GO WILD WITH ERIC PAYLOR

IT'S good to see that Cleveland's swifts have returned in fairly reasonable numbers during the past couple of weeks.

- 

This familiar species is no longer as common as it was a few years ago, partly because there are fewer nesting sites available in old buildings.

Wildlife groups have attempted to rectify this situation by erecting special swift nestboxes at the top of high buildings, RSPB Saltholme being one of them.

Swifts can nest in unusual places. A couple of years ago a pair nested in a cavity on the Town Wall at Hartlepool Headland.

These African visitors are unmistakeable. They have longer wings and shorter bodies than swallows while they are basically sooty brown in colour with a slightly paler chin.