Swifts

We have been delighted every night this week by the aerial acrobatics of a pair of swifts. In the cool of the evening we have sat on our decking and have marveled at the way these birds swoop and glide so close to the buildings that they have made us duck on several occasions.





Historically these birds have been known as the devils birds or devils bitches because they are so mysterious , disappearing every winter only to reappear when the summer arrives. Now we know they migrate to Africa.
But what amazing birds!
They can fly up to around 10,000 feet and do everything on the wing, feed, drink, preen their feathers and even mate.





They also sleep on the wing and apparently shut down half their brain, while still correcting their flight so that they wake up in the same place where they fell asleep. Amazing!

In Moray the swift was believed to bring bad luck to river fishermen, while historically farmers in southern counties were encouraged to shoot at them as they 
were believed to be ‘regular limbs of Satan’. However one farmer in Hampshire shot seventeen of the birds out of bravado and subsequently had seventeen of his finest cows die!
Serves him right!

Since writing the above we now have two pairs entertaining us every night!