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Apr 2021
6:45am, 6 Apr 2021
5,397 posts
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TheScribbler
Thanks DT, I’m happy to be corrected  And to check out the swift, swallow, sand martin comparison.
We should have lots of sand martins at the coast.
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Apr 2021
6:55am, 6 Apr 2021
49,554 posts
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Derby Tup
I found this. It’s quite a nice comparison
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Apr 2021
9:20am, 6 Apr 2021
4,494 posts
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steve45
Good comparison pic there. Sometimes those colours and shapes are beyond easy vision so the " way they fly" can help too. Not many Swifts are ever seen before the end of the first week of April and then usually singly. Last week of April onwards will usually bring the large groups. My earliest ever, in sixty years of birding was 10th April 2008 and before that 17th April 1969!!
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Apr 2021
9:42am, 6 Apr 2021
72,243 posts
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Hanneke
That is good DT! I seem to have a black spot for all these, never know from one year to the other which is which... stupid, I know, but...
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Apr 2021
9:51am, 6 Apr 2021
1,886 posts
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bonners
I always seem to be a lot later here in North Wales, seem to recall seeing my first swifts in June last year.
Mistake thrush singing away in the work car park this morning
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Apr 2021
9:55am, 6 Apr 2021
49,556 posts
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Derby Tup
As Steve says recognising the way they fly (plus also the sound they make) is a big help. Swift basically look black a lot of the time because they are invariably seen in flight and they ‘scream’. Swallow I think flutter like butterflies and are ‘chatty’. House martin look ‘smart’ whereas sand martin, which generally are often found near water, look a mucky brown colour. Getting your eye back in in the spring takes a little time. Swallow v house martin is the toughest call
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Apr 2021
10:11am, 6 Apr 2021
3,544 posts
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J2R
Heinzster, yes, chiffchaffs are often seen among willows :). I had an interesting one on Sunday, heard a bird sound I couldn't identify and then actually spotted a chiffchaff making the call, a contact call instead of the 'chiff, chaff' song.
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Apr 2021
10:37am, 6 Apr 2021
20,573 posts
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Rosehip
When we had new double glazing put in this time last year, I couldn't believe how much quieter it was in the house.
The glazing can't cope with the noisy little guy sat on the extension to next door's fence (they have a chicken wire fence extension to keep their cat in their garden)
From my sofa by the window - I need to have decent camera here instead of my phone:
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Apr 2021
10:54am, 6 Apr 2021
49,557 posts
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Derby Tup
Wren?
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Apr 2021
11:47am, 6 Apr 2021
3,306 posts
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phal
So looking forward to the Swifts being back......
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