Science – Page 16 – David Bradley

Are crypto currencies destroying the planet?

TL:DR – Bitcoin mining uses vast arrays of energy-hungry computers many of which are powered with an unsustainable, non-renewable energy supply, generating enormous carbon emissions. It is estimated that Bitcoin is currently wasting 140 terawatt-hours of electricity annually and producing 70 megatonnes of carbon emissions each year.

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency. Each Bitcoin has a digital ledger, a blockchain, that records all transactions and is at the heart of the value in the currency. Bitcoin transactions are typically irreversible and can be made anonymously, providing a level of privacy. It operates on a decentralized, peer-to-peer network independently of governments, banks or any financial authority. It was ostensibly created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, but that pseudonym may represent an unknown individual or a group of people.

The way in which Bitcoin was created means that there is a known and limited supply. The total number of Bitcoins that can ever exist is capped at 21 million, making it a finite digital asset. Scarcity, of course, can be seen as giving Bitcoin value and it has become a popular form of alternative investment. The value of Bitcoin can fluctuate wildly with no physical asset, such as gold or a commodity to underpin it nor government backing. Its value is determined solely by supply and demand in the crypto market.

None of this is free. Bitcoin is a digital entity and must be sustained by a network of computers all using electricity. Indeed, each Bitcoin transaction created when someone sends or receives a Bitcoin has to be verified and this is done by a process called mining. Mining involves nodes (computers) in the Bitcoin network solving a complex mathematical problem to validate the transaction before it can be added to the digital ledger, the blockchain.

Now, the obvious question arises why would a person with a computer or an array of computers use their resources to solve those mathematical problems to validate Bitcoin transactions to add to the digital ledgers? The answer is that the owner of the computer that solves the problem and validates the transaction first is rewarded with Bitcoin! Validating transactions, which usually takes about ten minutes for a powerful computer, is a competition with Bitcoin as its prize.

The mathematical problems that miners must solve require significant computational power and energy to undertake the so-called Proof-of-Work (PoW)*. The solution to the mathematical problem is the “hash” a unique cryptographic code that verifies each transaction and locks the new link in place in the blockchain. A third party hoping to hack and so steal a Bitcoin would need unimaginable computer resources to solve the thousands of hash codes in a single Bitcoin. The PoW system makes Bitcoin validation decentralised and secure.

The electricity consumption in Bitcoin mining is enormous. The primarily attributed to the computational power required to solve the PoW puzzle, the cooling and infrastructure needed to run the mining hardware, and the continuous operation of the mining equipment. The University of Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index currently estimates that the annual power usage is almost 140 terawatt-hours. That is roughly half the electricity usage of Finland or about a third of that of Venezuela!

A particularly cynical aspect of Bitcoin mining is the exploitation of cheap electricity in the developing world, which not only affects the environment detrimentally but reduces access and raises prices in those regions. That said, while it was originally China with the most Bitcoin mines, the US has gone into polluting pole position after China shut them down citing environmental reasons!

It seems obvious that Bitcoin mining is not an environmentally benign process. There are other crypto currencies that use other types of PoW puzzles and these too add to the power burden. That said, there is some effort underway to develop an alternative to PoW that would use far less power – Proof of Stake (PoS). Instead of miners solving complex mathematical problems, validators (or “stakers”) are chosen to validate transactions based on their ownership or “stake” of the cryptocurrency.

There seems to be no obvious solution to this growing problem. Good intentions rarely pass muster among the greedy and it is likely that crypto currencies will continue to consume huge amounts of electricity, generate huge carbon emissions, and as equipment fails or becomes obsolete produce even more electrical waste.

I’ve talked about all of this previously, but an NYT piece triggered me.

*The PoW puzzle in Bitcoin is a complex mathematical problem involving finding a hash value that is numerically lower than a specific target value. This requires miners to perform extensive calculations using the SHA-256 algorithm, searching for a hash that starts with a certain number of leading zeros in its hexadecimal representation.

For example, let’s say the target value is represented in hexadecimal as “00000000F123456789ABCDEF123456789ABCDEF123456789ABCDEF123456789ABC”. Miners must try different inputs in combination with the transactions and the hash of the previous block, encrypt them using the SHA-256 hash function, and check if the resulting hash is a lower number than the set target value.

The first miner to find that lower number and so successfully solve the PoW puzzle gets to add a new block of transactions to the blockchain and is rewarded with newly created Bitcoins. This PoW puzzle serves as a security mechanism to prevent double spending, validate transactions, and maintain the integrity of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Why do some moths have eyes on their wings?

TL:DR – A few examples of plants and animals that use disguises.

Lots of animals and even plants have evolved to have a visual resemblance to other organisms. The flowers of the Bee Orchid as the name would suggest look like female bees and as such attract roving male bees who alight on the “female” hoping that they’ve found a mate. In so doing, they inadvertently pick up pollen from the male part of the flower and this is transferred to female parts of the next “mate”, thus pollinating the plants.

Bee Orchid closeup — Bee Orchid complete with fur and pollen sacks

There is a bird that has evolved to look like a snake and so ward off predators. Indeed, not only does it look like a snake when it postures defensively, but it writhes around so that its head really does look like a snake about to pounce.

Among the lepidoptera, the moths and butterflies, there are so many disguises it is hard to know where to start. The Bufftip moth resembles a piece of snapped of birch twig while the unrelated Buff Arches resembles a piece of flint on a stony woodland floor.

Buff Arches moth resembles a chunk of flint

There are so many examples of this faking it camouflage among the Lepidoptera. Perhaps the most obvious examples of this pareidolia are among the species that have “eyes” (ocelli, singular ocellus) on their wings. The European Peacock, for example, roosts with wings closed. The dark undersides are sufficient disguise in the dingy nook of a tree during hibernation but if disturbed it flashes its eyes, which to a bird or other predator look shockingly like a big face staring back, the face of an animal that might fight back rather than a gentle butterfly.

Dark undersides of Peacock butterfly wings

The Emperor moth also has four eyes but does not have the advantage of being able to fold its wings flat against each other. When disturbed or agitated it opens out its wings to reveal four scary eyes staring back at a predator.

The staring "face" of an Emperor moth at rest — The staring “face” of an Emperor moth at rest

However, even at rest with its forewings covering its hindwings the Emperor is always watchful. Indeed, if one imagines a predator flying into to check out tasty morsels on the heather, it will be shocked to see something resembling a predator staring back at it!

Mothing really matters, anyone can see

TL:DR – Reasons to be a citizen scientist lepidopterist.

I’ve been mothing since July 2018. By which I mean I have used lures (ultraviolet light sources, pheromones, and occasionally sugar mixtures) and a trap to allow me to monitor, count, photograph, and release the moths that pass through my garden at night. It has apparently since become an even more popular hobby, particularly among wildlife enthusiasts during the time when we were all in covid lockdown and had limited opportunity to be out and about exploring nature in situ, birdwatching, gulling, seeking out wildflowers, etc.

Convolvulus Hawk-moth, a rare migrant to the UK that sometimes breeds in Spring, but is generally unable to overwinter here.

There is an argument that mothing might be detrimental to the already heavily threatened populations of moths, but I think the benefits in terms of scientific insight and education far outweigh the negligible impact on moth populations.

The stunning Clifden Nonpareil was once relatively common in the UK but disappeared. It is seeing a renaissance and spreading northwards

Indeed, there was a scurrilous article in The Guardian in 2019 that had lots of reasons why we shouldn’t moth, largely invalid and easily debunked by anyone with an announce of conservation savvy. So, here’s a list of ten good reason why mothing matters:

Moth trapping and recording is a valuable citizen science activity that allows non-scientists to contribute to scientific research and conservation efforts. The overall scale of scientific moth trapping on reserves and at research centres is far greater than amateur garden mothing.
Moths play important roles in ecosystems as pollinators, food sources for other animals, and indicators of environmental health and so understanding their behaviour and distribution can help in deciding on conservation initiatives.
Moths are often overlooked compared to butterflies (which are actually just a grouping within the Lepidoptera like any grouping of moths), but there are around 160,000 species of moths worldwide (2500 in the UK), making them an incredibly diverse and fascinating group of insects. The more we know about such diversity, the better.
Moths are also important bioindicators, as they can be used to monitor changes in habitat quality and climate.
Moth trapping and recording can help identify new species, expand knowledge of distribution and range, and range extension and reduction, as well as migration, and provide important data for conservation efforts.
Moths are often nocturnal and elusive, making them difficult to study through traditional observation methods. Moth trapping provides an opportunity to observe and study these insects in greater detail.
Moth trapping can also provide a unique opportunity to engage with the natural world and inspire curiosity and interest in science and conservation in young and old alike.
Moth trapping can be done in a non-invasive and ethical manner, with moths typically released unharmed after being recorded and identified.
Moth trapping can provide valuable data on population trends and species diversity, which can help inform conservation decisions and management strategies.
Moth trapping is a relatively low-cost and accessible activity that can be done by people of all ages and backgrounds in their own gardens or even from the balcony of a tower block, making it an ideal way to engage a wide range of people in science and conservation. Lots of nature reserves running mothing events open to the public.

Funnily enough, even trapping every evening makes very little difference to the moths overall. In fact, there is an added benefit to regular moth trapping: it most likely increases biodiversity at the specific site or garden as more species passing in the night are being lured in. If you’ve created good habitat, this can only benefit the moths. But, it’s also good for the bats in your garden, good for the garden frogs too, and good for the birds who can feast on adults and larvae.

Nocturnal pollination #MothsMatter

TL:DR – Many species of moth are important nocturnal pollinators.

2018 was the year I took a serious interest in studying moths in my garden having been loaned a scientific mothtrap by a friend in the village. It was late July that year that I fell in love with the “nocturnal” Lepidoptera.

By the September, I’d recorded about 120 species of animal I’d never noticed, seen, nor observed ever before. In subsequent years I added yet more species. There are about 1600 moth species in the UK and I have ticked 464 (as of 1 April 2023). That same month there was some research demonstrating once again why moths matter and why we should not dismiss these remarkable creatures. The paper:

Construction, validation, and application of nocturnal pollen transport networks in an agro-ecosystem: a comparison using light microscopy and DNA metabarcoding

Callum J. Macgregor, James J. N. Kitson, Richard Fox, Christoph Hahn, David H. Lunt, Michael J. O. Pocock, Darren M. Evans First published: 17 September 2018 https://doi.org/10.1111/een.12674

The study compared two methods, light microscopy and DNA metabarcoding, for constructing pollen-transport networks of nocturnal moths, with a focus on their feeding mouthparts. The researchers found that DNA metabarcoding detected more pollen on individual moths and more interactions per moth species compared to microscopy.

The results also showed that the pollen-transport network metrics differed between the two methods due to their varying abilities to detect multiple pollen types per moth and to separate morphologically similar or related pollen. The team also demonstrated some unexpected moth-plant interactions using metabarcoding, revealing new insights into nocturnal pollination systems.

The authors suggest that while the two methods revealed similar yet distinct networks, the potential applications of metabarcoding for studying plant-pollinator interaction networks, especially for understudied pollinators like moths, are encouraging.

Trip to Teesdale

TL:DR – Brief spot of garden birding with friends in Teesdale and some sightseeing.

We spent a lovely couple of days with wonderful friends at their place in Teesdale…unfortunately I’ve been struggling to walk with an ankle injury so the usual long country walks and sightseeing were off the agenda, but we did get to toddle around the fabulous Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle and to sample some local ale at the local pub for local people (and their friends).

Through-window shot of male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Our friends had also arranged a fabulous selection of birds to use their garden bird feeders while we were there: Brambling, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker (M+F), Redpoll, Goldfinch, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Robin, Chaffinch, Jackdaw, Rook (either or both of which repeatedly knocked the feeders on to the lawn), Blackbird, House Sparrow, Starling (mainly in the trees not on the feeders); also Chiff Chaff calling from one of their trees. Didn’t see Tawny Owl on this visit.

Typical Teesdale — Teesdale village view

The Tees at Barnard Castle was too rough and high within my walking range to catch sight of Dippers or wagtails fishing this time, but there were Mallard ducklings on the foamy banks and a solitary Whooper Swan looking rather out of place below the castle ruins.

One of very few authentic French Art Deco pieces in a public British collection. This by Jacques Gruber — Art Deco stained glass window by Jacques Gruber held at The Bowes Museum

The pseudo chateau of The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle — The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle

The Butterbur, Petasites hybridus — Butterbur on the banks of The Tees

Yellow mallard/hybrid duckling on the Tees — Yellow hybrid Mallard duckling on the Tees

Solitary Whooper Swan, Cygnus cygnus, on the Tees at Barnard Castle — Solitary Whooper Swan, Barnard Castle

Common Redpoll photographed through a kitchen window — Redpoll photographed through the kitchen window

Teesdale chicken — Gallus gallus domesticus

ChemistGPT

TL:DR – Recent experience with asking ChatGPT chemistry questions reveals the limitations of this language model, despite the claims and hype of an ignorant US politician speaking in March 2023.

There was lots of talk of ChatGPT apparently deciding to teach itself organic chemistry…now…ChatGPT is language model, it’s not really an artificial intelligence (AI) in the strict sense, all it really is is a sophisticated autocomplete that analyses your prompts and weighs up the most likely combination of words with which to reply. I wondered whether the only chemistry in all that hype was the chemistry between olfactory receptor and odourant molecules in bovine ordure. So, I set it a challenge, giving it the following prompt:

You are to act as an expert organic chemist. You need to devise a reaction scheme using retrosynthetic analysis for the drug molecule Taxol.

This is how it responded:

Taxol is a complex natural product that has antitumor activity and is used in the treatment of various cancers. The molecule contains a complex array of functional groups, including multiple stereocenters, which make its synthesis a significant challenge.

Here is a possible retrosynthetic analysis of taxol:

Step 1: The first step involves disconnection of the C13 side chain from the taxane core. This can be achieved using a standard acid-catalyzed esterification reaction between a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. This disconnection leads to the formation of the intermediate 10-deacetylbaccatin III.

Step 2: The second step involves disconnection of the A and B rings from the taxane core. This can be achieved using a retro-Diels-Alder reaction. The retro-Diels-Alder reaction involves breaking the six-membered ring formed in the Diels-Alder reaction between the A and B rings. This leads to the formation of the intermediate 9-dihydro-13-acetylbaccatin III.

Step 3: The third step involves disconnection of the C ring from the taxane core. This can be achieved using a ring-opening reaction. The ring-opening reaction involves breaking the bond between C9 and C10, leading to the formation of the intermediate 7,8-didehydro-10-deacetylbaccatin III.

Step 4: The fourth step involves disconnection of the D ring from the taxane core. This can be achieved using a ring-closing reaction. The ring-closing reaction involves forming a new bond between C1 and C14, leading to the formation of the intermediate 5-deoxy-4-O-methyltaxol.

Step 5: The final step involves disconnection of the C2 side chain from the taxane core. This can be achieved using a standard nucleophilic substitution reaction. This leads to the formation of the final product, taxol.

Overall, the retrosynthetic analysis of taxol involves a series of complex reactions, including esterification, retro-Diels-Alder reaction, ring-opening reaction, ring-closing reaction, and nucleophilic substitution reaction. These reactions can be challenging to carry out in practice, and developing efficient and practical synthetic routes to taxol remains an active area of research in organic chemistry.

Now, it’s a long time since I did any retrosynthetic analyses for organic chemistry and I was never any good at them when I was meant to be. So, I’ll put this to social media and see what some proper chemists think.

First comment in was from ChemJobber, who said “the first disconnection to start with 10-deacetylbaccatin is reasonable”

I wrote about the first total synthesis of Taxol back in the 90s, and recall that the overall reaction scheme had well over 20 steps…

Nessa Carson dissected it and found the ChatGPT scheme rather lacking – here. She also pointed out that in Step 5 it completes the retrosynthesis of Taxol by disconnecting it all the way back to… Taxol (lol)

Red-green Carpet

TL:DR – It’s spring and at least one hibernating moth, the Red-green Carpet, has arrived in our garden so far this year

Lit up with my Heath trap again last night and despite the rain, but perhaps because it didn’t drop below 9 Celsius there was a small clutch of moths to ID and record this morning. Specifically, 2x Clouded Drab (new for the year), Common Quaker, Early Grey, 2x Hebrew Character, and a Red-green Carpet, also NFY.

Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) — Red-green Carpet, Chloroclysta siterata

The Red-green Carpet is usually on the wing in the Autumn, the males die, but the females can hibernate to lay eggs in the spring. To my eye, they generally look green with some spots and patches at this time of year, but the autumnal ones are more obviously green and red…ish.

The “carpet” part of its name refers not to the notion that its larvae eat carpets, rather than in the 1700s when species were first being classified and named, the early entomologists and indeed the Lepidopterists perceived the beauty of these creatures and equated their colourful patterns and markings as being like the luxury items carpets were at the time.

The Red-green Carpet moth is a beautiful and fascinating species of moth that belongs to the family Geometridae, which includes many other species commonly known as “carpet moths”. This moth is found throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, where it is one of the most common species of carpet moth.

Like all Lepidoptera, the species undergoes a complete metamorphosis, with four distinct life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The eggs are laid on the leaves of the host plant, which can include a wide variety of deciduous trees, most commonly oak and rowan. The larvae, which are often called “inchworms” (US usage) because of their distinctive way of moving, measuring the earth…hence geometers undergo several moults before pupating. The pupa is a non-feeding, transformative stage in which the larva transforms into the adult moth. Finally, the adult emerges from the pupa and begins the cycle anew by finding a mate and the females laying eggs.

The northern lights aren’t in my eyes – Aurora borealis

TL:DR – The Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis and their antipodean equivalent, the Southern Lights, Aurora Australis, are a visible phenomenon seen in the polar skies as particles from the solar wind interact with particles in the earth’s upper atmosphere.

Lots of lucky locals, by which I mean people a bit further north in Norfolk saw the northern lights, the Aurora Borealis, in Norfolk and elsewhere. There is a slight possibility of seeing them in Cambridgeshire although finding somewhere with little light pollution around here is a tough call, but more to the point it’s been cloudy and wet when other places have had their lightshow these last couple of nights. In recent years they have been observed from Devon and Cornwall.

Aurora borealis at Vestrahorn, Southern Iceland by German photographer Simaron — Aurora borealis at Vestrahorn, Southern Iceland (Credit: Simaron)

So, what are the northern lights?

The northern lights are a natural phenomenon generally occurring close to the poles, in the high or low latitude regions of the Arctic and Antarctic. The phenomenon is caused by the interaction between charged particles from the Sun and the Earth’s protective magnetic field.

The Sun constantly emits a stream of charged particles, called the solar wind, which travels through space and interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field. When these charged particles collide with the oxygen and nitrogen in the Earth’s atmosphere, they gain energy, they are excited, when the excitement passes, the particles release energy in the form of light. This produces the glowing, coloerful display that we see as the Northern Lights, or the Southern Lights, the Aurora Australis.

The colours of the Northern Lights depend on the type of gas particles that are colliding with the charged particles and the altitude at which the excitement occurs. Oxygen at higher altitude will glow red and at lower altitude will grown green. Nitrogen produces blue and purple hues.

Usually, seeing the Aurora Borealis involves heading to the colder regions Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, or Canada during the winter months and hoping for a strong solar wind, caused by lots of activity on the surface of the sun. Occasionally, activity and conditions are just right for people to see them farther from the poles as has happened in recent days.

Aurora comes from the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn. It’s related to the name of the Indo-European goddess of the dawn and ultimately the root is from ancient Greek “to shine” with particular reference to the dawn sky.

Borealis comes from the Latin Boreas meaning the “north wind” and from the Greek Boreas, also the name of the god of the north wind.

Australis derives from the Latin word auster meaning “south wind” and hence relates to the southern part of the world.

I haven’t ever managed to see nor photograph the Northern nor the Southern Lights hence the allusion to the lyrics of a 1978 song by progressive rock band Renaissance. The singer with the band, Annie Haslam, was renowned for her operatic training and her five-octave vocal range. I recently updated an article you might like on how to sing.

The photo above was taken by Simaron at Vestrahorn, Southern Iceland in September 2022.

Early Oak Piercer just for FUN

TL:DR – Pheromones are a useful tool for discovering what day-flying moths are in your neighbourhood.

As regular readers know, I do a bit of mothing…I have had a FUN lure, a pheromone lure aimed at attracting Grapholita funebrana. It’s been sighted in the garden for a couple of weeks with nothing appearing until 21st March 2023 at which point I was lucky enough to catch a couple of micro moths, Pammene giganteana (known to some unofficially as the Early Oak Piercer) not the target species but nice to see, nevertheless.

The micro moth Pammene giganteana (Early Oak Piercer) — The micro moth *Pammene giganteana* (Early Oak Piercer)

The larvae of the Early Oak Piercer feed inside oak-apple galls, which are themselves formed by parasitic wasps.

According to Anglian Lepidopterist Supplies from whom I bought this and other pheromone lures, the FUN lure has a long list of non-target species that might be drawn to it at different times of year, there may be others yet to be reported:

Glyphipterix fuscoviridella , Phyllonorycter quercifoliella, Grapholita janthinana , Cnephasia stephensiana , Ochsenheimeria vacculella, Epiblema costipunctana, Grapholita tenebrosana, Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, Dichrorampha aeratana, Acentria ephemerella, Argyresthia curvella, Endothenia gentianaeana, Hadena confusa (Marbled Coronet), Lymantria dispar (Gypsy Moth), Agrotis segetum (Turnip Moth), Tinea semifulvella, Pammene argyrana, Pammene aurana, Pammene giganteana, Pammene albuginana, Pammene obscurana, Pammene suspectana, Pammene fasciana, Amblyptilia punctidactyla

Pheromone moth trap — A simple pheromone moth trap. The lure is held in a receptacle above an funnelled opening, a moth attracted to the lure will commonly fall into the funnel and be unable to escape, ready for identification, logging, and release back into the wild unharmed.

Alpine Swifts in the UK and Ireland

TL:DR – The bird report pages noted what seemed to be quite an unusual number of Alpine Swifts across the UK during March 2023.

Back in 2019, we took a trip to Greece, the first in many years, we saw lots of wildlife, including Alpine Swift, Tachymarptis melba, careening way above our heads in Athens.

The alpine swift is a medium-sized bird with a wingspan of around 540-600 mm. It has a dark-brown body with a slightly paler throat and underbelly. In flight, it is easily identified by its long, narrow wings and its distinctive white belly patch, which contrasts sharply with the dark body. It is a skilled and agile flier, capable of catching insects on the wing with great precision. Indeed, it rarely touches down, spending almost its whole life, once fledged on the wing, except perhaps when incubating eggs in their nests. It will only very rarely land on the ground.

Alpine Swifts flying against a blue sky above central Athens, 2019 — Alpine Swifts

During the breeding season, which typically runs from May to August, Alpine Swifts build their nests in crevices and holes in the rocky cliffs and mountainsides of southern Europe to the Himalaya. They use their saliva to glue together small twigs and feathers, forming a shallow, cup-shaped nest. The female lays a clutch of 2-3 eggs, both parents take turns to incubate the eggs for around three weeks.

After the breeding season, the Alpine Swift migrates south to spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa. They are known for their long-distance flights and are capable of covering up to 1000 km in a 24-hour period. They will return to the same nest sites year after year.

As I was writing this, yet another “ping” came in on my rare bird sightings app to alert me to another Alpine Swift having been spotted in the UK. It’s March 2023. Quite early for the Common Swift, which we always see in the UK each summer. Alpine Swifts though? Very unusual. They have been sighted in numerous places in the UK and Ireland this spring.

Sightings have been reported since mid-March this year in the following counties: Antrim, Armagh, Cheshire, Cork, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Down, Dublin, Dumfries & Galloway, East Sussex, Essex, Forth, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Kent, Leitrim, Lincolnshire, London, Lothian, Mayo, Norfolk, Northumberland, Pembrokeshire, Somerset, Waterford, Wicklow, Yorkshire.

The early reports were marked as “notable” rather than “mega”. In 2022, there was just one noted in March, although later in the year a few others were sighted. Similarly for previous years. So, while I admit, I’d not known about their habits this far north and west of southern Europe, it does seem that a large number have appeared in British and Irish skies very early in the spring this year.

One cannot make generalisations about animal behaviour based on data from a single year, of course. However, the appearance of Alpine Swifts in numbers, this early in the year, suggests something may have changed for them this period. It could simply be changes in weather patterns and wind currents, whether or not those are due to climate change is a different matter. It is known that Alpine Swifts to range quite widely during their migration so maybe this is not an aberration at all and just a reversion to a pattern they followed some time in the distant past.

Stephen Moss discussed the recent irruption of Alpine Swifts in The Guardian some time after my original post and alluded to the fact that because of climate change, this species may well begin breeding in the UK at some point in the next few years, if it hasn’t already done so.