Alpine Swift Nest 2, Sumiswald Church Tower Live Cam

This camera looks along a broad wooden board to an Alpine swift nest in the roof space of the church tower in Sumiswald, canton of Bern. The nest rests at the foot of a sloping rafter with a round hole, and pale notched strips run across the top of the picture.

Sumiswald is a municipality of about 5,200 people made up of the villages of Sumiswald, Grünen and Wasen. Its old village centre is listed as a site of national importance, and its church dates from 1512. The church windows show donors in the armour of the Teutonic Order with their patron saints.

The second camera in the tower watches a different nest from a little further back, so more of the board in front of it is in view. Alpine swifts return to Switzerland in spring and leave for Africa in early autumn, so the nest is empty in winter.