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A SWIFT NIGHT OUT 2011 A Continent-wide Chimney Swift Roost Monitoring Project ___________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL REPORTS |
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Austin, TX
Below are the results of our efforts to count the swifts in Austin. I'm sure there were others out counting that I don't know about, but I bet just our efforts took us beyond what has been done in the past in Austin. Paul and/or Georgean can correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, thanks for participating! I hope you had fun. Please plan to participate next year! Feel free to forward this to anyone I missed.
Becker Elementary: Friday night - no counters Saturday night - Shelia, Laurie, Nancy Radding, Judith Bailey, and Laura Legett: average of 310 swifts Sunday night - no counters
Brentwood Elementary: Friday night - no counters Saturday night - Jean Martin, Frances Cerbins, Martha Renfroe, George Kerr, Sam Burnes: average of 563 swifts Sunday night - Barbara Anderson, Elaine Rushing: average of 546
O'Henry Middle School: Thursday night scouting - Anne and John Donovan: 0 swifts no further monitoring
Travis High School: Friday night - Kirsti Harms: no swifts entered the tower Saturday night - no counters Sunday night - Shelia and Laurie: no swifts entered the tower although 14 were flying around
Zilker Elementary: Friday night - Ann Bishop, Penny Potter, Victor Emanuel: average of 400 Saturday night - Jorjanna Price and Jane Anderson: average of 214 Sunday night - Cindy Sperry and husband, Lisa and Jim O'Donnell, Victor Emanuel, plus some parents of Zilker students: average of 360
ACC Rio Grande Campus: Friday night - Anne and John Donovan, Ken and Barbara Zaslow, and Caroline Jones: 7 no further monitoring
AFL-CIO Building: Friday night - Shelia, Laurie, Sam Burnes and Samuel Burnes: average of 420 no further monitoring
Shelia Hargis, Travis Audubon
Kansas City, MO
Last night I witnessed @ 650 Chimney Swifts roosting in a chimney about one block west of 73rd and Wornall in Kansas City, MO. Laurie Kosmiski and I got there around 7:45 and hundreds were flying above old school. By 8:00, they all were tucked into the chimney! Great spectacle! Laurie has witnessed this group for at least 4 seasons, but this was the first time I had been by there. Thanks Laurie for dragging my rear out to see this wonderment of nature!
Nancy Leo
Wakulla Springs, FL
CHIMNEY SWIFTS COUNTED: 523 DATE: September 10, 2011 TIME OF FIRST DESCENT 8:01 pm EDT TIME OF LAST DESCENT 8:25 pm EDT DESCRIPTION OF ROOST: The roost site is an approximately 40 foot high unused chimney on the east wing of the historic Wakulla Springs Lodge (located in Wakulla Springs State Park) WEATHER CONDITIONS: 80 degrees F Mostly Clear Winds were calm A group of 42 people came out to observe and count the swifts. They worked together in small groups of two to five individuals to gather the above data. The count reflects the average of the data collected. Submitted by,
Jeff Hugo Park Services Specialist Wakulla Springs State Park
Galena, OH
Galena United Methodist Church Building, Galena, Ohio Saturday, 10 September 2011. The old building is now called the 1829 Building, in reference to its date of construction. The church sold its original building to the village after their growing congregation built a larger church. The 1829 Building’s brick chimney is most popular with roosting swifts and folks that like to watch them.
Against a cloudy sky with temperatures in the low 70's, I counted 1230 swifts as they dropped into the chimney between 19:39 and 20:11. There were eight adult watchers present.
On the night before, Friday, 10 September 2011, I attended a swift watch at the Sells Middle School, also known as the 1919 Building, in Dublin, Ohio. Darlene Sillick of the Columbus Audubon Society organized the gathering. Fifty-four watchers, representing all ages, attended and were inspired as hundreds, and possibly more than several thousand, swifts entered the school’s chimney. Darlene and I were busy answering questions and offering explanations, so no one took a formal count.
At both events, I used a Chimney Swift study skin and a set of wings with a tail from the Ohio Wesleyan Zoology Museum to interpret swift behavior, structure, and natural history, etc. (I have the proper permits to do so.) I also offered your books, Chimney Swifts and Chimney Swift Towers for the participants to inspect. Both events were well attended and enjoyed since the swifts never fail to put on a good show.
Swift on, Dick Tuttle
Ft. Walton Beach, FL
Residential chimney
Lake Mills, WI
I tried counting 9/10, at a site used in previous years. Several swifts showed interest in that chimney, but none of the 40+ flying in the area entered it, much to my surprise. Many of them were flying over the local Mill Pond to the south near downtown Lake Mills, though, so I tried that area 9/11. I couldn't find where they were congregating at all, but well past dusk, as I was walking home, I saw a few go down a chimney at a house about a block from downtown.
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