Why migratory birds have been late to UK skies this spring

North-easterly winds and bad weather in southern Europe have delayed the arrival of many birds from Africa this yearOne swallow does not, proverbially, make a summer - and this year, birders all over the UK were struggling to see any at all, at least until the last week of April. This was largely because of a run of persistent north-easterly winds, along with bad weather in southern Europe, which delayed the arrival of many long-distance migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.The urban equivalent of the largely rural swallow - the swift - was also very late, at least compared with recent years; in London, the main arrival of swifts occurred in the first week of May, when they could finally be heard screaming above the city's rooftops. Continue reading...