Subject: Swift Night Out Count this Wkend
Date: Sep 9 09:41:24 2004
From: Lynn Schulz - linusq at worldnet.att.net


Hi Folks:
It's Thurs, Sept 9. Here's a reminder that the "Fourth Annual Swift
Night Out" is this weekend.

If you don't count swifts at a chimney or hollow tree near you this
weekend, the Driftwood Wildlife Assn will continue to post results
from across the nation in the days following. Swifts are migrating
now, and roost in old (or sometimes new) chimneys in evenings just
before sunset. Some areas get hundreds or even thousands of birds
swirling around the chimneys before they fly down inside them. It's
quite the sight. The Chapman School in Portland posted the most birds
at a western U.S. sight last year. An incredible number of 6,300
birds on one night. It was exceeded by a count in Winston-Salem, NC
w/ a count of 10,00 birds and another count at an elementary school
chimney in Pfafftown, NC of 8,000. Some home chimneys might only get
two birds or so.

A friend and I counted 435 birds two years ago in downtown Enumclaw at
the brick chimney of the Chalet Theater during light rains. We sent
our results into Swift Night Out. Unfortunately, none of those birds
were seen roosting in that chimney last year (that I know about, and I
returned several times). But I'll be monitoring another possible
swift roost this year, a chimney on a barn near Flaming Geyser Park
near Auburn.

For more info about the Fourth Annual Swift Night Out, info about
swifts and past counts, and how to register your count, see the
message below.
Yours, Carol Schulz
DesMoines, WA
linusq at att.net

Greetings,

As the nesting season for Chimney Swifts draws to a close, these
aerial acrobats begin to gather in large communal roosts. For several
years now we have been hosting A Swift Night Out in an effort to
increase awareness about the plight of Chimney Swifts. The event
involves locating a Chimney Swift or Vaux's Swift roost in your
community, arriving at dusk on the evening of the event and counting
the swifts as they enter the roost for the night. Results that are
reported back to us will then be placed on our web site on a locator
map.

In 2004, we will once again have two Swifts Nights Out to accommodate
our more northern contributors. The first event will be on August 13,
14 and 15. This is a little early for many USA roosts, but it can be
a great scouting event in preparation of the final event in September.
The main event will be held the weekend after Labor Day: September
10, 11 and 12. For more information and to see the results from
previous year's events, please visit our web site at
www.chimneyswifts.org and click on the link to A Swift Night Out. Or
you can go directly to the results page at
http://www.concentric.net/%7edwa/page74.html

Please forward this email to conservation and birding groups in your
area, and help us make this year's event the best ever.

Thanks!

Paul and Georgean
--
Paul D. and Georgean Z. Kyle
Driftwood Wildlife Association
1206 West 38th, Suite 1105
Austin, TX 78705
phone / fax (512) 266-3861
Visit our web site: www.chimneysiwfts.org