Hi Tweeters:
Remember the message on Sept 2 about the Second Annual Swift Night Out (see
below)? I talked to a friend in Enumclaw, WA which is in SE King County,
and he went down to the old
theater in town last night to see if there were any Vaux's Swifts flying
around the brick chimney as they had done in the past. He counted over 200,
so a friend and I will head to Enumclaw tonight to try to see and count this
roosting flock. Maybe a few Tweeters would like to join us. This flying
into chimneys to roost peaks about this time of year, as the flocks get
ready to migrate south. Apparently our Vaux's Swifts would ordinarily do
this in hollow trees in mature forests, but a few do this into chimneys.
Apparently only a few Vaux's Swifts will actually nest in chimneys out here
in the west. I may be wrong about this however, as I haven't been able to
find out much about these birds. Anyway, here is the message that my friend
sent last night, and also the message that had been posted to Tweets about
the Second Annual Swift Night Out. Please come out and join us for the
count, or count swifts at some other location tonight.
Fred's directions are spotty, because we had already discussed them on the
phone. As you drive into Enumclaw from Auburn on hwy 164 go thru the first
light in town. (There is a flower store on the right.) Drive to the next
intersection, turn left and park anywhere on that street. Sit on a park
bench and look toward the old theater which has a brick chimney. You will
be looking NNE.
Carol Schulz
DesMoines
linusq at att.net
----------------------------
Carol:
Went down to check on the Swift tonight. Got there at 6:45 (all times
P.M.) and there were already 14 circling above the theatre. During the next
half hour there would be thirty + flying around, you have to be careful and
not give up as they disappear for stretches of up to 3 to 5 minutes. The
real big numbers started to go in the chimney at 7:43, by that time I had
counted 56 entering. When the big batch starts going in think the only way
to get a count is by tens. Tonight had 150 go in between 7:43 and 7:46. A
couple of minutes later what were the last 4 for me tonight. This gave me a
total of 210 tonight.
The old theatre is next to the Enumclaw Police Station. Remember the
first light keep going one block (short block) and turn left, park anyplace
on this block. There is a gazebo diagonally across (Southwst) from the
Police Station with a bench on the side by the street. This is a good place
to sit and watch. There are two chimneys at the theatre and the Swift use
the one nearest the front. You will note that the back chimney has a power
pole with transformers on it. Suspect they don't use it because of that. By
the way I keep calling it the old theatre but you should note that it still
in use. Also note that the times may change as the sunset times change.
There activity tonight was very typical as that I have seen the past few
years.
If you need anything else e-mail or call. If you get to town and can't
find the right place give me a call, we are only five minutes awayand I can
come in to help.
Good
birding!

Fred
---------------------------------------
SECOND ANNUAL SWIFT NIGHT OUT - Posted to Tweeters 9-2-02
Hi folks - got this from former Tweeter Kelly Bettinger, and thought that we
Northwesterners might be able to contribute to this Swift count. Another
opportunity for 'Birding with a Purpose'. Please see the contact info
below. Best,
Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Kelly A. Bettinger
Subject: Fwd: Second Annual Swift Night Out

Hi - I've forwarded this from the Georgia Birder's On-line list - note it's
not just for chimney swifts, they'd like reports of Vaux's swift roosts over
the weekend of Sept 6-8 too. Last year only one western roost site was
reported (Portland) - we can do better than that!

Forwarded:

The Chimney Swift nesting season has drawn to a close, and the roosting
flocks have begun to congregate. This year we are going to try to raise
awareness of Chimney Swifts and Vaux's Swifts by holding our second annual
Swift Night Out.

We propose that over the next couple of weeks you locate a Chimney Swift or
Vaux's Swift roost in your area. A roost is a location where swifts gather
at dusk to spend the night. Then on one night over the weekend of September
6,7,8, you observe the roost at dusk and estimate the number of swifts that
enter. When you have your number, contact us with your results. We will
set up a page on our web site to compile the results as they come in. You
may send in your results by email, fax, phone or regular mail - we will
continue to update the results through
the end of September. Here are the contact numbers:

Email: dwa at concentric.net
Fax or phone: (512) 266-3861
U.S. Mail: Driftwood Wildlife Association
1206 West 38th, Suite 1105
Austin, Texas 78705

Along with the number of swifts counted, please include your city and state
or province and the date that you observed the roost. If you
provide the exact location of the roost that you monitor, we will also
include that information in the results.

If you are a member of a local bird club, outdoor group, Audubon chapter or
any other organization that might be interested in participating,
please ask them to pass this information along to their membership.

If you would like to see last year's results, click on the following link:

<http://www.concentric.net/~Dwa/page68.html>

Thank you for your support of Chimney Swift conservation. We look forward
to hearing from you!

Best Regards,
Paul and Georgean
--
Paul D. and Georgean Z. Kyle
North American Chimney Swift Nest Site Research Project
Driftwood Wildlife Association
1206 West 38th Street, Suite 1105
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 266-3861
Visit our web site at < http://www.concentric.net/~Dwa>

Emily Jo Williams
Partners in Flight
Georgia Wildlife Resources Division
116 Rum Creek Drive, Forsyth GA 31029
ej_williams at mail.dnr.state.ga.us
ph 478-994-1438 fax 478-993-3050
**********
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Kelly Bettinger
Avian Monitoring and Research
Northwest Habitat Institute
P.O. Box 855
355 NW 7th Street
Corvallis, OR 97339
1-541-753-2199 (phone)
1-541-753-2440 (fax)
phoebe at peak.org
Homepage: http://www.nwhi.org (check us out!)