Hi, Tweets

Bill and I did our first official count of the southbound migration
of Vaux's swifts at the Frank Wagner Elementary in Monroe last night.
We arrived about an hour before sundown (8 pm) and were greeted with
great temperatures for sitting out and clear blue sky. Not even a
crow in sight. At about 7:30 the swifts started arriving. I can
always hear them first - their high-pitched calls are neat to hear.
Just a few at first and then by sundown there was a respectable crowd
circling about plus a few human visitors. At 8:15, the swifts started
funneling into the chimney and by 8:23 all 560 birds were, hopefully,
snug for the night. Both cameras were working and we could see what
was happening in the chimney also. A nice, comfortable evening with
pleasant weather and no predators to bother the swifts.

Keep in mind that our annual Swift Night Out at Frank Wagner will be
on 10 September. Lots of food, info booths, people and, we hope,
swifts. It starts at 4pm and goes until the last swift is in the
chimney. We will hope for no predators this year. Our usual counts on
this special night have been up to 11,000+, last year, there were
lots of swifts around . . . until an accipiter turned up and, in the
confusion, many of the birds fled to an auxiliary site leaving us
with fewer than 2,000. Still a good sight when they spiral into the chimney.

Cheers, Diann

Diann MacRae
Olympic Vulture Study
22622 - 53rd Avenue S.E.
Bothell, WA 98021
tvulture at vei.net