Whatever the conditions were for the Thames pageant, the warm conditions and light rain of mid-afternoon of 3 June suited Swifts very well. A big number – maybe 200 but hard to tell – were swarming like gnats over the surrounding corn fields, with a generally northerly drift of the flock, then returning southwards about half an hour later. A lesser number of House Martins and Swallows were with them. The Swifts were silent, feeding, which somehow makes them even creepier.