Sheffield swift rescue

A busy day - a good, busy day.

There's a one-woman swift rescue operation in Sheffield, and I'd been hoping to be able to take a few close-up images there, before the last little group of swifts in her care are ready for release and migration. I'm enormously grateful to her for agreeing to this request. She's feeding her swifts roughly every two hours, so she has no spare time (and doesn't get much sleep).  There is a wider support network, but few people have the skills and dedication needed to manage feeding crickets to a tiny swift.

I learned a lot from the 45 minutes or so that I spent there. I knew she had been very busy because of the impact of the heat wave: many young swifts made premature or accidental exits from their nests during that time, long before they were ready to fledge. So she has cared for nearly 50 this summer.  I guess the good news is that these days, more people are aware that a grounded swift needs skilled rehab, rather than the DIY throwing up into the air that used to be the dominant human response.

The swift-rescuer lives in a modern house with wonderful, large windows... but this meant that daytime indoor temperatures reached 42 degrees at the peak of the heatwave, adding to the stress on the birds. I also learned that as the urge to migrate kicks in, swifts start to refuse food; if they haven't reached the necessary weight by then, euthanasia is the only humane option. The urge to migrate seems to come with time and the season, rather than body weight.

Later in the afternoon, I went to take some wedding reception photos for a friend of a friend. This is really not my comfort zone...! However, my library and camera club friend Moira was the main photographer, and had asked me to join her.  This was partly insurance policy, and partly because we have different styles, strengths and weaknesses.

In the event it was a delight. A sunny afternoon, a relaxed assembly of friends and family, and - between us - I think we've got a good collection of shots. Fortunately the bride and groom wanted an 'informal' approach.