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Swift Diary 2013
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�����������������left � gable boxes, middle � under eave boxes, right � under eave back

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�������gable nest boxes����
� bird 1 bird 2 egg 1 egg 2 egg 3 1st out 2nd out 3rd out 1 fledged 2 fledged 3 fledged
box 1 7/5 12/5 8/6 10/6 12/6 � � � � � �
box 2 � � � � � � � � � � �
box 3 �17/5 � � � � � � � � � �
box 4 � � � � � � � � � � �
box 5 7/5 ? 22/5 24/5 26/5 13/6 hatched � � � �
box 6 17/5 � � � � � � � � � �
box 7 7/5 10/5 25/5 27/5 � � � � � � �
box 8 12/5 12/5 25/5 27/5 29/5 hatched hatched hatched � � �
box 9 � � � � � � � � � � �
box 10 � � � � � � � � � � �
box 11 � � � � � � � � � � �
under eave nest boxes
� bird 1 bird 2 egg 1 egg 2 egg 3 1st out 2nd out 3rd out 1 fledged 2 fledged 3 fledged
box1 � � � � � � � � � � �
box2 16/6 � � � � � � � � � �
box3 � � � � � � � � � � �
box4 � � � � � � � � � � �
box5 � � � � � � � � � � �
box6 � � � � � � � � � � �
box7 � � � � � � � � � � �
box8 � � � � � � � � � � �
box9 31/5 31/5 8/6 10/6 � 28/6 � � � � �
under eave nest boxes � back
� bird 1 bird 2 egg 1 egg 2 egg 3 1st out 2nd out 3rd out 1 fledged 2 fledged 3 fledged
box1 05/6 11/6 � � � � � � � � �
box2 05/6 � � � � � � � � � �
box3 � � � � � � � � � � �
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2013 Observations
(bracketed dates are from previous seasons)
April 14th
first report of a swift in N Ireland at Richill, Co. Armagh
April 16th
two swifts reported at Oxford Island nature reserve
April 17th
swift reported at the RSPB harbour reserve
April 25th
50+ swifts seen at Oxford Island nature reserve
April 26th
15 swifts seen over Lough Erne County Fermanagh
April 27th
three swifts fly by the gable. First swifts seen around the house in previous years (3/5/12), (1/5/11), (23/4/10)
April 28th
25 swifts seen at Antrim Marina
April 29th
15 swifts reported at Portmore Lough
April 30th
07.45 2 swifts screamed by the gable boxes
14.15 4 swifts screaming above the house

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away for 4 days

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May 6th
5 swifts present for 6 hours with many screaming fly bys of the gable colony
15 swifts seen over Cookstown
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May 7th
Box 7
first swift home (12/5/12), (3/5/11), (3/5/10), (6/5/09)
Box 1
first swift home at 21.15 (10/5/12), (6/5/11), (3/5/10)
Box 5
first swift home between 20.30 and 21.15 (10/5/12), (5/5/11), (16/5/10)
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May 10th
Box 7
woken by screaming swifts which is always great at this time of year
second bird home between 12.30 and 13.00 (12/5/12), (13/5/12), (6/5/10), (9/5/09)
second bird didn�t come home tonight
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May11th
woken by screaming swifts which is always great at this time of year
Box 7
there is only one bird in the box
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May 12th
Box 1
second swift has arrived
Box 8
the first swift is back (10/5/12), (5/5/11), (16/5/10), (8/6/09)
the second swift arrived at 16.38 (11/5/12), (10/5/11), (16/5/10), (8/6/09)
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just like the last 3 Mays the weather has deteriorated. Cold windy days and almost freezing nights. The 7 swifts sleeping over night in nest boxes dropped to only 2 on 13th, 3 on the 14th and 4 on the 15th.
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May 17th
Box 6
a new swift for the colony? Box last used by single birds in 2009 and 2010
Box 3
a new swift for the colony. Last used 2009, successful, and 2010, abandoned breeding
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May 18th
Box 7
17.18� three very wet swifts have arrived in a nest box on my gable. I was watching because I could her screaming, flying, swifts outside. Two are on the nest and one is clinging to the edge of the raised nest area.

1738 two are now fighting. It lasted for one hour

After 5 days away a swift is back in Box 1

May 21st
not much is happening
box1 � down to a single bird
box3 � hasn�t been used for 4 days
box6 � hasn�t been used for 4 days
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May 22nd
box 5 � first egg
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May 25th
box 1 � the lone bird has finally got its mate back or possible gone and got a new one
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May26th
box 7 � first egg laid
box 5 � three eggs
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May 29th
a lot of activity today bringing in feathers
box 6 � at 17.45 a swift arrived with nest material. It may have meant to enter box 5 or 7. This happens three times
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May30th
best activity around the house this year
box 6 � 2045 a single bird arrives without nest material. It is possibly a new bird for the colony. No doubt now its a new bird as they wings are very neat and tidy
box 1 � the pair stay in the nest together over night for the first time
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May 31st
under eave box 9 � the pair have returned
under eave box 5 � at 21.50 a single swift arrives and spends the night
under eave box 4 � at 22.15 a single swift arrives and spends the night. The swift in box 5 screams
under eave box 9 � one of the new bird is alone after dark
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The swifts in boxes 4 and 5 did not settle until after 12.30am. Both are very agitated especially the swift in box 5. They scream throughout the night
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June 1st
It reached a head at 4am when swifts in boxes4, 5 and 9 left their boxes. They arrived back at 6 and it hasn�t stopped
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under eave box 7 � a single swift arrived early this morning
under eave box 4 � 0950 a lone swift is back in stays for 30 minutes
under eave box 5 � at 1120 a lone swift arrives and stays to 11.50
under eave box 9 � swifts are fighting for 30 minutes. It lasts for 2.5 hours and I intervene and remove the swift that is hanging out of the nest entrance. It is marked with tipex
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22.05 � single swifts have arrived under eave boxes 4 and 8. None are the intruder that I marked with white tip-ex. Box 4 bird stayed until 2215
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June 3rd
box 9 � a lone swift arrived at 9.20 and stayed for 10 minutes
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June 5th
box 9 � 2100 a lone swift visits box 9 and stayed for 5 minutes
a lone swift makes several attempts to enter one of the under eave nest boxes at the back of the house
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June 6th
box 9 � a lone swift visits box 9 at 0855
best night for screaming parties
22.30 � a lone swift makes several attempts to enter one of the under eave nest boxes at the back of the house
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June 7th
under eave box back 1 � 1030 a single swift is seen to enter the box. It is closely followed by another swift but it does not enter
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June 8th
box 1 � first egg. 28 days back together
eave box 9 � first egg. 8 days back together
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June 9th the non breeders/bangers have arrived
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June 11th
brilliant activity at the gable nest boxes
confirmation of two swifts entering box 1 at the back of the house
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June 13th
box 5 � first chicks have hatched
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June 15th
boxes 1, 5 and 7 � feeding chicks
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June 16th
bangers and screaming parties from 5am until 0930. One banger very aggressive and almost entering under under eave box 9
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09.10 � a single swift arrives in under eave box 2 and left at 10.20
11.00 � a single swift arrived in under eave box 2 and left at 11.15
11.23 � a single swift arrived in under eave box 3 and left at 11.26
22.37 � a single swift arrived in under eave box 2 and left at 22.55
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June 20th
chicks in box 5 and box 8 are no longer brooded during the day at c. 7 days old
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as Bjork said � "it�s. oh. so quiet. it�s oh. so still"
where have the swifts gone? No day or evening displays. No bangers
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June 23rd
bangers at the house late evening until 2235
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June 26th
10am
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June 28th
under eave box 9 � one chick hatched
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So where has the web site been since June 28th? This web site was hosted by a company called Webfusion until June 1st. Unknown to me they gave or sold my websites and associated email addresses to a company called Heartinternet in June. For a week or more I tried to update the page and each time it failed. I phoned Webfusion to ask if they knew what was going on and that was the first I had known about the move. I contacted Heartinternet and was told they wanted an upfront payment of £256 to host my web sites for a year. This is about double what Webfusion was charging. I dont want to be with Heartinternet and after lengthy discussion via their web based email/ticketing they decided to block the web sites and associated email addresses. Only today, July 25th, have they unblocked the web sites giving me the chance to move elsewhere.
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July 25th
gable box 5 � two chicks fledged
gable box 7 � one chick has fledged
gable box 8 � three chicks have fledged
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Apologies again. Heartinternet decided to delete the web site from their system without telling me. Their actions have ruined what was the diary of a very exciting swift summer
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July 26th
gable box 5 � the third chick fledged
gable box 7 � the second chick fledged
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July 27th
adults from box 7 no longer roost in the box at night
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July 30th
gable box 6 � a lone swift spends the night in the box
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July 31st 2100
six soaked swifts have just arrived in their boxes to either feed chicks or I assume get shelter from the driving rain
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August 7th
only single swifts in gable boxes 7 and 8
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August 8th
10am I see the chick from under eave box 9 fledge. One day from being 6 weeks old. None of the adults return to the nest to stay over night
gable box 1 � first chick fledged
single swifts in gable boxes 7 and 8
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August 9th
single swifts in gable boxes 7 and 8
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August 10th
gable box 1 � second chick fledged today
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August 11th
single swifts in gable boxes 1 and 5
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August 12th
single swifts in gable boxes 1 and 5
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August 13th
no swifts
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