Also may be Northern migration into our state and beyond to BC.
I also saw a group of about 35-40 last night.
They were flying 40-80 feet above me, then later at 8:40-9:00 PM, 80-150 feet up.
Was able to film some zooming around above the trees.
Very neat to see.
Dan Reiff
Sent from my iPhone
>
On Jun 16, 2020, at 1:59 AM, Matt Dufort <matt.dufort at gmail.com> wrote:
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>
>
Bob et al.,
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>
It's definitely weather related. Black Swifts are known to move to lowlands to forage when the weather is not good in the mountains, and they also often fly so high on clear days that they are very difficult to detect. The concentration over north Seattle today seems likely due to a large swarm of flying insects, as it was apparently pretty localized. I live just a few miles south of these reports, and saw 0 swifts despite scanning the sky in every direction multiple times while others were seeing them.
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>
Regarding the high counts, those eBird numbers you listed are incorrect - I suspect they're based on the buggy / confusing "High Counts" interface in eBird. If you go to Explore a Region, then select High Counts, you'll get more reliable results. Washington has a previous count of 500 Black Swifts in eBird (here), as well as a report of 150 from earlier this year (here).
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Black Swifts are amazing and enigmatic birds. It's always a thrill to see them.
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Good birding,
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Matt Dufort
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>>
On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 11:00 PM Robert O'Brien <baro at pdx.edu> wrote:
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Wow. Is this somehow weather related? I know it is stormy these days in Seattle,
>>
but has it been raining today/this afternoon? How much? When?
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>>
The highest eBird counts are below. (There may be higher, just not in eBird)
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Bob OBrien Portland
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The highest Washington count on eBird is:
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Black Swift
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20
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Paul Mackenzie
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Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts (map)
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Jul 21, 1963
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For Oregon, only in northbound migration since there is very very little nesting, the highest is
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>>
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Black Swift
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272
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Don Henise
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Bullards Beach SP (map)
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May 23, 2020
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However, British Columbia (where they mostly nest) beats them all
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>>
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Black Swift
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700
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Jason Straka
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Rod & Gun--Parksville (map)
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Jun 7, 2018
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>>>
On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 8:23 PM Dave Slager <dave.slager at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
There are at least a dozen hanging out over my yard right now as well in NE Seattle. Look up!
>>>
>>>
Dave
>>>
>>>>
On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 7:57 PM Ryan Merrill <rjm284 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
There are currently over 400 Black Swifts swirling above Greenwood Ave N and N 127th St in northwest Seattle! Also just a few individual VG Swallows.
>>>>
>>>>
Ryan
>>>>
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