Alpine Swifts

Here’s an entertaining shot I forgot to post when I took it back in April 2023.

The word went out that a few Alpine Swifts were roosting in a church in Teignmouth. This is a distant flight sequence before one of them retired to the tower of St Michael’s Church.

Alpine Swifts are noticeably larger than Common Swifts and have a white chin and belly. They are rare vagrants to the UK, with a range extending over Africa, southern Europe, and Asia, but are gradually extending their range northwards. They breed in mountains from southern Europe to the Himalayas. One day they may breed here.