clipped from www.hollywoodpet.comWhen: Dusk (about 6:30 p.m.) in September
Where: Grassy Bank by Chapman School
NW 26th & Pettygrove, Portland, OR
Who: EVERYBODY - it's free fun for young and old and anybody in-between! Many evenings Audubon Society Swift Watch Volunteers are on site to answer questions.
MORE: For further information on the Chapman Swifts, please contact the Portland Audubon Society's Swift Watch web site.
ALSO WATCH for screenings of the 2007 documentary, On the Wing produced at Chapman by Real Earl Productions.
EVERY SUMMER thousands of tiny Vaux swifts swoop into Portland, Oregon, to spend several months feasting on flying insects during the day and roosting in the tall chimney at Chapman School at night. NW Portland is a regular vacation stopover for swifts during their annual migration from Alaska/Canada to Mexico/South America.
Historically, migrating swifts roosted in big hollow trees they found in Oregon's old growth forests, but now, thanks to logging and urban sprawl, most of those trees are gone. In 1994, some adventurous swift scouted out new digs in the brick chimney atop Chapman Elementary School. The little birds, 4-5" ("cigars with wings"), like the rough surfaces and cracks in the bricks that give them lots of convenient toe holds, plus the chimney is big enough to accomodate between 20,000 to 40,000 birds.
The school children and their teachers welcomed the swifts in their chimney. They researched the swifts and other migratory birds, drew and painted pictures of their feathered friends, and even elected the swift as the school mascot. As the days grew colder in late September and October, students wore their coats to class so that administrators could postpone starting up the school furnace until after the swifts left the chimney to fly south. At last, the Portland Public Schools and the Audubon Society teamed up to raise grant money to stabilize the chimney for the swifts and to install a new gas heating system for the school. The renovation cost approximately $60,000 (that's not chicken feed!), and was funded by the Collins Foundation, the Metro Central Enhancement Grant Committee, and the Autzen Foundation.
Fourteen years have gone by, and the swifts are still summer celebrities in Portland. If you wander over to Chapman in the early evening, you'll find a crowd of spectators sitting on a grassy bank overlooking the school. Some bring their picnic suppers, some bring champagne, many have binoculars and cameras. All ages come to watch the swifts as they congregate and prepare to call it a day. At first, there are just a few of the little birds circling the chimney, dipping close to the mouth of the chimney stack, then abruptly pulling up and flying away to repeat the cycle. As more and more birds arrive, from a distance, they look like a cloud of bees, wheeling round and round the chimney. Other birds - predators - also appear. A hawk sits on the rim of the chimney, watching, waiting, then suddenly strikes and carries off his unlucky prey. Occasionally, the tables are turned, and a gang of irate swifts attack the hawk, driving him away, at least for a short time.
The flock grows and grows until the cloud of birds turns black, and still they circle. What are they waiting for? Maybe they're waiting for late arrivals? Maybe they are still catching insects as they fly? (Swifts eat in the air, and during their migration, sleep midair, too). Maybe they're waiting for the air in the chimney to be the right temperature, or for the setting sunlight to fall at a certain angle? The Audubon Society has put an information kiosk in the schoolyard; perhaps it explains what finally triggers the birds' descent.
Gradually the circling picks up speed. The birds fly several rapid last laps, and then.....Swooosh! They dive down the chimney and disappear. The sky is suddenly empty, blank. The sun is going down, too, and evening is here. Time to go home. The swifts will stay a few more weeks, until the days get shorter and the weather gets colder. Then mid-October or so, possibly when we fall back to standard time, they will fly away to winter in Mexico.
clipped from www.audubonportland.orgSwift watching – coming to view the swifts as they prepare to roost – has become a very popular activity at the Chapman School site in recent years. On most evenings in September, several hundred to several thousand people gather on the school lawn and neighboring Wallace Park grounds to watch and listen as the swifts gather overhead before entering the chimney.
This is a free event, open to everyone! It is everyone's responsibility to make it a safe and enjoyable experience.
Portland Audubon is enlisting the help of every Swift Watcher to develop a spirit of community mindfulness by following and sharing these tips with others:
By following these simple tips, the 2009 Swift Watch will be enjoyable for all who come to view the Vaux's swifts, as well as to the neighbors who live in the area.
The Portland Police Bureau, Portland's Department of Transportation, and Portland's Crime Prevention Program are working together with The Audubon Society of Portland and the Northwest Development Association to help keep Swift Watch a positive experience for all concerned.
For more questions or information regarding this event, contact:
Ann Takamoto, Development Director or
Steve Engel, Adult Education Coordinator
Audubon Society of Portland, (503) 292-6855
No comments:
Post a Comment