Climate change might be responsible for earliest ever sightings of swifts swooping and squealing over High Barnet

Record hot weather in late April coincided with the earliest reported sightings of swifts who are considered by far High Barnet’s most popular avian visitors each summer.

Veteran swift watcher Angela Morris saw four flying above Kings Road at 11.55am on Monday 28 April – her first April sighting in the forty years she has been recording their arrival in her diary.

“Usually, the swifts get here sometime in the first week of May. My latest ever sighting was May 14 and the earliest May 1, but it was a real surprise to have a late April sighting.”

Members of Barnet Swifts Group have also been reporting the swifts’ arrival.

Peter Lyons saw four circling above Manor Road late in the day on 28 April and other sightings were recorded over the following days – Robin Bishop saw several flying above Fitzjohn Avenue and Susan Skedd said she was awoken by their squealing above Leicester Road, New Barnet.

Even more encouraging for swift enthusiasts was the news that a pair have been seen visiting a nest box on a house in Granville Road which offers an array of nesting places including boxes and spaces under the eaves.

In view of the continuing interest in encouraging the provision of nesting boxes for swifts, David Martens, who founded the Barnet Swifts Group, says that north and east facing aspects are best to avoid the hot summer sun.

Playing recordings of swift calls, particularly early in the morning or an hour before sunset, can boost the chance of attracting swifts to a nesting box.

David, who is a now a member of the Welwyn Hatfield Swift Group, says swift news from around the locality can be seen by following the Facebook link to the Hertfordshire Swift Group.

Angela Morris said her interest in swifts dates to when her family moved to Kings Road in the 1950s and she started noting their arrival in her diary.

“I was so relieved to see them back again this year. I heard their screaming first and then saw them flying down Kings Road.

“Years ago, there were many more arriving each summer and they used to nest under the eaves of the Edwardian houses on the north side of Kings Road. Unfortunately, many of their nesting places have gone when people insulated their lofts and sealed off the eaves.

“Usually, I see them first at around 7.30pm in the evening, so to have a morning sighting on April 28 suggested to me they probably arrived the day before.

“The parent swifts tend to head off back to Africa at the end of July, but the new young birds take a time surveying the local scene, but they are off too by mid- August.”