Up until 30 minutes ago, the last of the best birds of all (swifts) I had seen this season were on the 1st August (over three weeks ago).

My favourite birds of all (the best birds by miles) have had a catastrophic breeding season here this year with pretty-well incessant rain, wind and no food for months (the whole of April, the first three weeks of May, all of June and half of July).

Many tried to breed and gave up after laying eggs (there was not enough food around to feed the adults let alone any young), many didn't even try to breed and went back to Africa within a few weeks of arriving here. This is a very rare event - and I thought 2007 was bad for the greatest birds of all.

Well... after a swiftless sky for three weeks, I have just seen two brave swifts high above the house, in darkening skies (we're due more rain for the bank holiday weekend (but to be fair, we've had very little since the schools broke up for summer)) - both heading south together.

Very often its the northern breeding swifts that one sees heading home last in late summer over the UK (for obvious reasons), so I expect these two have come from a couple of hundred miles north of us in Berkshire.

The latest swift I've ever seen in the UK was here over our house in Berkshire last year, on September 5th  - I wonder if (after this terrible year for them) I'll see any more swifts over our house before the end of next April when they return?

I hope so, but somehow I doubt it.

Good luck flying home my little dark screaming beauties and hurry back next April - surely it can't be as bad next year as this?