Friday, October 13, 2006

Chimney Swifts

Each fall I keep track of when I see my last chimney swift of the year. The disappearance of this species is a good sign of the changeover from summer to winter species in this region. Last year my last swift sighting was on October 30.

Tonight I saw three in my neighborhood. It would not surprise me if my last sighting is earlier this year than last year, because the local migration roost seems to have been abandoned. I do not know whether this is because the swifts that used to gather there found a better spot, or because the chimney was capped. See here for more thoughts on swifts.