[TN-Bird] Encounter with a chimney swift

I returned home after 9:30 last night after being gone since before 8 in the 
morning to find my free-standing fire screen lying on the floor with ashes 
scattered on the hearth.  I suspected the cat who had run out when I came in 
but soon heard fluttering in the chimney.  I had thought the flue was closed 
but found it half open and a little chimney swift cowering on the grate. My 
chimney cap had blown off in the storm last week.  I turned on the deck 
light and opened the sliding glass door, hoping the swift would find its way 
out, but that would have been too easy. I ended up trying to catch the poor 
frightened bird for about 20 minutes as it flew from the family room to the 
kitchen and back again, bumping into the walls and cabinets and frequently 
stopping to cling to the walls. I have never picked up a live bird before 
and was afraid I would hurt it, so it took me several failed attempts, but I 
finally did manage to capture it when it landed on the kitchen counter. So, 
happy ending, I took it out onto the deck, put it down on a bench and it 
flew away.

I have always told people that my very peaceable, declawed cat would never 
hurt a bird and now I have proof.  No telling how long the two were together 
before I came home.  When I left the cat back in, she went to the fireplace 
and stared in, disappointed, I guess, that her visitor was gone.

I would appreciate it if someone could answer a few questions I have about 
chimney swifts.  1) Why would it have fallen into the fireplace in the first 
place?  2) Most importantly, now that the flue is closed, if I hear noises 
in the chimney, should I just assume that chimney swifts are nesting there 
and leave them alone or should I assume that something is trapped in the 
chimney and needs to be rescued?

Several years ago I had another bird in the chimney.  I don't know what it 
was.  At that time I didn't know a chickadee from a song sparrow.  That time 
the flue was closed and I didn't have a chimney cap.  I had been hearing 
scuffling noises in the chimney for a couple days.  I didn't think it was a 
bird because I didn't hear wings.  My son-in-law thought it might be a mouse 
and I thought it might be a squirrel, so I decided that we needed to get it 
out of there before it starved.  The plan was for one of us to open the flue 
while the other held a box under it, the mouse or squirrel would fall into 
the box, and we would close the box and take it outside.  When the flue was 
opened, however, a bird flew into the house.  I ran and opened the sliding 
glass door and the bird that time did fly out.  Maybe it was a chimney 
swift, but wouldn't a chimney swift have been able to climb out?

Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Carole Gobert
West Knox County, Tenn.

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
        jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
=========================================================

Other related posts: