Many birds have finished breeding now while others are still in the throes of raising the next generation.

Inevitably I get lots of calls from well-meaning readers who have found baby birds and want to know what to do with them.

Almost always the advice I give is the same – leave any chicks where they are as the parents will usually be aware of their whereabouts.

Sometimes it is advisable to move a bird to a safe area away from hazards but still close to the place where they were discovered.

Without question, the chicks' parents are better equipped to look after any fledglings than we are and as long as they know where they are the chicks will be cared for.

Occasionally however, things aren't quite so straightforward.
I received a call from Warren Bevan at Lancaster Golf Club last week who was concerned for the welfare of some house martins following his discovery of a collapsed nest.

After a chat we decided on a course of action and Warren cleverly placed the young martins in a makeshift replacement nest, which he wedged into a space close to the site of the original nest and place the young birds into it.

We were hopeful that the parents would realise that the chicks were still nearby and continue to care for them which, I am delighted to report, they did, with just one of the baby birds sadly failing to make it.

It's not always young birds that get into trouble at this time of year though and I got another call from Dave Blackwell at Lancaster Musician's Co-op where he had discovered a bird seemingly trapped in the building.

After it had swooped around a few times it dropped to the floor and just lay there, so he picked it up, put it in a box and rang me for some advice.

Later he and his wife Holly came round to my house with the mystery bird and on looking in the box I was delighted to see an adult common swift.

Swifts have very small legs (in fact their scientific name means 'no foot') and struggle to take off from the ground. Indeed they only ever land to nest, in buildings and caves, and spend most of their remarkable lives on the wing.

After a quick check to see that our swift was in good health I was able to simply launch the bird into the air from my back yard and it immediately took off and joined a group of swifts feeding over the house.

Another success story!

On the whole it is best to leave young birds as you find them, if they are not in immediate danger, and let nature take its course but once in a while a little bit of human intervention can be a good thing as these two recent examples demonstrate.

Don't forget to keep an eye on local birding news by visiting the Lancaster & District Birdwatching Society's website at www.lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk.