[HSList] Ed'l outing: Vaux's swifts

[Jody & Scott Arnold family]

Hi everybody,
For those of you within striking distance of Eugene, you might take
your kids to the U of O campus to see the Vaux's Swifts go into the chimney
of Agate Hall. We went tonight and watched them. We got there about 7:45
and stayed half an hour, and they were really incredible to watch. The
numbers are down from last week to probably about 5,000, but there were
still a bunch of birds. They swirl around the chimney, sometimes in a
figure eight, sometimes like a tornado in one direction, and sometimes like
a tornado in another direction. Then they fly into the chimney to spend the
night, and it is like they are being poured into the chimney.
More detailed info is below. If you're going to go, do it soon,
because the numbers will get smaller each night.
FYI, the spring migration is between mid-April and mid-May, and the
fall migration is between mid-August and late September.
Also FYI, the OBOL mailing list is "Oregon Birders On-Line," and it
is a great resource for my bird-watching teenager. If you are interested in
subscribing, she could tell you how.

jody

>Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 23:29:21 -0700
>From: dan and barbara gleason <dgle...@darkwing.uoregon.edu>
>Subject: Swifts are back! In quantity...
>To: Multiple recipients of list OBOL <OB...@MAIL.ORST.EDU>
>
>The Vaux's Swifts are back on the U of O campus...and lots of them...
>
>Tonight I left an Audubon board meeting early due to other
>responsibilities awaiting me and heard the Vaux's swifts overhead and
>decided to check out the chimney at the old Condon School (now Agate
>Hall) on the U of O campus. I arrived at 7:40 pm and a very sizable
>flock was wheeling and swooping overhead. Ducking inside the building to
>call Dan, I returned to the parking lot to find the flock had grown
>considerably! Several cars stopped to watch and a few of us sat or stood
>and watched as the birds began to enter the chimney. My estimate is that
>about 12,000 -15,000 birds were present and are in the chimney tonight,
>since it took them over 35 minutes to all get inside. (Earlier this
>year, in June, the flock was estimated by more experienced folks at
>10,000-12,000 and it only took that group 25 minutes to enter the
>chimney.) The "show" lasted until nearly 9:20pm and it was too dark to
>see well when the last birds finally got down inside.
>
>For those of you who want directions, Agate Hall is on the south side of
>the U of O campus here in Eugene, directly across from the athletic
>fields at the foot of where 19th Avenue dead-ends at Agate. The parking
>lot is on the north side of the building, reached by driving to the
>north end of the building, turning east onto 20th and driving a half
>block to the gravel alleyway.
>
>Barbara Gleason
>--
>Dan and Barbara Gleason
>Eugene, Oregon
>dgle...@darkwing.uoregon.edu
>
>