Wimborne Swifts

09/10/2026

🕊️☀️ Come and see Wimborne Swifts at the Green Fair tomorrow! ☀️🕊️

Looking for something lovely to do on a sunny Saturday? 🌞 Come along to the Green Fair on Wimborne Minster Green tomorrow and pay a visit to the Wimborne Swifts stand!

💚 You’ll find friendly faces, lots of fascinating Swift information, and plenty of ideas about how we can all help these amazing birds.

🕊️ Find out more about their incredible journeys, why they need our help, and how you can encourage Swifts to nest in our local area.

Whether you’re already a Swift enthusiast or simply curious about these wonderful summer visitors, we’d love to see you!

🌿 Pop by, say hello and help us spread the word about Wimborne’s Swifts!

📍 Wimborne Minster Green
📅 Tomorrow – Saturday 10 October 10-3

Bring your friends, enjoy the sunshine and come and talk Swifts with us! 💚🕊️

06/09/2026

So much going on!

27/07/2026

🤎🤎The skies above Wimborne are beginning to fall silent🤎🤎

For another summer, our swifts have thrilled us with their breathtaking speed, acrobatic flights and joyful screaming parties. Now, as July turns to August, most have already departed on one of the most extraordinary journeys in the natural world. A few devoted parents remain, still feeding well-grown chicks in their nest sites. Once these youngsters take their first flight, they too will head south.

Their destination is sub-Saharan Africa. The journey south is around 8,000–10,000 km (5,000–6,200 miles) and usually takes between four and eight weeks, depending on weather and feeding conditions. Over the course of a year, these remarkable birds will travel around 20,000 km (12,500 miles) or more, spending almost their entire lives on the wing.

The empty skies are always a poignant reminder of just how special these birds are. We wish every one of them safe passage across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Sahara, and hope they’ll return safely to Wimborne next spring to fill our skies once again.

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed, watched over and reported swifts this summer. Your sightings help us build a better picture of how our local population is doing and support efforts to protect the places they nest.

Please continue to let us know of any late swift sightings over the coming weeks, and next spring keep an eye on the skies from late April onwards. Every record helps.

Safe journey, Swifts. Fly well, and we’ll see you again next year 🤎🤎

22/07/2026

Epic Journey 🌍

The amazing journey facing our UK Swifts in the coming days & weeks. Data gathered from lightweight geolocators fitted on breeding swifts reveals a round trip covering roughly 14,000 miles (22,000+ km) all completed completely on the wing without landing once until they return to their nest boxes.

The autumn journey back to Africa is quite a different experience from their spring sprint!
While their spring return is a high-speed dash (taking around 3 to 4 weeks), the journey south in autumn is much more relaxed and typically takes around 4 to 6 weeks to reach their primary wintering grounds in Central and Southern Africa.

The Route Breakdown

Southward Journey
(August – October):
Leaving the UK, they sweep south through France and Spain, cross the Strait of Gibraltar into West Africa, and follow the weather fronts past the Sahara.

Wintering Grounds
(November – February):
They don't stay in just one spot! They follow seasonal rains across Central, Southern, and East Africa—roaming over equatorial rainforests in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Malawi to feast on massive insect hatches.

The Return Sprint (April – May): Heading home, they take a slightly wider loop back through West Africa and southern Europe, covering up to 500 miles a day to get back to their UK nest sites by early May.

When yours leaves your roofline in a few days, this is the grand epic voyage they are embarking on!

Safe journey!

16/07/2026

Well done Witchampton CE First School and St Johns First School 👏
Well done for championing these special birds 🤎🤎

🐦‍⬛ Schoolchildren from Witchampton First School’s eco team gave a presentation to pupils at St John’s First School in June all about the common swift, as the birds have recently returned to nest in Wimborne Minster, having completed a 6,000-mile journey from Africa to breed in the UK.

12/07/2026

I am swift.

My population in the UK has declined by almost 70% since the 1990s.

I need your help.

Please leave natural nest sites in place.

Please consider installing soffit boxes, swift bricks or swift nest boxes.

We recommend https://www.actionforswifts.com/introduction

04/07/2026

🤎🤎How cool is this 🤎🤎

Wimborne Swift hot spot map, designed by Wimborne Swift volunteer Becca. Do you live near a hot spot??