I’ve just had up to 8 Fork-tailed Swifts circling low over my GBS site in Chapman for the past 10 minutes. Easily distinguished by their long thin tails which only opened some of the time to show the fork(unfortunately the white rump was difficult to
see in the poor light even with binos), slender bodies and crescent shaped wings. A first for my GBS site, in fact the first confirmed sighting for me of a species that has eluded me for 40 years.
In the middle of this period around 6 White-throated Needletails moved through higher and much quicker to the E, identified by their stubbier tails, chunkier bodies and wings.
So keep a look out in your local patch, with the still, humid weather they are more likely to be hunting low and move through slowly.
Jack Holland
