SCREAMERS RETURN

Packs of swifts zooming around rooftops, known as screaming parties, are always a May highlight, and new GPS studies are proving what was long suspected: the scimitar-winged migrants will have stayed airborne during their entire sojourn over Africa. No other British bird is as dependent on us for nest sites. Building on the success of community nestbox (and nest-brick) projects in Lewes, Belfast, Exeter, Cambridge, Ludlow and Sedbergh, the latest urban area to become a ‘Swift City’ is Oxford, where an RSPB project will see at least 300 new nests put up over two years. GET INVOLVED To help your local swifts visit www.swift-conservation.org