Country diary: My fear is that one year the swifts will not return | Kate Blincoe

Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: Watching the skies each spring comes with an increasing sense of unease. And it's not just swifts we're waiting forMy beloved swallows, talisman of my summer happiness, are busy nesting in the stables. Their blue-black shine glistens as they acrobatically insect-catch, collect mud and chatter from the beams.This year, I'm just as obsessed with the return of another migrant species - swifts. It is the fault of the author and campaigner Hannah Bourne-Taylor. We've spoken recently about her new book, Nature Needs You: The Fight to Save Our Swifts, detailing her battle to have a single swift brick made mandatory in every new-build home. Swifts are totally reliant on our buildings for their (diminishing) nest spaces. Continue reading...