Vaux Swifts at Chapman School

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:59:59 -800

Friday night before a ceildh, I decided to see the Vaux Swifts at the Chapman
School in NW Portland. The swifts are a flock of birds that migrate from
Vancouver, BC to South America every fall; when they reach Portland in
September, they inhabit whatever hollow tubes they can find, be it trees,
smokestacks, chimneys, etc. During the day they fly around looking for
supplies, but at sunset they return to their nests inside the chimneys to feed
the young. This results in a huge swarm of birds flying around and around the
top of the smokestack in wild circle patterns. Usually there's a hawk or two
trying to eat some birds, though there are thousands of birds that will swarm
the hawk to try to drive it off. Entertaining way to kill a half hour at
sunset!