Over the years of monitoring, the swifts tended to arrive back in Perthshire on or about the same day every year. At Glenhead and Cloan they would be there on the 8th of May with very little variation. The earliest I recorded them arriving was once on the 5th May and the latest was once on the 13th. This year the first report for Perthshire was on the 1st May and today (the 7th) I heard of them having arrived at Stonehaven, so they are about a week early!