Swifts and .............it’s raining!

Overcast, light to heavy showers, 16º, light to fresh blustery W.

Stopped off at Lollingdon Hill on the way home, 80+ Swifts feeding over the hill with more over adjacent farmland in a light rain shower. With this many in one group I wonder if this was a movement back south as it’s a possibility that a lot have not bred this year due to the inclement weather and are heading back south early. When I lived in Wallingford, I recorded the dates that most Swifts left in the autumn over a 25-year period and I had a mean departure date of the 5^th August so this could be around 3 weeks early for departure.

Regular species resident on and around the hill seen/heard and a few Meadow Brown butterflies active in the rain.

Stock Doves still feeding in the garden and a Green Woodpecker in the meadow.