Let's watch the Galena Chimney Swifts - Friday, 10 Aug. 2007 - Tuttle

E-Mail from Dick Tuttle:
Photos by Frank Germann

Hello Everyone,

On August 10, 11 and 12, I and others across the continent will be participating in A SWIFT NIGHT OUT sponsored by the Driftwood Wildlife Association in Austin, Texas (www.chimneyswifts.org ).

At one-half hour before sunset, I will arrive at a known Chimney Swift roost in Delaware County in order to count the number of birds that enter the chimney for the night. (The chimney at the (old) Galena United Methodist Church, 109 Harrison Street, Galena, Ohio, at 8:00 pm Friday, 8/10/07.)

For this event last year, during three evenings in mid-August, I counted 1132 swifts entering the chimney at the Galena United Methodist Church in Galena, nine swifts entered the National Guard Armory's chimney in Delaware, and 417 swifts used the chimney behind Grady Memorial Hospital, also in Delaware.

Modern Chimney Swifts have adapted to using chimneys instead of hollow trees during their migrations to South America. Swifts take twenty or more minutes to settle into their nightly stopovers and, like people, they have preferences. Last year, the National Guard chimney was neglected early in the season but became very popular in September until the migration season commenced on October 18. Whereas, other chimneys, like three on the Ohio Wesleyan University campus were used only in August until students arrived. Perhaps, fans and electric motors associated with the chimneys scared the birds into seeking other chimneys.

Nonetheless, the chimney at the Galena United Methodist Church (109 Harrison Street - the most eastern street in the village) seems to be reliable for scheduling swift watches -- it is used nightly, all season. Therefore, if you would like to see one of the wildlife wonders of Delaware County, a number of veteran Osprey watchers will meet south of the church (in the Big Walnut Schools Administration Building's parking lot) at 8:05 PM to watch the birds funnel into a two-story-tall chimney that measures 78 inches by 48.

Watching swifts arrive to form a large circle of chattering birds is mesmerizing. It is icing on the cake when they begin "falling" into the chimney.

Parents and Grandparents: Swifts entering a chimney ranks with rainbows, flocks of migrating waterfowl, and Osprey families on nests, as wonders of nature that every child should experience. I will have two books with me to tell you about.

I, and other Osprey watchers, will see you there.

Dick Tuttle