I went to Martin Luther Middle School this morning to see if the chimney
swifts were as dramatic in the morning as they are in the evening.
The first swifts departed promptly at 6:36am. For about 10 minutes there
were steady departures in groups of 2, 3 or 4. The formed loose flocks of
15-20 birds and most flocks seemed to head off southwest. A flock of 15
birds stayed in the area of the chimney.
After 10 mintues and approx 200 birds departing, the departures stopped. A
hawk of some sort flew by, but did not seem to linger. There were 20+ crows
in the general area, occassionally stopping on the chimney to look inside.
There were no more departures for 20+ minutes.
Around 7:05 the hawk returned, flew by close over the chimney and perched on
the baseball backstop for a few minutes. I could not ID the hawk; my
impression was that it had a very light breast with little marking on the
breast/belly. It also seemed that the tail was fairly long when it was
perched (such as for a Cooper's). But I have little experience IDing
hawks. The hawk flew off somewhere after a few minutes.
I stayed a short while longer, but no more birds emerged. The loose flock
of 15 was still swooping above the school. Assuming there were 2000+ swifts
in the chimney last night, I would guess that 1800+ remained in the chimney
when I left at 7:15am. It was an overcast morning and the sun never really
showed ----- so there was low light the entire time I was watching.
What I saw was interesting although not particularly dramatic. Perhaps with
a brighter dawn or staying longer there would have been more departures.
-Anne
--
Anne Louise Gockel
-----------------
Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 22:22:50 -0400
From: "Sandra Farkas" <sandralfarkas2@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Va-bird] Chimney Swifts and Common Nighthawks
.....
Twenty people showed up tonight to enjoy a wonderful night with a sky full
of chimney swifts.
We watched in wonder as a few thousand chimney swifts swirled overhead at
Luther Jackson Middle School in Merrifield, VA. The birds flew in
clockwise then counterclockwise direction, and one time they even made a
figure eight. We were entertained until approximately 8:10 when the last
swift slipped into the chimney for the night.
......
Sandy Farkas
Springfield, VA
