*Tuck Them In:*
In the continuing saga of Chimney Swift chasing around Waukesha County, I
went scouting around Waukesha again around 6:45 pm on Friday evening, and
was seeing little groups of Swifts flying around the downtown area. I
couldnât find any around the large chimneys of Carrol College, or up by
Moor Downs; I did find a few near the Fox River falls downtown, but nothing
was going into the Social Security Office area Chimney. (In past seasons,
Iâd watched them go in there, but this year, not a thing.) Sunset was at
7:28pm.
Finally, circling around the area in my car, as it got closer to sunset,
around 7:30pm, I located a number of Swifts circling around the sky over
the houses west of the Library and Central Middle School. The closer it
gets to sunset, the tighter the circling of the roost seems to occur. At
last I saw Swifts diving into a smaller residential chimney near the
intersection of Maple & Carroll Streets. While the birds were doing
general âcirclingâ of the area, there were only about 66 birds, and they
all were taking their turns going-in, unlike Okauchee Lake stack where
there are hundreds seeming to pour in several at a time, bird after bird.
To the best of my reckoning, there didnât seem to be âotherâ Swifts going
elsewhere, but perhaps there are more than this one chimney stack where
they are roosting. The entry time was about 7:35, and by 7:50pm, they were
all tucked in for the night.
In the sky area around the downtown, there were Common Nighthawks flying
around, and what was nice was that they were sounding their âpeentâ call,
which is the first time this season I was able to hear them.
*Wake Them Up:*
I arrived at Okauchee Lakeâs Norris School's Swift chimney at about 5:40am
Saturday. It was cloudy with some light drizzle. While the first bird I
heard was a Killdeer, the first Chimney Swift seen leaving the chimney was
at 6:14a.m. Sunrise was at 6:19. By about 6:20 it appeared that hundreds of
birds had now left the chimney. Some birds (300+) were flying a couple
hundred feet in the air, numerous birds were riding the wind and just
hovering in place, other birds appeared to go some distance from the area
out of sight. After some minutes of the Swifts spreading out, others were
circling still around the chimney in groups of 30-75 Birds. While the
weather was cloudy and drizzling it was not a downpour by any means. It
seemed like the birds were on a tether and they would go so far and then
come back. At 6:26 it started that the birds were now going back âintoâ the
chimney and during the last half-hour dozens of birds had gone back in, and
none had come back out. Those that appear to have flown farther away appear
to come back to the area and then do some circling of the chimney and
amidst those numerous ones nearby, go back into the chimney, again without
coming back out. At 6:53 there were now only two birds left circling and
others flew away or went into the chimney. Every couple minutes a few birds
came back and either entered the chimney or continued to fly but in tinier
numbers. The weather was ominous but it was dry at the time I left. The
weather radar showed rain or storms approaching so that may be why activity
is like this with most birds staying or returning to the roost. While I saw
a few Swifts coming back and circling the chimney, and a few entering when
I was leaving, all was basically quiet with no birds going in, out, or
circling. Being that this is a âone-timeâ visit, I canât glean if this is
normal behavior and waking up routine, or changes with the weather and
length of day..
The great conference on âAddressing Declines in Wisconsinâs Aerial
Insectivoresâ is this coming week, and for those attending the Okauchee
Chimney Swift site should be a treat, and for those not coming, I hope you
get to Oakuchee to see this wonderful bird activity on your own!
Spence
Spence Stehno
Benjamin F. Goss Bird Club, Waukesha
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