'High in the Blue Above Swifts Whirl and Call'

Photo Ben Andrew/rspb-images.com

The arrival of swifts in Parkside each year has always filled me with excitement and joy, as they are lovely to watch 'high in the blue above' as well as to hear them screaming in parties of two or more around the rooftops, a sign of breeding and nesting.  I've never yet worked out where they are nesting though and that is my goal this year. 

My title comes from the 'Ducks' Ditty' in Kenneth Grahame's much-loved tale of 'The Wind in The Willows', which is currently being used to advertise the Wildlife Trusts' aims to encourage more people to play their part in nature's recovery. 

Published on Mar 27, 2019, the trailer shows Badger, Toad, Mole and Ratty in serious trouble when they return to the Willows! Join in to play your part in nature’s recovery: wildlifetrusts.org/wilder-future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZYcoeqzxVI

There is something we can all do about swifts.  I am watching the skies above Houghton Regis for their familiar outline against the sky, and listening out for their familiar screaming parties around the rooftops.  Watch this You-tube video for correct identification:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl1PnyPqVG0

You can do the same and report your sighting of screaming parties and, if you are lucky, nest sights in holes in roofs, on the BCN Wildlife Trust's special survey website:

https://www.wildlifebcn.org/blog/josh-hellon/help-our-swifts-join-2019-survey

or on the RSPB survey https://swiftsurvey.org/Rspb/Home/Index

If you have a swift nesting box on your house, the Wildlife Trust would like to know.  Or just let me know via the contact button or on facebook if you have heard or seen swifts in your area of Houghton Regis and I will come to your street to record them.

Swift numbers are declining but we have them here and can do something to help them increase in numbers again.  Why not have a go at spotting them, and listen out for them screaming around the rooftops.

May - a walk along Ouzel Brook

Yesterday I took a lovely walk along Ouzel Brook where I found new bridges, gates and marker posts installed, and I do recommend it to my readers for this weekend.  Accessible from Chiltern Way alongside Bedford Road, or from the Tithe Farm bridleway 22, I was walking through fields of lush grass and flowers, and it was very beautiful and almost peaceful.

Starting from the bottom of Grove Farm bridge, this first gate leads into a meadow which must have been a field of gold when the dandelions were all out -  I should have come earlier!

You can't miss the way with these marker posts.  This is footpath 13.

There is no livestock in these fields at present, but there often is, so please keep dogs on a lead as indicated on the signs below.

The new bridges and kissing gates are a great improvement on the old rickety stiles.



I turned back along footpath 14 towards the Grove Farm bridge again.

I saw a jay in this field and heard chaffinches, chiff-chaffs and a green woodpecker calling. 

The path runs along the side of the field, and there are some beautiful flowering and fruiting trees which attract the birds here.

Grove Farm bridge where I started from, left takes you back to the first kissing gate, straight ahead leads over the bridge and to Bridleway 44.

The blue signs are bridleways and yellow footpaths.

This is where the scenery changes dramatically as the thick brush has been cleared south of the stream for HRN1, letting in a lot of light and reducing shelter for wildlife. 

This used to be very dense thicket.  The yellow tipped stake beyond is NOT a way marker!  It's part of the building works.

The bridleway runs very close to the works here.  One can only hope they plant some more trees to replace the scrub they cleared.

Work in progress...

From the top of the footbridge one can see the foundations of the main street being laid. 

View of AMP1 from the top of the hill on the by-way which, thankfully, hasn't changed a bit.

At this point it poured down with rain so I made a hasty retreat to my car.

 

I hope you enjoy the holiday weekend, whatever the weather, and the signs and sounds of spring in the remaining green areas of Houghton Regis. 

 

PLEASE DON'T DROP LITTER - TAKE IT HOME WITH YOU!

 

THANK YOU