That's been my experience at two sites, so far. The first is one that sheltered over 130 swifts last August. This year, there is a gathering of a feeding flock, considerably smaller than last year's, of which only a handful enter the same chimney. I believe there may be a nesting pair in there, because sometimes a single bird exits the chimney, then a single enters, repeatedly, as though going on forays to feed nestlings. I understand that nesting pairs may not tolerate too many "overnight guests," and perhaps the other birds simply repair to their own nesting chimneys anyway. That presents a real challenge for the count---first to identify the big roosts, then to take into account all the smaller, dispersed ones. It would seem to require many, many observers, both before and during the count. Linda Whyte
On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 7:33 PM, Claudia Egelhoff<[email protected]> wrote: > We found a large brick chimney at the old high school in Grand Marais (Fifth > Street N. and Second Avenue). About 50 swifts were seen entering it at dusk > on August 8. > > Having gotten the swift fever, we watched a old factory chimney in the Bryn > Mawr neighborhood last night (Aug 10) but saw only about three swifts > enter. A large flock flew by earlier heading to another roost in parts > unknown. > > Claudia Egelhoff > Minneapolis, MN > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
