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ay but this year has seen the longest time i ve had to wait for the first of our previous year s breeding swifts to return our swift arrived in very cool showery weather with a strong northwesterly wind i wouldn t have predicted it but numbers have certainly been moving north in the south of western europe so clearly some are just powering on through now yesterday i went to sketch at wetlands at nosterfield and the lower derwent valley both places offered spectacular swift watching as the birds fed very low over the water and surrounding trees a memorable sight was seeing swifts skimming over hawthorns dripping with may blossom its smell gloriously intoxicating a willow warbler s beautiful song delivered from an ash tree contrasted with the occasional screams of swifts the swifts scythed a few feet over my head at times as they negotiated the strong north westerly wind some of the towns where there are swifts have seen a small amount of aerial action soon after they leave their roosts but it s cold and they soon disperse to feed for the day i suspect that when the weather approaches average temperatures again this weekend we will see a very big arrival and next week will be really interesting as newcomers settle down at colonies perhaps more crucial than the temperature rise though will be the change from a strong northerly wind to a more westerly then south westerly direction but for now this week has been one of the coldest peak arrival time periods i can remember the pattern of arrival build up of previous year breeders at colonies varies greatly from year to year usually clearly linked to the weather here or further south on their migration route after twenty three years of living with swifts in nest boxes i m very used to this but this year really has thrown a curveball above all i m just looking forward to seeing and hearing them outside my studio again all to come all text and images copyright jonathan pomroy 2026 swifts feeding in cool very windy weather at nosterfield north yorkshire some charcoal sketches of a newly arrived swift swift resting on nest charcoal study available in my online shop see link below a link to my online shop which is currently stocked with original watercolours limited edition prints and cards featuring swifts https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com 1 comment swifts house martins 2026 spring exhibition gilling east village hall 2nd 4th may may 1 2026 jonathanpomroy marsh harrier over rspb greylake somerset levels watercolour i m all set up for a 10am start tomorrow morning do come and chat if you re in the area but this morning while trying to set up i was constantly distracted by an arrival of swifts over the village this coincided with a uk arrival of a percentage of last year s breeding birds we had four over the village which is substantial considering we probably have less than ten pairs in the area it was a joy to watch them casually circling and feeding on this very warm day max 24 8c here but it s all set to change and next week could see some rather testing conditions for these swifts as temperatures struggle to reach double figure maximums this will probably cause a delay in the arrival of the next lot of swifts the build up of last year s breeders at a colony is rarely the same from one year to the next and in some years can be very protracted with the first birds arriving in late april and the last ones arriving in the last few days of may today s arrival was easy to predict as the winds turned from easterly to southerly through yesterday and today i wait to see if any of the four plus seen this morning will roost in our nest boxes this evening with each day the chance increases it s such an exciting time of year to be birding on so many fronts annual spring exhibition gilling east village hall 2nd 4th may 10am 5pm daily original watercolours prints and cards sketchbooks on display plus examples of latest swift and house martin nest boxes and advice leaflets on attracting them for more information see my exhibitions page please see link here examples of some watercolours in the exhibition gilling east village hall article with thanks to the ryedale gazette and herald this week filey bay december 11th watercolour leave a comment uncategorized first swifts of 2026 swift and house martin blog april 29 2026 april 30 2026 jonathanpomroy swift and house martin blog 2026 first swift sketches of 2026 helmsley and kirkbymoorside great to grapple with those swift shapes again the first widespread sightings of swifts back at colonies were reported around 23rd april however these are thinly spread and many colonies have yet to see any back april swifts tend to be very much the tip of the iceberg with the vast majority of last year s breeding swifts still to come i was thrilled to see my first few swifts over helmsley and kirkbymoorside on monday morning that shape as ever coming as a sort of visual shock just beautiful based on what i ve seen much less than 5 of last year s breeders have arrived in this area a brief switch to south easterly then southerly winds tomorrow and friday would offer a good opportunity for another arrival of swifts and house martins on quite humid air over the last couple of weeks i ve been readying the swift boxes and artificial house martin nests in anticipation of their return they all look smart and the 6 nest box cameras are set but no matter how much preparation you do you never know is what the coming season will bring after a rapid increase to four pairs of swifts between 2020 22 we then saw decline to two pairs in 2023 24 and an increase to three pairs in 2025 can this increase continue i wonder watch this space our decline was due to poor return rates of previous year breeders a lower rate than is needed to sustain colony numbers but last year was better this could just be bad luck with such a small colony or just natural fluctuation but i ve not experienced this before last year my first swift back was on 10th may this was late for a first arrival and i very much hope i won t have to wait as long this year in previous years i ve seen swifts return as early as 16th and 20th april but these are just first single birds and for me the swifts are only truly back with the first day of multiple birds at the colony usually a few days into may i was thrilled to see a pair of house martins back at one of our artificial nests on 26th april our colony dropped from six pairs in 2024 to just one pair last year so i m hoping that it can cling on or better still increase the sound of their calls reminded me how much they are part of our summer soundtrack once you have lived with house martins summer feels incomplete without them as ever i m looking forward to sketching swifts and house martins through the coming months i ll be recording return dates and interesting sightings and behaviour in this blog it ll be illustrated throughout with this year s new sketches as i do them it s a diary from a smaller colony here in gilling east north yorkshire with reference to some of the local towns such as helmsley and kirkbymoorside where swifts remain in great abundance there will be highs and lows as every year but i hope this will give a realistic view of what these birds have to contend with in a north yorkshire summer watch this space if you would like to subscribe to this year s swift house martins season blog scroll down and click the three dots in the bottom right hand corner you can automatically receive them via email see screenshot below i have updated pages in the menu above see links below swifts 2026 https jonathanpomroy wordpress com swifts 2026 house martins 2026 https jonathanpomroy wordpress com house martins 2026 they describe my experiences attracting these species to several houses we ve lived in perhaps pour yourself a cuppa first they are quite a long read i hope you find them useful and interesting my annual spring exhibition is this weekend many swift watercolours prints and cards as well as sketchbooks on show for more information click this link exhibition 2026 do come along and chat swifts and house martins and art hopefully there will be some birds back by saturday i ll also have some of the latest nest boxes on show and action for swifts leaflets etc swift resting in nest site after arrival sketching the first swifts of 2026 all images and text in this blog copyright jonathan pomroy 2026 leave a comment uncategorized my annual spring exhibition at gilling east village hall 2nd 4th may april 25 2026 jonathanpomroy jonathan pomroy annual spring exhibition at gilling east village hall 2 3 4 may bank holiday weekend open daily 10am 5pm pottergate gilling east yo62 4jj what 3 words ballots daisy croutons i m just a week away from my annual spring exhibition i ll be taking over gilling east s superb village hall for the mayday bank holiday weekend i will be there throughout to chat about birds and painting and with luck there will be swifts and house martins around i ll have lots of work on show with many unframed framed watercolours prints and cards you can browse my sketchbooks and see some examples of the latest swift and house martin nest boxes there are some great walks from the village hall and it s very close to the superb fairfax arms if you require refreshments for more information email pomroyjonathan gmail com gilling east village hall with its unique railway leave a comment uncategorized spring gathers pace in gilling east march 22 2026 march 22 2026 jonathanpomroy spring is advancing quickly here in gilling east there are over 90 clumps of frogspawn in our pond up from about 50 last year their wonderful croaking calls have filled the air by the studio for the last week or so but their brief breeding time is over now until spring 2027 chiffchaffs call from the local woods again and the first brimstone small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies are on the wing sketching frogs by the pond outside my studio this is the start of a very busy time for a wildlife artist as we strive to make the most of the intense inspiration that spring brings i find there are some events each spring that i simply cannot bear to miss frog spawning being one of the first but there is so much to take in the arrival of migrant birds gathers pace and it feels incredible that i am less than three weeks away from seeing redstarts and pied flycatchers in the woods again st mark s flies hover the hedges in late april bee flies visit sunny borders so much ahead in spring culminating for me with the first air ripping passes of swifts past our eaves in may all to come tree sparrow prospecting nest boxes it s been good to see an increase in tree sparrows here after a couple of very poor breeding seasons for the species two pairs are currently nest building prospecting birds often fluff their plumage out to extremes as shown in the sketches above now is a good time to plan trips to see certain spring associated species but also to appreciate those that you can simply see in your daily life one of my favourite sights of spring is the orange tip butterfly so often restless in flight through the garden and yet leaving in its wake a strong feeling of the height of spring the orange tip is a good example of a species to really take in there is just one generation each year and so by the end of may you know that it will be another year before the next sighting this of course is the magic of phenology it s a reassuring map of the the year if didn t possess a calendar i like to think that i would know roughly which few days of the year i m inhabiting simply by looking at events in the natural world around me so try to stop and imbibe this time of year for it can offer a deeply reassuring and comforting feeling of certainty in a very uncertain world my shop is currently well stocked including some new swift prints and new cards to browse my latest work for sale online please see this link https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com below are a few recent paintings all of which are available in my online shop link above budle bay late afternoon november 25th watercolour https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com product budle bay northumberland 25th november 2026 bamburgh castle november 25th watercolour https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com product bamburgh castle northumberland november 25th curlew at amble watercolour https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com product curlew near amble marsh harrier at rspb greylake watercolour https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com product marsh harrier at rspb greylake christmas eve ringed plover at south gare march 3rd watercolour https jonathanpomroy bigcartel com product ringed plover at south gare all images and text copyright jonathan pomroy 2026 leave a comment uncategorized sketching white billed divers at blyth february 27 2026 march 1 2026 jonathanpomroy i have always been captivated by divers their shapes their various plumages and the wild places they inhabit inspire me immensely this winter has seen an influx of the relatively scarce white billed diver and so i took the chance to go and see the largest diver in the world there are only five species of diver worldwide and this is the only one i hadn t seen until yesterday i was very lucky on arrival at the port of blyth just north of newcastle one white billed diver was showing closely and a second soon appeared as the first departed downstream towards the sea they were simply magnificent with their huge pale yellow bills and muted brown tones but it was the structure of these brutish birds that really stood out and proved to be such a delight to draw i was mesmerised by them i spent most of the day with them sketching in pencil mainly grappling with the bulky shapes and that pale yellow dagger bill it was great to sketch the divers with fluffed up resting plumage and then see them transformed into a much sleeker birds just before and after a dive the diving periods were very lengthly usually around a minute interspersed with a few seconds on the surface but at other times resting and preening periods gave long views when home i used my sketches and some bridge camera photos to make some more detailed studies which are shown below it s very rewarding to study a new species and having longed to see one since my childhood this was an ambition fulfilled thank you to les hall who found the first bird on 24th february and brian martin who found the second bird the bird i ve sketched here on 25th february i met les and he was so welcoming and giving of his local knowledge this is undoubtedly amongst my favourite birding and sketching field days i m still buzzing from seeing not one but two white billed divers nature notes gilling east in late winter spring is gathering pace here in gilling east the increasing dawn chorus wakes me before 6am now and continues albeit reduced throughout the day snowdrops reached their flowering peak in the last week or two and garden crocuses are attracting emerging insects a peacock butt...