I seem to have spent a lot of time recently staring up at the sky. I have been looking for, and watching, some of our summer visitors – swallows, martins and swifts. For a while I was worried that we didn’t have as many swallows and martins as in previous years. However, I have just come across the largest flock of swallows and house martins that I have seen so far this year. At least 50 of these birds were feasting on insects above the fields to the west of Green Lane, between Binfield and Hurst. This made me wonder whether these fields have more insects because they have had less pesticides sprayed on them, or whether the wind direction just meant that plenty of insects were trapped by the trees surrounding these fields.
Swallows are the sleeker birds, with red faces and longer tails. House martins have shorter tails, no red, and a distinctive white patch above their tails. Swifts are scythe-shaped long-winged birds and are all brown except for a pale face. Swallows tend to feed closest to the ground, sometimes flying lower than human head height. House martins tend to fly higher but sometimes the two types of bird will feed together. Swifts tend to be the highest of the three often seen as a scimitar-shaped silhouette flying high in the sky.
Swallows are most commonly seen in the northern parts of Binfield, especially where there are farm out-buildings for them to nest in (such as Hill Farm or Stokes Farm). House Martins are easiest to find in the Peacock Farm estate where they nest on some of the taller of the new buildings. I am told that we used to have house martins nesting in Binfield, but I don’t know of any current nest sites. There are several small nesting colonies of swifts around Bracknell, but none in Binfield parish. The nearest colony is at the bottom end of Binfield Road near the Waitrose roundabout. To see and hear swift screaming parties wander around this part of Priestwood on a still warm evening over the next month.
Please contact us if you would be willing to have house martin or swift nest boxes put up on your house. If we get enough interest, then we will talk to the parish and borough council about sourcing some boxes.
Swift Awareness Week runs from the 27th June until the 5th July. There is a small amount of information here - https://actionforswifts.blogspot.com/p/saw2020.html