Where do British swifts migrate from?

There's a fascinating account of the 2012 journey between the UK from Africa of a swift wearing a geolocator. It shows that the bird travelled to the Congo, having flown through Spain and down the western coast of Africa, broadly following a south westerly route. In south Mauretania it changed direction to the south east, finally ending up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it stayed for several months. Having crossed the equator in the Congo, it then departed for Mozambique, where it spent the summer months. Its return journey to the UK initially followed a different path back to the south of Mauretania, involving a 2000km flight across the Gulf of Guinea to the Ivory Coast and Liberia. From Liberia, it was but a seven day flight back to its box in Landbeach, near Cambridge! This route seems to follow that known to be used by other British Swifts.

For the full account, go to:

http://actionforswifts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/results-from-landbeach-geolocator-swift.html

For those of us eagerly awaiting the return of "our" swifts, at the Action for Swifts blogspot there's a countdown clock showing how many days (through to seconds) remain until the Swifts are expected to arrive in the UK. This year, it's the 7th May. Have a look at: http://actionforswifts.blogspot.co.uk/p/swift-events-diary.html