Glad to hear some of you are seeing them.

Off topic, and across the pond, but I haven't seen a single lightning bug since Hurricane Helene. Not enough shade for them anymore, since we lost a million trees. I used to live in a forest. No more forest.

Trowbridge swifts.

Lots of them. But I’m in Portugal at the moment. They’re more or less gone in Germany 😣

That's odd. This year I've heard them every evening in the Netherlands, and we're more built-up and intensively farmed here.

Should have said Munich.

Seem to be lots around here in central Switzerland.

Not UK but ours are out in force. They leave by the end of July and then the skies fall silent until May next year.

Swifts seen in our local Midlands town. Used to have masses of Swallows in our rural location - far fewer this year, and no House Martins for about the 5th year 🙁

More swifts than usual swooping over our bit of South London

Yep - definitely more around Nunhead and Dulwich than the last few years.

Swifts galore - they seem to have endless fun circling the cathedral of Toulouse (it seems I can’t upload a video on BlueSky 😢)

Saw my first three in Brighton five minutes before reading your post.

Lots of them here in South Lakes, Cumbria. Also thousands of native bees on the lawn clover yesterday afternoon, no sign of our regular bats this year though

I have seen them in Northumberland.

We have seen some very high in Bridgend, currently in France, loads including 2 nests in our stone walls.

A few years ago we had 9 house Martin nests on our house in the Highlands. Today we have none😡

Our village is down to less than half the swifts we had last year. Butterflies are up though, and I’ll take any little positive right now.

Only a few, none visiting my new swift boxes yet

Plenty in Ayrshire.

How is your hearing? Because I know from some older friends they can’t hear the high pitch anymore

Good idea to have the Merlin app on phone. That will pick up bird sound and let you know what it is. Useful if hearing is on the decline.

Well, let you know what it likes to think it is hearing. Usually something American that it was brought up on . . . 🤣

I haven’t found it too bad to be honest. The occasional odd one. Is there a better App out there? Something the RSPB should consider investing in.

Very few compared to usual here in the coast in West Sussex.

Seen a group of about 15 or so flying around St Thomas’s hill in Canterbury a few times over the last week.

Thankfully quite good numbers where we are in Cumbria. Fewer swallow nests in our woodshed this year, but good fledging success. So a mixed bag.

Quite a few around here in the French Pyrenees. They arrived about a month ago.

I have heard a swift in West London a few times, but not as much as usual.

Very few. We used to enjoy them swooping and screaming over the garden on warm summer evenings but that’s a distant memory now. Our swift box, in place for 5 years, has never been used.

I have so far heard plenty of them in Kyiv, Lviv, Krakow, a few on the outskirts of London and in my own home village in EastAnglia. We have a small returning colony every year. The species I normally see around the world that has been quiet is Sparrows, where have they all gone 😢

I'm not an expert so could be wrong but I think it's swifts that I see doing loops in the air from my balcony in north London. Definitely forked tails.

I haven’t seen many until yesterday. Lovely sizeable flock feeding over Sheffield last night. Largest group I’ve seen in the UK this summer. Very few - isolated groups of perhaps 3 to 6 - in the rural area where I live in the east of England.

Usual number in Lewes (always a bit of a swift town) and many in inland Suffolk, just visited, so hopefully not an absolute knell. But have noticed this year much better for insects in Sussex, too, which may help.

We used to have House Martins every year until about 6 or 7 years ago (rural Central Scotland). Still feel their absence every summer.

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social quite a few in Haxby, just north of York.

Yes they have returned. Tantalisingly nesting across the way and not yet opting for our new swift box. Starlings checked it out but couldn't fit.

We noticed we hadnt seen any this year, but have seen 3 flying around this week. Still way down on previous years

Screaming above me in Peckham as I write. A local lake, woodlands and plenty of roosting sites in old buildings. So far, so good

Plenty in Beauly

They never use the box we've put up, but always nest under the eaves of our house in the Netherlands. Such blessing to have them return each year and swoop, swirl and screech around the house!

Seen lots in Dumfries this year and in Edinburgh where we have swift boxes.

We have certainly had our usual quota in the Algarve this summer. I've also noticed a few in Enfield, North London.

Have seen my first this weekend but I was in Paris. Haven’t seen any at home in Warwickshire so far this year. It is distressing.

I'm currently over in Poland, in the small town I'm staying they have loads. In fact a lot of wildlife in total compared to the UK.

They’ve Brexitted us 😢

A continuing trend. Old farm buildings turned into des.res. gives fewer places for hirundini and swift species to nest and reduced livestock farming gives less insect life for them to feed on.

Lots here. All good.

I have a pair nesting on the back of my house for the first time this year. They fly around with between 4 and 12 friends for most of the day. In the evening, up to 20 circling above the house. SW London

😍

We have loads of them here in SW France. They keep swooping in to our converted barn and then I have to try and encourage them to leave.

Saw them in Glossop for the first time this weekend.

Loads in Norfolk and Suffolk on holiday last two weeks. It was areal pleasure to see them screaming around the villages. That doesnt happen much in Northumberland these days.

loads around Reigate, Surrey area. They came early this year too

I've seen more swifts this year than in recent years. They seem to be doing well in parts of North West England.

Seen a few this year. Curlews seem to be doing well this year (at least in Southern Scotland) which is nice.

We have a few where we are in Birmingham

Have about a dozen screeching overhead right now whilst sat in my garden in Exeter. Saw some swallows at lunchtime.

Definitely have the usual small number over the Calder in Mirfield.

Yes. But I live in the Pyrenees now.

We have a few here over Lechlade, Glos. Not very vocal until recently. No swallows.

Not so many observations on iNaturalist

Actually slightly up on last year equivalent:

Come to Suffolk!

Plenty here in and around Scarborough

Plenty here, as usual. If anything there have been more than usual

Saw some yesterday

We have at least 4 overhead, continually. Seems to be a higher insect population this year so hoping for a good breeding year.

Spotted in my corner of South Birmingham

Hundreds in Barcelona! Them screaming in the morning is the best alarm clock ever!

Many screetching overhead in north London yesterday. They arrived at the end of April.

A few here. The local council offices have swift bricks built in; I don't know if that's a new feature. I can count 7 in one go. Hopeful that others are hunting elsewhere. I can remember when there were swarms whizzing around.

Loads!! Swallows less so though :(

Same. Even I usually see and recognise them. Also I have Merlin on my phone now, and it hasn't heard one.

I saw a scream of 25 having a ball above a deserted area of my home town, Lowestoft yesterday. I've been following a lonely gang of 3 in the skies here all summer. I was so surprised and happy I joined in the melee and starting screeching. Until a single dog walker came along and eyed me warily.

hundreds of swifts and swallows in the Cairngorms

That's worrying. Here in Technically Amsterdam, I hear and see plenty of swifts every evening.

There's a few around here, South Wales.

We’ve had both swifts and swallows in the Tweed valley but they were very late and the swallows, in particular, in much smaller numbers.

A few, but quite a lot in Wells when i visited recently. There seems to be a dramatic decrease in House Martin numbers this year, if my area is a yardstick.

I've seen more this year than ever before near to the village we're moving to.

Lots in our Hampshire market town only because a wonderful local man has spent 20 years encouraging swifts putting up boxes around the town. He deserves a medal.

this is so lovely to read 🫶🏻

We have them screaming over the house in evenings here in New Forest. Can’t see them but can hear them if I turn hearing aid up. 👍 Just a thought,maybe you have hearing loss? I can’t hear dawn chorus any more, didn’t realise until had hearing aids.

@georgemonbiot.bsky.social Saw a whole load of them over a field of rapeseed yesterday late afternoon/early evening in North Kent. Was a fantastic sight to see.

I’ve seen a few but not near as many as I used to

I was noticing how often I've seen swifts this year here in Dundee. Not a large number but there every day.

We have seen some. Not many, but some. Essex London borders.

I've seen fair few in South Devon

Two.

Loads in the southwest. And housemartins

Also no bats after sunset.

Lots of them when we were in Canterbury last week, heard a few in London as well.

Yes, I'm in Norfolk and they are nesting near to where I live. My parents are in Suffolk and same in their village.

Thanks to our swift street project we still have good numbers here in Hampshire, but overall they are in steep decline. Millions of lost nesting sites in buildings over decades plus insecticides are to blame.

Our swifts are always late arrivals & have to compete with space in the roof with the sparrows & starlings! Back this year and not at all Bothered by the enormous scaffolding & building works going on since the gable end fell down! 👍🏻😊

Oh wow, I am passionate about this. Yes here we have about the same, maybe up 5%, a couple of people have been frantically trying the nest boxes. But my other friends educate me that this is a small part of the problem. Yesterday I visited Hook Norton, they have a reasonable if still small ...

population, suggest you get out there on your bike George for therapy. I also saw and heard Peregrines high above. They will all be gone. 10 years. The population here must be very close to functional extinction. The swifts help anxiety.

Plenty in the skies above Stroud. Wheeling, calling in groups of 3 and up to 8.Much more obvious than the 2 previous El Nino summers. Makes the heart sing.

Not seen a single Swift, Swallow or House Martin here in rural south Oxfordshire.

We’ve had perhaps one pair this year where we live. Usually there are dozens. I have seen more around the area (North Lakes, England) but nowhere near as many as usual. On the plus side, a Sandpiper has taken up residency by the river. A long way from any shoreline.

We have about 15 active nests in our eaves!

Theres a group of 10 down my road, about tge same as last year.

Bees and butterflies are what I'm missing. Hardly any, compared to a usual year. Very concerning here in Amsterdam.

Come to Derbyshire. Increasing swift numbers in many locations. Villages like Tideswell part of project to reverse decline: 20+ nests this year

Lots here in Wimbledon. Perhaps coming to see the tennis?

We have 6 swift boxes on our small block of flats and they are all occupied again this year. The swifts arrived early this year too. One benefit of living high up is watching the screaming parties close up, and seeing them return at such accurate speed into their nesting boxes. My favourite birds!

Numbers holding up near Martock, s Somerset. After 6 years, one has beaten the sparrows to the des res that is my swift box. V pleasing. Long term trends awful though…

I saw one yesterday early evening in coastal Hampshire. No swallows or house martins though? 😢

Loads of the loud wee buggers here in south Essex. 👍😃

normal amount of swifts here

Today I finally saw swifts over our village. I don't know why it was so late this year, but they're here now & that makes the world a slightly better place.

We've seen House Martins, Swallows (first time in years) and, I think, Swifts (definitely heard them) Neath valley south Wales.

I noticed quite a few soaring about last week. I wonder if they are a bit at risk from all the kites though? they seem to be everywhere across the south in large numbers now

Do the kites take them? Sparrow hawks more perhaps? I find so little resource on how swift populations actually work?

I wouldn’t worry about them too much - the Swifts are very agile! Smaller falcons can have a go when they’re entering their nest sites though. ‘Our’ Swifts always follow the local Kestrel around in a big gang 😹

Generally Kites seem to prefer the easier route (if not safer) of road kill. I believe they are carrion eaters. Apparently used to inhabit cities cleaning up a lot of the detritus theconversation.com/red-kites-an...

Seen loads in SE London

I see swifts almost every day.

Hardly any here.

They’re all here in the south of France

Lots in my town, they live in a big chimney across the road.

I’ve got a family swooping around morning and early evening for the first time here. They give me such joy.

Got loads!

Thankfully they're as plentiful as ever here in Poland

Seen (and heard) them in Norwich.

I have one overhead now CH64

Plenty over Snape, Suffolk - always a joy

I've been hearing them regularly this summer, it's been wonderful, though of course I know they're under dire threat.

Plenty in Hereford, George. I have seen more than a dozen together some evenings. There are at least three or four flying over the garden every day.

At least five years in Brighton

We see them, groups of 3/4 and up to 6 at a time, screaming over the roof! Love them. We are in central Chelmsford 😁

They come every year here, and though there are some their numbers are definitely down on even a couple of years ago.

There are lots near me. Every evening I see them flying above my garden along with martens. Possibly more numerous than last year, which is heartening

I saw swifts last week up on the South Downs at dusk

We have a nest at the apex of the roof directly above the front door. 2 families a year are brought up there with 20+ birds battling each time for which parents get the property. It's fantastic to have them despite the mess. Delivery people have to dodge the poos!

Thankfully I’ve seen and heard lots. The usual crew came home to roost a couple of months ago 😊

Yep seen swifts in Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and swallows in Cornwall

I'm in the South-West of Germany and I'm happy to say there are quite a few in my neighbourhood this year. 😊

Lots here George. Lincolnshire.

One, as opposed to the usual dozen or so. The one that I am really noticing that is missing is the no pipistrelle bats. The first I haven't seen any in 17 years.

They have come back to Cambridge as usual.

I’ve seen and heard swifts but 0 house martins 😭😭😭

Saw about half a dozen earlier today over SE London. Used to see at least four times that.

Fortunately still seeing some over our place in North Norfolk. We're doing our bit for food supplies with our wild garden!

I have, thankfully - lots over the oat & wheatfields nearby

Yes - We have seen and heard them over our house in Kintbury.

Didn’t see one but my Merlin app recorded 1 last night when sat outside in Kew at 8.00.

Have seen a few this year in SW Central France, could really do with them getting here - the bugs are getting out of hand and all our bats can't keep up with the cull.

Dozens here in Utrecht (NL)

Lots of them here in Lincolnshire at least a dozen over the garden right now

We have them here in the Mendips but have lost almost all out swallows

This is very sad! I have seen and heard them up here in Inverness but maybe not as many as I had hoped

We need to save the insects if we want swifts to flourish. It's no use creating nests if there's no food for them.

Loads in north Kent.

We never get many in our bit of N Surrey (at the base of the Downs, whereas they seem to prefer the higher ground) but this year seems to be a slight improvement.

My mum always does better in Lincoln (cathedral area) and this year seems pretty typical, with a small group screaming around every evening.

I've seen more this year than ever in my life.

Yes here in North Wales as usual.

Many in Glasgow. But it's cooler up here

Swifts swooping over St Dominic’s in Kentish Town

Many here in our village in W Cornwall. More than the previous past 4 years, thankfully.

Glad to say we have plenty in South London. And lots of energy in our neighbourhood WhatsApp group about getting swift boxes

Plenty in Herefordshire and Pembrokeshire currently

Lots over & around Hereford

There's a swift mapper which is helpful in seeing how distributions are changing over time (higher numbers in the east than the west for example)

URL please - thanks

www.swiftmapper.org.uk

thank you

They were late returning to their normal nesting places in our eaves in Switzerland. But they are here.

Hundreds here in the Pays de la Loire.

I haven’t either, so annoyed about the decision from Labour on the bricks. I have seen skylarks though.

Saw a few yesterday in South Lanarkshire.

They are here in Harlow Essex on the common by me. Not in huge numbers but here nonetheless

I rum the Sawbridgeworth Swift group. 26 nests recorded in the town so far this year

Your fucking Govt won’t do swift bricks …

Is that representative of your children's novels?😳

More than ever before! Sorry that it hasn’t been the same for you.

Unfortunately, a consortium of swallows bought the birdsong rights last year, so the swifts are frantically re-recording to reclaim ownership. Dawn Chorus II about to drop.

I hardly see sparrows these days.

We have the opposite in Cambridgeshire - more than I've noticed in recent times. A very healthy population this year.

I've seen a few in West Yorkshire, but not as many as last year. Not heard as many curlews, either.

They've been a constant visual and aural backdrop here in wiltshire this summer, delighting and mesmerising with their aerobatic caperings. Yesterday, they had a feast on flying ant day, screaming with delight at the pickings!

There’s a nest just over the road from me ☺️

We have some that visit every evening in the US Midwest! Lightning bugs too! ❤️✨

They're over the skies of West Leicester City and Abergavenny and Hampshire

swifts overhead here George not as many as there used to be - and im in the High Peak so unfair advantage

Saw them in numbers in Northumberland in May. We have them in Sheffield. In fact, I'm out with the Sheffield Swift Network monitoring nest sites tonight.

No surprise George. There’s been a 66% decrease 1995 - 2022. Juvenile survival has decreased & is driving the decline. There’s a lack of insect food & climate change is playing a large role, though the attention is given to lack of nest sites (no actual evidence) www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

It is the lack of insects...no where near the densities of 50 years ago

Agreed - seems to me Swift Action is needed on more biomass for insects, not empty bricks bsky.app/profile/mole...

Yes, profligate use of herbicides will be affecting most insectivorous birds and we can see the effects with our own eyes. We could address that but we can’t do much to alter the climate in the short to medium term!

Perfect storm of factors - best we could think of to do *something* was to put two compost bins in our garden to generate invetebrates and insects. If every household with a yard or garden had one, that to me seems a potentially bigger benefit than the hollow brick campaign.

Do wonder whether a lot of animals being treated by vets, look after the animal, but drug residues and lifecycles are being altered, is also having some effect

I’d be surprised if there are enough wild animals being given drugs for this to have an impact. Far more impactful is the harm done by drugs used on dogs, cats (esp flea/tick treatments) and livestock entering the environment as well as pesticides being sprayed directly into the environment.

sorry if you thought different, but that was the main class of animal I was thinking of, from grouse, to cows, sheep and horses as well as the ones in out homes!

Ah, OK. Best to be specific and refer to livestock, pets, etc, cos as we’ve seen, I interpreted ‘animals’ as wild animals.

Falling down the old ‘native fauna or domesticated animal’ rabbit hole. Or hutch for that matter.🐰

Yes, well worth doing. 👍👍👍 Boxes can be used by other species so they are useful but they distract from the real issues facing Swifts.

That’s the thing - the boxes are a useful bonus, but do nothing to help address the underlying cause(s).

Just a few - we do have a small population in Lewes, they even have Bluesky account @lewesswifts.bsky.social

100 nests found in Lewes this year, hardly a small population!

Alas, not small by modern standards

We got a few outside our flat in Hackney. Maybe not as many as last few years.

We saw some nesting in the sand dunes north of Aberdeen on Saturday.

There are some here (Otley West Yorkshire) but not as many as usual. Pretty much no curlews or kingfishers

There were a fair few over my house in Otley a few weeks ago 🤷 Not seen the kingfisher this year yet, but plenty of curlew if you head to higher ground out of the dale

Quite a few in Harrogate, not as many as previously though better than last year.

Lots of Swifts in Dent Cumbria as well.

Spotted in Brighton & Worthing.

Seen some up on the South Downs.

Seen some but not many in North London. I got excited last night because I counted 6 at once 😕

They're back in semi rural North of Ireland. Actually a good few of them this year.

A handful in Northern Ireland, but very few.

I was down on one of our rewilding sites today and was gripped with terror when I realised I hadn’t even seen a swallow. Fortunately later spotted about 40 on the phone lines waiting out the heat, but very few swifts so far.

Noticed an absolute glut of bank swallows here in the Scottish Borders this year, especially swooping for insects over the Tweed.

Good that they are somewhere! We do still have our swallows it seems but yes the swifts are few. We normally have a small flock of swifts and another of house martins of central Bristol and they appear to have vanished this year.

Not seen any swifts or house martins, noticed the swallows over the past month or so.

Got usual levels here in this part of Hackney

It’s been a good year for them where I live. Lots of insects and lots of noisy swifts

I’ve seen a few round my way in east London. They normally come in summer around the Olympic village. Might be less than normal but a few are around

They're a rarity now in Edinburgh. They used to nest in the tenement eaves.

There have been a few swift boxes pt up around Edinburgh which have been having some success. I get to watch them from my front door, which is lovely.

I have seen some swooping about over our allotments down in Leith. There a lot fewer though.

We have them where we are in North Edinburgh, but only moved a year ago so hard to compare with previous numbers. We used to get lots of them over previous flat in Meadowbank

Less sadly. We put nest boxs up as yet no takers.

Don’t despair! Play the calls and eventually they’ll come 👍

I live on swallodale estate in Essex (renowned for swallows and swifts). Not one. First time in 39 years they’re not here.

Seen a handful, heard less. Same for swallows, & martins. Not surprised, it's important but not a headline maker. Might make a paragraph in the book about how we failed ourselves.

Loads here on the Welsh border

Hi George, here in Brno it seems the same as every year, they come mid May, by now I think the youngsters may be out of the nests because it seems there is more of them in the sky than only a few days ago. I cannot imagine anymore how the life would be without them coming to grace the summer sky.

Saw dozens of them yesterday sat on overhead electricity lines in the fields in Fitzhead, West Somerset. First sighting.

That would not have been swifts. They only land in their nests

Not seen the following (and I live in the country and used to). Starlings. Greenfinch. Gold Finch. Moths. Daddy long legs. Wasps.

Lots of swifts, starlings, moths, bit early for daddy long legs.. occasional wasp

None for me. Not a single murmuration

There is a group of starlings nearby. They visit my feeder. Haven't seen a mass gathering though

No sparrows either. I've seen magpies, pigeons, bees, wasps and just one Cabbage White.

Yeah no butterflies at all. Last night was warm, had the windows open and the lights on, usually there would be tons of insects coming in. Nothing. Aaaah well, it was a nice planet for a while.

Suspect linked to the lack of insects - currently staying near Bath and have heard them whereas at home in Kent, I haven’t.

Lots around here in South West London, the newly fledged peregrines have been trying to catch them and failing

Stratford Herald ran an article this weekend on this subject.

Lots where I am and obvious fledglings about. Also swallows and house martins. Lots of early arrivals this year.

Better numbers in Hove this year.

Plenty around here, but I’m in Berlin, not the UK. Does seem to be less than usual though.

We have our regulars that turn up every year. More leave than arrive which is good but so few seem to come back again. We missed an opportunity to put into law swift bricks being used in every new house. Shame. Love the psychotic nutters of the air.

Maybe they’re venturing further north as the summers get warmer. I used to live on the southern tip of Spain where they stopped off on their way north and south. You wouldn’t believe the noise they made in the evenings in the trees 😮

yes, heard them here in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I've seen them on two occasions, but, as you say, their absence is very disturbing.

We have small but steadily increasing numbers in south Notts

Most days here in the west

I've seen about 5 groups of about 20. I'd normally have seen 1 bigger group but other than that it's normal numbers.

I noticed it last year 😪 I leave the door open in the evening and there are very few moths or insects. I don't want to find out about the bats I used to see.

yes we have some here in Hertfordshire, beautiful birds.

Saw one the other day. Don't usually see them near me.

Possibly all down her in Normandy with the house martins, birds, bees and butterflies

Plenty of them carousing in the West London skies near Shepherds Bush, thank goodness. A spectacular ballet every single evening.

Yes, seen quite a few, heard more. My impression is that there are less than there were a decade ago.

Maybe they are all tired after the Eras Tour?

Yeah, more than a few.

Recorded them in Thame on 4th June. They scream above the market place.

Small numbers here in Wiltshire.

In West Dorset in early June, lots of sightings.

Dorset has amazing hedgerows and verges but I didn’t see as many insects this year.

I'm in Cornwall and there's dozens of them (swallows/swifts/I can't tell the difference). I was in Prague last week. Same there.

Plenty here in the north Dordogne ! (Actually I think their numbers are down somewhat)