The northward migration of Vaux's Swifts is now in progress. As most of you
know, the chimney at the Clay Place behind the Arts Center in the Fir Gove
section of Stewart Park off of Harvard Avenue in Roseburg is one of the
major migratory roost sites in Oregon. There were roughly 110 birds
roosting last Friday evening.
Umpqua Valley Audubon Society will not be formally hosting a spring Swift
Watch this year (although we will be doing a fall Swift Watch in September).
We will be doing occasional counts and submitting data. It would be great
to get more folks involved in doing the counts. Counting swifts as they
enter the chimney can be tricky, so we recommend you do it with a partner so
you can compare your totals. We find counting by "10s" works best when
there are a lot of birds. You can use a clicker, or just make hash marks on
a pad of paper. And, in addition to the total number of birds entering the
chimney, you'll need to record the beginning and ending times, time of
sunset, and temperature at sunset (all information that is available on a
smart-phone). Your observations can then be reported electronically via
https://waacda.wufoo.com/forms/vauxs-happening-observations/. Even if you
aren't interested in doing counts, it's great fun to watch the roosting.
The birds typically enter the chimney beginning right around sunset.
Diana Wales
