and house martins for that matter) buzzing low over a body of water to take a drink. How they do that and not career into the surface of the water amazes me. Their speed and agility in the air whilst on the hunt and catching insects on the wing is breathtaking too. Can watch them for hours.
The first thing I noticed when we pulled up to move into our new home a couple of years ago were the swifts screaming overhead - lucky us! My partner said to me the other day that in future we can only view properties we might want to move to from May - August because we can't be without the swifts now!! Just this morning we grinned at each other as we could hear them fly past the bathroom window at the back and right round, past our bedroom at the front. Such a joyful sound.
Possibly you'll see Alpine Swifts in Sicily, larger than Common Swifts and they make a different sound; but we had a breathtaking time inside the wonderful Monreale cathedral (Palermo) watching a swift swoop and loop alongside the Byzantine visual version of the Bible - the dazzling 12thC mosaics of saints and stories covering the internal walls. There were scores of swifts outside, nesting in the towers above the cloisters, and they must get inside the cathedral through small apertures at the top of the cathedral nave; we felt concerned for this creature and with a few other people somehow managed to usher it out through the door - a much lower height than swifts are used to! But we suspect it was a common occurence and they mostly found their way out; it was a curiously intoxicating experience!
How special! Oh I know that cathedral. It is spectacular. It's an excessive show of love. There is a rare fresco of the Assension of Our Lady, an event that is not often depicted. I must have seen the swifts but have such scant knowledge of birds that I wouldn't have known what to make of them.
Thanks for the shoutout Charlie. Was already loving the post so was a nice bonus to see my name at the end, and I actually discovered your writing through Chris too!
This post brought me so much joy! I have just relocated from rural Wales to Edinburgh where my partner is studying and we love to watch (and hear) the swifts swooping around our tenement building. Great news to hear they are on the incline this year!
Congrats on the move Ed, glad to hear you have swifts with you! I found a little more about these late movements, apparently they're mainly non-breeding birds. With nothing better to do than impress us. 🙂
One of my favourite sites is of swifts (or swallows and house martins for that matter) buzzing low over a body of water to take a drink. How they do that and not career into the surface of the water amazes me. Their speed and agility in the air whilst on the hunt and catching insects on the wing is breathtaking too. Can watch them for hours.
Agreed, they're mesmerising. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for spatial awareness.
Swifts are my favorite! I follow these Cambridge nest box livestreams 💜 https://www.cambridgeconservation.org/about/the-david-attenborough-building/swifts/
These cameras are AMAZING! Thanks for sharing them Anne. 🙏
I've added one to the post above.
Hooray!
You’re very welcome!
The first thing I noticed when we pulled up to move into our new home a couple of years ago were the swifts screaming overhead - lucky us! My partner said to me the other day that in future we can only view properties we might want to move to from May - August because we can't be without the swifts now!! Just this morning we grinned at each other as we could hear them fly past the bathroom window at the back and right round, past our bedroom at the front. Such a joyful sound.
I look forward to finding birds in Sicily. I have seen flamingoes there and that was wonderful. Do you know what is common to see in Sicily?
I've never been Jo, but sounds like there's plenty to look out for - see this densely formatted page for starters 🙂 https://fatbirder.com/world-birding/europe/italian-republic/sicily/ Enjoy!
Ohhhh thank you!
Possibly you'll see Alpine Swifts in Sicily, larger than Common Swifts and they make a different sound; but we had a breathtaking time inside the wonderful Monreale cathedral (Palermo) watching a swift swoop and loop alongside the Byzantine visual version of the Bible - the dazzling 12thC mosaics of saints and stories covering the internal walls. There were scores of swifts outside, nesting in the towers above the cloisters, and they must get inside the cathedral through small apertures at the top of the cathedral nave; we felt concerned for this creature and with a few other people somehow managed to usher it out through the door - a much lower height than swifts are used to! But we suspect it was a common occurence and they mostly found their way out; it was a curiously intoxicating experience!
How special! Oh I know that cathedral. It is spectacular. It's an excessive show of love. There is a rare fresco of the Assension of Our Lady, an event that is not often depicted. I must have seen the swifts but have such scant knowledge of birds that I wouldn't have known what to make of them.