Welcome to our 2026 blog page with updates from our swift colony and other wildlife seen in our wildlife-friendly garden in Bristol. We have 25 swift boxes around our house – see this link. 23 boxes have cameras fitted which gives us a wonderful glimpse of their secret lives from inside these hidden spaces. Here is a link to the 2025 blog.

Tuesday 28th April

One of the problems with swifts that return early is they don’t always wait for their old mates to return before finding a new one. That’s exactly whats happened here yesterday. The bird in nb2 west (back on 22nd April) has moved in with the bird in nb5 north (back on 18th April). There is some merit in doing this as both of their old mates might have perished since last year, however I will be very surprised if that’s the case. More likely is they will both turn up in the next few days or weeks. When that happens there will be conflict in nb5 north. Watch this space.

Monday 27th April

Despite the warm, sunny weather over the weekend I still have just the 2 swifts back. No newcomers have arrived since the 23rd April. The vanguard of very early birds have now dispersed across most of the UK, returning to their traditional nesting areas. They will be joined by vast majority of breeders soon. In previous years this happened around the middle of May. It will be interesting to see if this pattern still holds true or will they arrive a week earlier just like the vanguard did. However there’s no signs of them yet on Trektellen, so they’ve not started to arrive in southern Europe. I will update my blog as soon as I see them arrive.

Sunday 26th April

Yesterday we were invited to watch the premier of ‘The ‘Other’ Taylor Swift’ at the Watershed cinema here in Bristol. The half hour film produced by Justin Anderson and Duncan Parker highlights the tireless work of Swift rehabber Louise Bentley. It’s a wonderful film, beautifully shot which shows why rehabbers like Louise dedicate so much of their time and energy looking after these special birds. Some of the amazing footage of swifts in flight was filmed around our house. The ending is so heartwarming it may bring a tear to your eye. To see the film click on this link and scroll down to WATCH FILM click on that link and enter password swiftsanctuary123.

Friday 24th April

Yesterday we identified a fault with our Contact page which meant no emails were getting through to us. It is now fixed. Unfortunately we’re not sure how long this has been going on. Apologies if you tried to contact us recently. If you have and not had a reply please email us again.

Yesterday I had my first (small) screaming party of the year. It was only 3 swifts and they only flew over once but it was a most welcome sight and sound.

Reports of swifts arriving all over the UK yesterday. I expect that trend to continue today and over the weekend.

Thursday 23rd April

Yesterday my second swift returned. This one belongs to nb2 west. A question I’m often asked is are the same birds the first back each year. The answer is no. It’s impossible to tell individual birds apart, so all I can do is identify which boxes are occupied first. I’ve never in all the time I’ve been keeping records ever had the same box occupied first in consecutive years. This year nb5 north was the first box occupied (18th April), last year it was the 6th box occupied on 2nd May. Nb2 west who arrived yesterday was the 4th box occupied in 2025.

Some of the swifts that have been moving up through France over the last few days are just beginning to arrive in the UK. Yesterday Portland Bill Bird Observatory recorded 45, their highest daily total of the year so far. More are set to join them either today or tomorrow with over 6000 sighted just across the North Sea in Breskens in Holland. With the weather set fair we should be in for a real treat over the coming days.

Wednesday 22nd April

Nothing much to report from Swift House as I wait for my second swift to return. However it has been busy elsewhere with a sprinkling of swifts arriving all over the UK. One of the most notable arrivals is 5 at a friend of ours house in West Harptree near Chew Valley lake. They have lots of swifts nesting in natural crevices under the eaves. There must be at least 18 pairs there, possibly even more than that but it’s too difficult to tell exactly without the aid of cameras. We’ve been there a couple of times to watch them whizzing around and it’s a truly amazing sight.

More swifts are on their way as Trektellen reported 3533 crossing the Gironde river near Bordeaux yesterday. That’s only about 2 days away as the swift flies, so we can expect to see them arrive from tomorrow onwards.

Monday 20th April

My lone swift returned around 8pm last night and shot into its box without making a sound. It was all over in a matter of seconds.

Further afield down in France lots more swifts are arriving. Yesterday saw over 6000 at Falaise de Leucate a traditional migrant hot-spot near the France/Spain Border. There looks like there are two separate routes which swifts follow to get to the UK. One up the west coast of France and another further inland following the Ardeche and Rhone rivers towards Belgium. On the west coast 1432 crossed the Gironde river at Pointe de Grave near Bordeaux, whilst at the same time 1057 followed the Ardeche River north-eastwards heading towards the Rhone river. By my reckoning that makes them only 2 maybe 3 days away.

Sunday 19th April

My swift silently slipped out of its box just after 8am this morning. I won’t see it again until it returns tonight. If it wasn’t for the cameras I would have no idea it was there at all. I’m sure there are many others in the UK that have returned unnoticed as well.

Not only were lots of swifts sighted in Belgium yesterday but another sizeable number (3115) arrived at Falaise de Leucate in south-east France. There were numerous sighting recorded all over France. One of the biggest was over a thousand following the Ardeche river north-eastwards whilst a smaller group (542) went up the west coast and crossed the mighty Gironde river near Bordeaux. They’re on their way!

Saturday 18th April

8pm. First swift back tonight in nb5 north. I thought something might happen today as a friend emailed me earlier saying thousands were arriving in Belgium. Looks like one made it across the North Sea to me. Its arrival is 2 days earlier than my previous record set in 2018.

Friday 17th April

Our swifts are on the move. The first big influx of swifts (1170) arrived at Falaise de Leucate in south-east France yesterday. It’s not the main group which will number in the tens of thousands, but it’s definitely the vanguard. The vanguard are the early birds that arrive a few weeks before the rest. As the swift flies that’s only 3-4 days from the UK. Based on those calculations we just might see our first swifts back on Sunday or Monday.

Thursday 16th April

I’ve started to scan the skies on a daily basis hoping to catch a glimpse of the first swift of the season. Not unsurprisingly I haven’t seen any yet but despite my misplaced optimism I have seen quite a few other returning summer migrants. The ones that have given me most pleasure in recent years are the house martins at Sea Mills Station. The colony there collapsed from over 20 pairs in 2018 to just 1 pair in 2023. To help reverse this rapid decline we fitted 16 artificial nest boxes in March 2024. Our efforts were immediately rewarded with 3 broods raised in two of our the new boxes. In 2025 the number of pairs using our artificial boxes rose to 5, with each pair raising 2 broods. Not sure what will happen this year but the omens are encouraging so far with the first pair returning in the last couple of days, a good couple of weeks earlier than last year and more on the way according to Trektellen.

Wednesday 15th April

Not long now before the swifts return and all across the country swift lovers are going to extraordinary lengths to welcome them back. Not far from me in Bristol is one such project. The Bishopston Swifties as they call themselves are in the process of installing over 50 swift boxes around their neighbourhood -see photos below. Putting up that many boxes is a wonderful example of the local community wanting to help and working together. We wish them every success in the coming months.

Wednesday 8th April

Lots of excitement on the swift networks yesterday as the first swifts were seen back in the UK. In total there were 5 single sightings seen in the UK – Godrevy Point and Housel Bay in Cornwall, Portland Bill in Dorset and Rainham Marshes and Walthamstow Wetlands in London. No doubt wafted here on the warm southerly wind. Although welcome it’s still a bit early for the real influx which I don’t expect we’ll see until the end of the month. Nice to see a few back though.

Sunday 5th April

Yesterday saw the first big influx of swifts into south-east France. Over 500 arrived in Falaise de Leucate. This coastal area is a biodiversity hotspot in southern France and part of the Narbonnaise Regional Natural Park. It is a premier birdwatching site on a migration corridor where over 280 bird species pass, including pink flamingos, herons, terns, and large numbers of swifts and swallows gather on their way back to their traditional breeding grounds.

Wednesday 1st April

April is swift month here at Swift House, with the first arrivals returning on average around the 26th. However we have had one return as early as the 20th in the past, so it’s difficult to predict exactly when the first one will arrive.

Whilst we wait for them to return here is a brief summary of what has happened so far in the garden this year.

The pond. The first newts appeared in the pond in late January. The first frog spawn arrived on 26th February, but only 8 clumps. I normally expect to see well over 30! More worrying was no toad spawn at all. Maybe last years hot dry summer has taken its toll on the adults.

Birds. The blue tits and dunnocks started nest building around the middle of March. Both now are on eggs. The great tits have only just begun nest building in the last couple of days. A pair of collared doves and wood pigeons have been prospecting for suitable nesting sites in my two large conifer trees. Robins, greenfinches and goldfinches have all paired up but no sign of them nesting yet. In all I’ve counted over 20 different species since the turn of the year.

Butterflies. In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen several species including the peacock, holly blue, brimstone and speckled wood. No doubt encouraged to venture out by the warmer weather.

Bees. The mild spring has meant several bumblebee species have been on the wing for several weeks now. The first red mason bees emerged yesterday, only a couple but I expect lots more will follow in the coming days.

Sadly though no sign of my hedgehogs. They went missing last summer. I had hoped they might return this Spring, but alas no sign of them at the moment.

Tuesday 24th March

The first vanguard of swifts have just started to arrive in Corsica. One of their traditional stop-over spots is the Dunes de Prunete, located on the Costa Verde in eastern Corsica. It is a protected natural area well known for its biodiversity, fine sandy beaches, and coastal wetlands. This coastal ecosystem, adjacent to the Plage de Prunete in Cervione, serves as a crucial habitat for various flora and fauna and acts as a significant site for migrating birds. Once refuelled they will continue on they way north reaching us by the end of April or early May.

22nd March

Sometimes you’ve just got to go with the flow. I normally put my boxes back up in the first week of April, but the weather was so good today I thought I’d put them up early. Each year I try to leave it as late as possible, mainly to lessen the risk of my resident blue tits and great tits from moving in. However as they’ve both started nesting early this year there was no need to worry on that front.

Sunday 1st February

A trailer called The ‘other’ Taylor Swift has just been released by our swift friend, Bristol based wildlife film Producer Justin Anderson. It is the heart-warming story of the wonderful swift rehabilitation work of another swift friend, Louise Bentley at Bolton & Bury Swifts. The film will feature the fortunes of three swift chicks – Babs, Winchester and Taylor. It will also include footage of swift activity from around our boxes. Barrie Britton a renowned wildlife cameraman captured some stunning swift action, so we’re excitedly looking forward to seeing it. Here is a link.

The film has been made entirely by volunteers and is not-for-profit. If you would like to contribute to a Crowdfunder to help Justin complete his film here is a link.