Due to the awful wet, windy and cold weather that we had in April and most of May, I didn’t see my first Swallows of the year until May 25th. This is quite late as I usually see them during April.
1st Swallows of 2016
Last Wednesday 6th April, whilst I was out on a bike ride in the late afternoon I saw my first Swallows of the year! It was at Bickleigh Viaduct and they were enjoying swooping over and under the viaduct, obviously catching insects to eat. They looked like they were having a lot of fun!
Usually at this viaduct, I see a lot of Swift’s soaring around and then just gliding high up in the air currents in the sky, but this time there were none to be seen (do Swift’s migrate? If so, perhaps they haven’t made it here yet). So I did have to do a double take to make sure they were Swallows, but they definitely were!
I have seen them a lot earlier this year, as last year it was well into May before they could be seen locally. Hopefully this bodes well for a warm and sunny Spring and Summer!
Here is where I saw them last week –
Wish I Had My Camera!
Where I sit at work overlooks our car park where there are trees full of plump red berries and over the past couple of days, I have been treated to a great spectacle of birds feasting on the berries! If only I had my proper camera with me as I would have got some great pictures of them!
Yesterday there was a bunch of Goldfinch on two trees and there must have been about 8 of them and today I have seen 7 male Blackbirds and 1 Mistle Thrush having a good feed (along with the usual Pigeons that we have here!).
Why is it that when you don’t have your camera with you, or are unable to take photographs, you see all these birds and in great views! Grrrrr! 😉
I think this is the first time that I have ever seen a Mistle Thrush as well but it was unmistakably different to the normal Song Thrush as it was much bigger and bolder and much whiter than brown with black spots on its breast. You can see this from the images below from the RSPB website.
It was also perched atop the tree, eating the berries, which is what a Mistle Thrush tends to do, so what I saw fit the profile exactly. It also wasn’t bothered by the numerous Blackbirds either! It does have a rather amusing Latin name of ‘Turdus viscivorus’ which should be easily remembered! haha
Hopefully next time I see these birds, I will have my camera with me!
1st Swallows Spotted
Finally, I saw my first Swallows of the year yesterday. They appeared in a place I wasn’t expecting them either!
My wife picked me up to go out for lunch in the car and we drove down to a place near Marsh Mills, in Plymouth, where you can park up along the River Plym. As soon as we got there and parked up I noticed straight away that there were several Swallows flying around and picking off insects from just above the river. Some were even dipping in the water and causing splashes! It was a lovely sight, but typically, as soon as we got our phones out to film them, they disappeared.
Anyway, at least we saw our first Swallows of the year, albeit, a lot lately than normal!
Here is where we saw them. It was at the same place that I have blogged about before when we saw the Grey Wagtail and Dipper.
No Swallows Yet In 2015
Every year I keep an eye out for Swallows darting around in the sky around our house (we live towards the north of Plymouth, on the edge of Dartmoor, and there are always loads of Swallows around us), as it makes me feel like Spring has properly begun. 😉
As we now end the 2nd week in April, I still haven’t seen any, which is quite late according to my records since I first started this birding blog. However, in 2011, I didn’t see my first Swallows until April 18th, so they have a day to go before it is the latest I have seen them arrive!
For the past week, I have been cycling to and from work, and have purposely been coming home a route that takes me past some large open fields with great views of Dartmoor, in the hope that I will see some Swallows. Today I didn’t cycle, so I won’t be going home that route, so I hope I don’t miss seeing them, though as I have said before, they can’t be missed around our house anyway. It would be just typical though! 😉
If anyone reads this blog and lives in North Devon, I would be very interested to know when you first see Swallows this year. Please add a comment to this post or tweet me @strethewey.