I made a visit to downtown Centralia recently to check on the swifts. I had seen them on a previous visit in August 2006. I arrived about 1 1/2 hrs before official sunset. For the first hour, birds were coming and going, mixed in with swallows and it was hard to know just how many swifts were actually around. About 8:00 pm (sunset at 8:28), things got crazy and the sky was filled with swirling, chattering swifts. I counted about 400 birds. By 8:26 nearly everyone was tucked in for the night in a chimney. The building is directly across from the main entrance to the train station. There is a great bench with a perfect view of the chimney. As always, a spectacular show.

Lori Salzer
Olympia, Wa
ljsalzer at yahoo.com


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