Hi Tweets,

I was alerted Sunday morning of a Vaux' Swift roost in
Enumclaw by Jeff Antonelis-Lapp of Rainier Audubon. So, never
having seen this sort of spectacle, I went out there last night
to check it out.
Wow! No, make that Double Wow! I arrived at the site
(the Chalet Theatre, next to the police station, at the corner
of Wells St & Myrtle Ave in downtown Enumclaw) around 8:20 and
as I drove up to the area I looked up and was astounded to see
a swirling vortex of swifts about 30 to 50 feet over the theatre.
I pulled of the road and got out to watch. They were all calling
(I would've thought 1,000 or so swifts would be louder) and
the occasional swift made a move towards the chimney. I watched
in awe for about 10 minutes until the first large groups began
to descend into the chimney of the theatre. It was all over by
8:35. Since it was showery and mostly cloudy last night the
timing of the event might be a little later on a clear evening,
but that is just conjecture. I would try to arrive by 8:15 and
plan on staying until at least 8:45.
Jeff told me that he counted about 1,000 swifts the other
day - just how he counted them, I've no idea! Seems like a real
challenge. This is his highest count ever he said. By the way,
if there aren't many people around (I was the only one last
night) you can park on the street. If there isn't much street
parking there's a parking lot across the street from the theatre,
on Wells St. This area is just one block North (NE) from Griffin
Ave, which is one of the main downtown streets (Hwy 164 from
Auburn becomes Griffin). I don't know how long they'll be there
so I'd go soon if you're interested.

Jim Flynn
Renton, WA
bf519 at scn.org