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A reminder of the monitored nest boxes on our house at
mybitoftheplanet -
 The original Swift boxes at the eastern end of our north-facing wall. Only the upper box has been used for nesting. Both boxes are equipped with cameras and microphones Attached to the boxes is a speaker enclosure used to broadcast Swift calls and designed to deflect most of the sound upwards away from my neighbours' house. Later this year I may replace these nest boxes with a neater side by side arrangement.  This pair of Swift boxes is at the western end of the wall. The boxes were originally put up for Starlings. Both boxes are equipped with cameras and microphones.  New
for 2012 this group of Swift boxes is on the front of the house,
facing East. They will not have cameras installed permanently but in
boxes 1 - 3 there is a small hole into the loft to allow for a
microphone or small camera to be used on a temporary basis when
nesting takes place.  Also on the front way is this trio of artificial House Martin nests. Not used since a complete brood died of starvation during bad weather in 2007. However, the boxes are equipped with cameras and monitoring continues each year. ___________________________ 8 May - A much brighter day after rain before dawn, but the sunshine failed to bring us any more Swifts. Our one resident left SW(le) at 8.17am and returned to roost at 8.37pm. During the day I checked the sky frequently and saw only a single swift on two occasions. The Sparrows left SW(up) at 6.07am and returned to roost at 7.30pm. 9 May - On a dull, wet day there was no change in the boxes. 10 May - And then there were two - and then three! Another damp morning with the Sparrows leaving SW(up) just after 6am and the Swift in SW(le) waiting until 8.50am before heading out.  However, the big news of the morning is that the Swift now has a neighbour. A second Swift arrived in SW(ri) at 7.22am. I must assume that this is one of the pair that nested for the first time in this box in June last year. During the course of the day the new arrival came and went from the box several times, returning to roost at an early 6.05pm. The resident of SW(le) stayed away all day and didn't return until 8.40pm. I spent some time outside from around 8pm and under overcast skies I could regularly see at least five Swifts but around 8.15pm there were at least twenty circling and interacting, although most of their activities were quite high.  I
returned indoors soon after 8.30pm, and as I settled down to sort out
the day's recordings a second Swift entered SW(le) at 8.50pm - we now
have our first pair in residence.While we now have three Swifts, we seem to have lost a Sparrow. The male returned to SW(up) at 6.47pm, but tonight he is on his own, the female not having been seen in the box since this morning. I wonder if she has started nesting elsewhere. I heard my first Swift screams of 2012. Just a brief recording, but a taster of what is to come over the next few weeks. 11 May - Swift #4 arrives - On a bright and sunny, but breezy morning the male Sparrow left SW(up) at 5.35am and neither he nor his partner have ventured into the boxes since (written at 11.30am).  The
Swift in SW(ri) first left that box at 6.55am and the pair in SW(le)
headed out at 7.12am. Both boxes were visited briefly by single birds between then and when a pair entered SW(ri) at just before 10am, marking the arrival of our fourth Swift. This is the pair that didn't appear in SW(ri) until the beginning of June in 2011. Now our only absentees are the pair that nested in SW(up) since first moving in in 2009. Yesterday I installed a microphone in SW(2), one of the new boxes. Connected to a small loudspeaker next to my computer it should alert me to any activity at the boxes. So far today it has only picked up the sounds of passing cars and the creaks of guttering expanding in the sunshine! To encourage Swifts looking for a new home, this morning I switched on the Swift calls CD. And to yesterday's diary I've added a brief recording of the first 'real' screams of the year heard over mybitoftheplanet. Looking at the forecast for the next five days suggests that we will have largely bright conditions with only a bit of rain on Monday (14th). However, the breeze, which swung round so that it blew for the north-west this afternoon is set to swing even more northerly for much of the time during this period - not helpful for birds moving up for the South. In the garden diary I mentioned the Starlings jinking as they chased flying insects today. This evening, with single Swifts in both SW(le) and SW(ri) I watched a couple of Swifts behaving in a very similar way directly over us.  The Starlings are very busy feeding their chicks at the moment and some of these are pretty close to fledging. Once this pair leave their nest it may make the box available for Swifts that have yet to arrive. Once the box is empty I may ask the people who own the house if they would like me to modify the entrances straight away rather than wait until the end of the season. The Swift in SW(le) is extremely restless this evening. While the bird in the other box is clearly resting, this one is moving about almost constantly, climbing up the corners of the box and screaming occasionally. Tonight we are down to three Swifts again. While the pair in SW(le) have settled in for the night, at 9.20pm there is only one Swift in SW(ri). 12 May - Another beautifully sunny day, if chilly in the shade (max 14C) and the Starling chicks featured yesterday have fledged. The neighbour that I share my drive with was getting ready to do some gardening at the front of his house, until I let him know that the fledglings had hidden themselves in his hedge! A footnote to (perhaps) that fledging - at 7pm I've just been outside to look for Swifts. A pair of Starlings were squawking frantically at a Magpie up on my neighbour's chimney. The reason became obvious as the Magpie took off and headed back to its nest carrying was I guess was a Starling fledgling! Neighbours from across the road that have one of my double Swift boxes had a chat with me about them this morning. They have realised that both boxes are now occupied by Starlings and are very pleased. However, they also want to be able to attract Swifts while continuing to have the Starlings in future years. I've suggested that once the Starlings' nesting is over we could move that box to the rear end of their shared driveway and then put up a second pair of boxes (with restricted entrances) at the front of their house under the eves, out of sight of the Starlings and in a similar spot to my new boxes. If this idea is taken up, I'll be making some more boxes in the near future!  As
for the Swifts, it was a quiet day, apart from some visits to SW(le)
during the morning. This evening saw much more activity with at least
twelve Swifts overhead with small groups making screaming passes over our driveway.However, tonight once again we have just three in residence. Soon after 8pm we had a pair in SW(ri), but with darkness approaching one left the box before a second bird entered SW(le), leaving the remaining bird calling for a while afterwards. 14 May - Over the last two days I've not been doing much Swift watching, but I must comment on behaviour last night which was to a great extent a repeat of the previous evening.  Soon after 8pm there were two birds in SW(ri) and one in SW(le), and these birds remained in place until after 9pm, when there was still enough light outside to light up at least one of the box entrances.  However,
as darkness fell there was a change. One of the Swifts in SW(ri) became
restless, and at 9.25pm it left the box.The bird in SW(le) became agitated and headed for the entrance of that box, and at 9.26pm it was joined by a second Swift which it greeted enthusiastically. That marked the end of bird box activity for the night, after a sequence that was pretty much identical to what had happened the previous night. It's not a case of a Swift 'box swopping' is it? It will be interesting to see what happens tonight - at 8pm both boxes are empty, although there was a Swift in SW(ri) a few minutes ago. Well, one has entered that box at 8.05pm, spending the next minute or so calling - 8.12, gone again. It looks as though things were a bit more straight-forward tonight - we have two Swifts in SW(le), with just the one entering SW(ri) for the night. 15 May - This has to be the sort of weather that makes a Swift wonder why it flew as far as it did to get here. At 11am Farnborough recorded a temperature of just 7C in a gusty north-westerly breeze. There were rain showers earlier this morning but in the afternoon brief glimpses of sunshine from time to time took the temperature up to 11C for brief periods. While the Sparrow left its roost in SW(up) early as usual, the Swifts were reluctant to leave this morning - eventually, all three headed out at 11.36am. Tonight they are back in the boxes, with no further arrivals. 16 May - A dry day, with sunny spells helping the temperature up to 14C in the shade, although a north-westerly breeze for much of the time helped it feel colder. Once the Swifts left this morning there were few daytime visits, and the sky overhead remained free of Swifts. Even this evening I counted no more than four over us ( plus the two in SW(ri) before they left to fly a bit more while there was still some light.  Just before 8.30pm there were two birds in SW(ri) once again. However, both left before long and when darkness fell we were back to our usual state of two Swifts in SW(le) and just the one in SW(ri) - what is going on? And notice another absentee. The male Sparrow isn't roosting in SW(up) tonight. - Click on the images to see larger versions -
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