Tweets: I am sure many have noticed that Vaux' swifts are all over the place right now
(yesterday at Nisqually the sky over the main headquarters pond looked smokey with them).
But what about use of chimneys this time of year?

Clarice and I were walking this morning near our house in Puyallup. At about 7:00 AM we
noticed a large number of swifts over Clark's Creek, then Clarice saw them coming out of a
residential chimney. The brick chimney is very visible from public street. It is average size for
a one story house, however fairly tall as it is below the peak of the roof. We watched swifts
exit for about 15 minutes. As we did not see the start of the flight, we did not try to count, but
I would estimate a few hundred. Just as each bird exited the top it would dive downslope over
the roof, then pull up just above the front yard, right about head height-- we were more in,
rather than below, the flight.

My request is that some of you swift experts out there contact me about how long I should
expect them to use this roost this time of year, also, are they likely to return there in the fall?
Note: we have walked this route for years and never noticed this flight before. We will
continue to monitor in evening and morning for a few days, however we are out of town after
this weekend.

The homeowner is concerned, and I would like to pass on accurate information, specifically
about how long they are likely to stay, and whether they are likely to try to nest inside.