This evening about 50 people gathered to watch a wonderful roosting of
Vaux's Swifts in the tall chimney of a red brick house, four houses east
of Franklin on 17th (a block south of the capitol campus). Tom Foote
just found about it today and called me, but he was told the birds have
been roosting in the same house since Wednesday. The birds started to
gather around 8:30, sometimes congregating in a pretty tight flock, then
dispersing, then congregating again. By 8:45 they were becoming a more
concentrated swirling mass, and around 8:55 most of them finally dove
into the chimney, leaving only a few stragglers (obviously with the wrong
genes!) to follow. One observer, properly keeping her Grinnell journal,
estimated tonight's flock at 325 birds. Terres (Audubon Encyclopedia)
notes this phenomenon as characteristic of migrating birds. It would be
interesting to know whether the same birds are staying in one place for
several days or whether the flock is continually losing some birds that
move north and acquiring others from the south. Anyway, it's a great
show. The crowd applauded when the last bird finally roosted.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794