Swift Watch

House Martin Nest (featuring dead house martin)

Swallow

Hard to make out flying swifts

Man-made nesting holes for Sand Martins

Perth and Kinross Council Ranger Service held a swift walk in the town yesterday evening to raise awareness of these birds. We met down at the riverside at 8.30pm and had a wee chat, good turnout of people, then we went for a walk around the town to observe nesting areas and observe the swifts in action. It was very interesting and fascinating evening. The local ranger is conducting a tayside swift survey and more information can be found at Tayside Biodiversity.

The Swift ('lum Screamers') are most active between 8.30-9.30am, mid-day and again in the late evening. Swifts are only here for a very short time in the summer. They fly around making an amazing sound (screaming parties). They are a brown colour and have scythe like wings. It is easy to google to find out more about them. Down at the riverside they had to rebuild part of the wall after a collapse in the winter and they have inserted plastic tubing for sand martins to nest in.
You can also view swifts from the comfort of my upstairs lounge as they fly around all the time here, only I didn't know they were swifts, I thought they were swallows!, so I have been educated. Now I have to find out where they are nesting and do a survey of their numbers.