Once-rare alpine swift in the UK could soon be staying to breed

This spring has seen an influx of the bird. The climate crisis may be encouraging such species to nest in more equable places Swifts are our most aerial bird, spending almost all their entire lifetimes airborne, apart from a brief period in the nest.Growing up in London, for me swifts were the first sign of summer - usually appearing in early May. But the climate crisis means they are now arriving two or even three weeks earlier - like the birds that flew over our garden on 21 April 2020, during that first Covid lockdown. Continue reading...