Vaux's Swifts at the Whiteside Theater chimney

[Mary Garrard]

Hi everyone, the Vaux’s Swift migration is in full swing and this year they have been utilizing the Whiteside Chimney, a favorite location for many years, for their roost. On August 30 I counted 1750 go into the chimney about 20 minutes past sunset, and last night (Saturday, Sept 2) Bev Clark and I counted 1910 at about the same time.

A woman and her two boys came by and told us that they had seen the chimney at the Kinetic Bagel building being used the night before. It’s a smaller chimney so can’t accommodate as many as the Whiteside or other locations in Corvallis can. So if they also used the Whiteside two nights ago, the night of the very welcome rain, there were at least two roosts active. And there may be more in town in use as well. 

I’ve been observing the roosts and submitting counts to VauxHappening during swift migration for many years now. It never gets old to see the phenomenon every spring and fall. 

Check it out! A good place to observe the Whiteside Chimney is on the west side of Fourth Street about halfway between Monroe and Madison. Look east and you’ll see the chimney.

Mary