PS

I had a feeling, even as I was writing it, that yesterday's Last Swifts post might have been tempting (benign) fate - and sure enough, my homebound train last night passed through a veritable swirling swiftstorm between Mitcham Junction and Hackbridge. I counted 19, but there must have been many more, all very lively, swooping, screaming and feeding. And then I spotted two more this morning, high up over Balham...
The 40 percent Swift decline figure I do find surprising, but as it's endorsed by Malty (see comment below Last Swifts) it must be true. Perhaps it's just that ever since childhood I've lived, like Worm, among houses eminently suitable for swifts - and sparrows - to nest on, so they've always been there. (A chap from the RSPB on the radio the other days described House Sparrows as 'extremely rare' in town, which is nonsense.) If we want to help swifts - and swallows and martins and sparrows - Building Regulations should be adjusted so that all newbuild houses offer suitable nesting places. Sorted.