[Birdtalk] FW: [IBLE] Swift Watch

[James D. McIntyre]

An interesting article from IBLE.

 

Jim

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ible at yahoogroups.com [mailto:ible at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Darrell Marks
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 10:26 AM
To: ible at yahoogroups.com
Cc: swiba at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IBLE] Swift Watch

 

Saturday, Sept. 15, my wife and I participated in Swift Watch in Portland ,
OR which is a spectacular event that some of you may not have heard of. Each
fall from about Sept. 6 through Sept. 26 from 10,000 to 30,000 Swifts
(depending on the day ) come into a chimney at Chapman Elementary School, NW
27th and Pettigrove, to roost. The swifts started to circle above the
chimney about 6:30 pm with the first group starting down the chimney about
7:17pm. Swifts kept arriving and going down the chimney until about 7:45pm,
all 20,000 of them on the evening we were there.At about 7:30 a Peregrine
Falcon dove out of the sky and passed within a foot or two of the top of the
chimney but missed its prey but on the 4th pass was successful.A Cooper's
Hawk usually puts in an appearance but we didn't see it on Saturday. The
crowd of people (all 5000 of them ) were clearly rooting for the Vaux's
Swifts. The crowd of people was spread out over a hill side above the school
using blankets, etc., most had a picnic or at least wine and cheese, and was
in a very fun, festive mood. When the show was over , some people left but
most stayed and just enjoyed the remainder of the evening. Portland Audubon
members were present to answer questions.For more information go to
www.audubonportland.org and see the web site page 'Swift Watch FAQs' .Most
of the numbers present here are estimates by Portland Audubon members.
Darrell Marks, Nampa

 

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