Bird enthusiasts are asking people to look out for swifts.

The population of the birds is at its biggest at this time of year.

Breeding birds will have been joined by non breeding birds and will be forming screaming parties around buildings in the island.

The Manx Ornithological Society and Manx BirdLife are asking people to count swifts and looking for nest sites so that these can be increased by the use of nest boxes in future years.

Swifts will shortly be making their way back to Africa and we will not see them again until May next year this is a round trip of 14,000 miles.

The organisations are asking people to record sightings of swifts on the Manx BirdLife website.

A speaker from Action for Swifts UK will give a talk about swift conservation at St John’s Methodist Hall on Tuesday, September 5, at 7.15pm.