There have been rumors of relatively large numbers of Vaux's swifts showing
up at the Clay Place chimney at sunset in the last week or so, which seems
unusual. So I went over last evening and counted 159 enter the chimney at
sunset. Larry Schwitters (Vaux's swift guru) offered the following - The
gospel according to Vaux's Happening is that the Vaux's do not nest in the
major roost sites. Come mid-August the new birds and their parents will pick
one of the neighborhood nest sites to roost in for a week or so and then
join the migrates at the large communal roost. One chimney should only have
one nest and only one brood is the norm. If the pottery place has a nest
with young there will be two swifts making a food delivery every 10-15
minutes most of the daylight hours. If the local non-breeders are spending
the night they will show up at sunset and go in without any of the circling
and singing. However, I observed both circling and singing - so not sure
what's happening - maybe a REALLLLYYYYY early southward migration? BUT, I
have an active nest in my chimney at home with babies making quite a ruckus
as the parents go in and out to feed them. This seems like pretty late
nesting which would seem to me to be inconsistent with early migration.
Sooooooo, thoughts?
Diana Wales
