Subject: swifts
Date: Sep 13 15:31:11 2003
From: Diann MacRae - tvulture at vei.net


Hi, Tweets

Just a quick note since a few people have mentioned swifts. My son and I
were in Portland earlier this week and went to the Chapman School in
northwest Portland for the swift show. We were not disappointed. The day
had turned out quite nice and we took a blanket and sat with 20-30 or other
people on the hillside to the south of the chimney - now protected in case
of earthquakes! Portland Audubon had volunteers there to answer questions
and hand out newsletters. The school has a three-sided sign, sort of a
mini-kiosk, which has photos and information about the roost. We arrived
about 6:30 pm and the swifts starting arriving about twenty minutes later.
My, how impressive!! If you get a chance, make the trip to see this
spectacle . . . and it is truly an avian spectacle. It began with a few
here and there with hundreds more coming in all the time. They swirled
overhead making calls all of the time. By about 7:30pm, they started
swirling around the chimney and entering - by the thousands, believe me.
Watching with binoculars it was interesting to see how they (individually)
arrived from this dense swirling mass and, just before dropping into the
chimney, they would set their wings and sort of drop. I'm so used to
vulture flight dynamics that it's hard to describe a tiny bird, but it was
plain to see. This went on until about 8:10 when we left. There were still
just a few outside - perhaps they couldn't fit in - they have had up to
40,000 swifts in the chimney and we were told it was the largest swift
roost in the western U.S. They literally darken the sky when they start
swirling around the chimney and it almost seems like a vacuum is sucking
them in.

If you decide to visit, go to the Portland Audubon Web site and there is
more information plus directions to the school.

Cheers, Diann

P.S. vultures are moving south, too.
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