Re: [Va-bird] Chimney swift
- From: "Kurt Gaskill" <KurtCapt87@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'Sandy'" <sandralfarkas2@xxxxxxxxx>, "'VA-BIRD'" <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:51:24 -0400
Sandy and VA BIRDers,
Well, at the risk of causing a firestorm, here is my two cents worth.
From Bent, Life History of Chimney Swift:
......................
Spring.--Swifts move up into the northern latitudes only when spring is
rather far advanced, not until their aerial insect food is plentiful well
above the ground. Therefore their arrival varies a good deal from year to
year.
Kopman (1915) reports that the average date of appearance in New Orleans is
about March 18. In New England, in an average year, we do not expect the
birds for fully 30 days after this date; hence we may infer that they spend
a month moving across a dozen degrees of latitude.
.....................
For Chimney Swift in No. Va, I have personal observations of 4/2/2000 at
Huntley and 4/5/2002 at Dyke Marsh. I have a note of a 3/22 record but I
have no details on observer or location. Then I went to e-bird (whose data
should be treated with some care as the filtering process can be spotty):
This year, there are several Chimney Swift sightings stretching from Houston
to the panhandle of FLA in the March 15-18 range, which is more or less on
target with Bent. There are two sightings in the Blue Ridge of NC during the
first week of March this year - these are a bit hard to believe as there is
no earlier sightings south to the Gulf of Mexico and Texas.
Looking further into past years using the e-bird database, there are a few
early sightings in VA by reliable observers - Kim Peacock in Arlington 3/29,
Kessler in Patrick (north of the NC state line) 3/23, and Bose in Richmond
3/26. This suggests that March sightings are unusual and in Virginia have
not been much earlier than the last week of March.
Continuing with the e-bird investigation, there is a sighting at King of
Prussia on 3/19 - very early! OK, I take a grain of salt...
So, I surmise that a Chimney Swift in Virginia on or after 23 March is
certainly possible. A sighting of 18 March should have good details to
support a new extreme date. Of course, this has been an unusually warm
winter and a new early sighting is not out of the realm of possibility - yet
most Chimney Swifts winter in Central America and would not "know" our
weather conditions. Hence, I would think some details on such an early
sighting are needed (viewing conditions, reasons for identification - could
it be a swallow? or another swift species?).
Lastly, let me note that this morning, due to the light fog and slight mist,
all the swallows I saw (Huntley Meadows, Dyke Marsh, Belmont Bay) were
relatively low, i.e., less than 30 feet and usually over water, as that was
where the food was located.
Kurt Gaskill
-----Original Message-----
From: Sandy [
mailto:sandralfarkas2@xxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2012 2:45 PM
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Va-bird] Chimney swift
Hello all,
I noticed a lone chimney swift flying hi up in Springfield this morning.
Anyone know the arrival date?
Sandra Farkas
Springfield, VA
Sent from my iPhone
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