Several years ago, Darrel Whipple and crew removed the grating covering the smokestack at Riverside Community church in Rainier OR. The purpose was to attract Vaux swifts during their twice-yearly migration.
The southward migration of the swifts from all over the Northwest usually starts in September, affording us more opportunities to view thousands of them entering the chimney. The success was greater that possibly imagined. One Sunday night in early September last year saw 19,514 birds enter the chimney before dark. Similar counts happen each night during the 2-3 weeks of migration. You can watch them and meet our volunteers from the corner of W D St and W 3rd St near Fox Creek in Rainier, Ore.
Larry Schwitters of Vaux’s Happening recently sent out the rankings for the top 14 roost sites on the flyway for the northbound migration Rainier's Riverside Community Church ranked second or third in all three categories! Enjoy the video from the previous chimney and come and see the spectacle at the new location in person.
The birds can be unpredictable but, in general, if the weather is relatively calm, they begin entering the roost around an hour before sunset and conclude half an hour after sunset.
The count on Monday, September 12th, was 24035, they started entering the chimney at 7:30pm and finished by 8pm.