left
- gable boxes, middle - under eave boxes, right - under eave back
gable
nest boxes
bird 1
bird 2
egg 1
egg 2
egg 3
1st out
2nd out
3rd out
1 fledged
2 fledged
3 fledged
box 1
7/5
12/5
8/6
10/6
12/6
box 2
box 3
17/5
box 4
box 5
7/5
?
22/5
24/5
26/5
13/6
hatched
box 6
17/5
box 7
7/5
10/5
25/5
27/5
box 8
12/5
12/5
25/5
27/5
29/5
hatched
hatched
hatched
box 9
box 10
box 11
under eave nest boxes
bird 1
bird 2
egg 1
egg 2
egg 3
1st out
2nd out
3rd out
1 fledged
2 fledged
3 fledged
box1
box2
16/6
box3
box4
box5
box6
box7
box8
box9
31/5
31/5
8/6
10/6
28/6
under eave nest boxes - back
bird 1
bird 2
egg 1
egg 2
egg 3
1st out
2nd out
3rd out
1 fledged
2 fledged
3 fledged
box1
05/6
11/6
box2
05/6
box3
2013
Observations
(bracketed dates are from
previous seasons)
April 14th
first
report of a swift in N Ireland at Richill, Co. Armagh
April 16th
two
swifts reported at Oxford Island nature reserve
April 17th
swift
reported at the RSPB harbour reserve
April 25th
50+
swifts seen at Oxford Island nature reserve
April 26th
15
swifts seen over Lough Erne County Fermanagh
April 27th
three
swifts fly by the gable. First swifts seen around the house in previous years
(3/5/12), (1/5/11),
(23/4/10)
April 28th
25
swifts seen at Antrim Marina
April 29th
15
swifts reported at Portmore Lough
April 30th
07.45 2 swifts screamed by the gable boxes
14.15 4 swifts screaming above the house
away
for 4 days
May
6th
5
swifts present for 6 hours with many screaming fly bys of the gable colony
15
swifts seen over Cookstown
May
7th
Box
7
first
swift home (12/5/12), (3/5/11),
(3/5/10), (6/5/09)
Box
1
first
swift home at 21.15 (10/5/12), (6/5/11),
(3/5/10)
Box
5
first
swift home between 20.30 and 21.15 (10/5/12), (5/5/11),
(16/5/10)
May
10th
Box
7
woken
by screaming swifts which is always great at this time of year
second
bird home between 12.30 and 13.00 (12/5/12), (13/5/12),
(6/5/10), (9/5/09)
second
bird didn't come home tonight
May11th
woken
by screaming swifts which is always great at this time of year
Box
7
there
is only one bird in the box
May
12th
Box
1
second
swift has arrived
Box
8
the
first swift is back (10/5/12), (5/5/11),
(16/5/10), (8/6/09)
the
second swift arrived at 16.38 (11/5/12), (10/5/11),
(16/5/10), (8/6/09)
just
like the last 3 Mays the weather has deteriorated. Cold windy days and almost
freezing nights. The 7 swifts sleeping over night in nest boxes dropped to
only 2 on 13th, 3 on the 14th and 4 on the 15th.
May
17th
Box
6
a new
swift for the colony? Box last used by single birds in 2009 and 2010
Box
3
a new
swift for the colony. Last used 2009, successful, and 2010, abandoned breeding
May
18th
Box
7
17.18 three very wet swifts have arrived in a nest
box on my gable. I was watching because I could her screaming, flying,
swifts outside. Two are on the nest and one is clinging to the edge of the
raised nest area.
1738 two are now fighting. It lasted
for one hour
After 5 days away a swift is back in
Box 1
May 21st
not much is happening
box1 - down to a single bird
box3 - hasn't been used for 4 days
box6 - hasn't been used for 4 days
May 22nd
box 5 -
first egg
May 25th
box 1 - the lone bird has finally got its
mate back or possible gone and got a new one
May26th
box 7 -
first egg laid
box 5 - three eggs
May 29th
a lot of activity today bringing in feathers
box 6 - at 17.45 a swift arrived with nest
material. It may have meant to enter box 5 or 7. This happens three times
May30th
best activity around the house this year
box 6 - 2045 a
single bird arrives without nest material. It is possibly a new bird for
the colony. No doubt now its a new bird as they wings are very neat and
tidy
box 1 - the pair stay in the nest together
over night for the first time
May 31st
under eave box 9 - the pair have returned
under eave box 5 - at 21.50 a single swift
arrives and spends the night
under eave box 4 - at 22.15 a single swift
arrives and spends the night. The swift in box 5 screams
under eave box 9 - one of the new bird is
alone after dark
The swifts in boxes 4 and 5 did not settle until
after 12.30am. Both are very agitated especially the swift in box 5. They
scream throughout the night
June 1st
It reached a head at 4am when
swifts in boxes4, 5 and 9 left their boxes. They arrived back at 6 and it
hasn't stopped
under
eave box 7 - a single swift arrived early this morning
under eave box 4 -
0950 a lone swift is back in stays for 30 minutes
under eave box 5 - at
1120 a lone swift arrives and stays to 11.50
under eave box 9 -
swifts are fighting for 30 minutes. It lasts for 2.5 hours and I intervene
and remove the swift that is hanging out of the nest entrance. It is
marked with tipex
22.05 - single swifts
have arrived under eave boxes 4 and 8. None are the intruder that I marked
with white tip-ex. Box 4 bird stayed until 2215
June 3rd
box 9 - a lone swift
arrived at 9.20 and stayed for 10 minutes
June 5th
box 9 - 2100 a lone
swift visits box 9 and stayed for 5 minutes
a lone swift makes several
attempts to enter one of the under eave nest boxes at the back of the
house
June 6th
box 9 - a lone swift
visits box 9 at 0855
best night for screaming
parties
22.30 - a lone swift
makes several attempts to enter one of the under eave nest boxes at the
back of the house
June 7th
under eave box back 1
- 1030 a single swift is seen to enter the box. It is closely followed by
another swift but it does not enter
June 8th
box 1 - first egg. 28
days back together
eave box 9 - first
egg. 8 days back together
June 9th the
non breeders/bangers have arrived
June 11th
brilliant activity at the
gable nest boxes
confirmation of two swifts
entering box 1 at the back of the house
June 13th
box 5 - first chicks have hatched
June 15th
boxes 1, 5 and 7 - feeding chicks
June 16th
bangers and screaming parties from 5am until 0930. One
banger very aggressive and almost entering under under eave box 9
09.10 - a single swift arrives in under eave box 2 and
left at 10.20
11.00 - a single swift arrived in under eave box 2 and
left at 11.15
11.23 - a single swift arrived in under eave box 3
and left at 11.26
22.37 - a single swift arrived in under eave box 2
and left at 22.55
June 20th
chicks in box 5 and box 8 are no longer brooded during
the day at c. 7 days old
as Bjork said - "it's. oh. so quiet. it's oh. so still"
where have the swifts gone? No day or evening displays. No
bangers
June 23rd
bangers at the house late evening until 2235
June 26th
10am
June 28th
under eave box 9 - one chick hatched
So where has the web site been since
June 28th? This web site was hosted by a company called Webfusion until
June 1st. Unknown to me they gave or sold my websites and associated email
addresses to a company called Heartinternet in June. For a week or more I
tried to update the page and each time it failed. I phoned Webfusion to
ask if they knew what was going on and that was the first I had known
about the move. I contacted Heartinternet and was told they wanted an
upfront payment of £256 to host my web sites for a year. This is about
double what Webfusion was charging. I dont want to be with Heartinternet
and after lengthy discussion via their web based email/ticketing they
decided to block the web sites and associated email addresses. Only today,
July 25th, have they unblocked the web sites giving me the chance to move
elsewhere.
July 25th
gable box 5 - two chicks fledged
gable box 7 - one chick has fledged
gable box 8 - three chicks have fledged
Apologies again. Heartinternet decided
to delete the web site from their system without telling me. Their actions
have ruined what was the diary of a very exciting swift summer
July 26th
gable box 5 - the third chick fledged
gable box 7 - the second chick fledged
July 27th
adults from box 7 no longer roost in the box at night
July 30th
gable box 6 - a lone swift spends the night in
the box
July 31st 2100
six soaked swifts have just arrived in
their boxes to either feed chicks or I assume get shelter from the driving rain
August 7th
only single swifts in gable boxes 7 and 8
August 8th
10am I see the chick from under eave box 9
fledge. One day from being 6 weeks old. None of the adults return to the
nest to stay over night
