Nik and I heard about a school nearby that has birds fly into the chimney at dusk and hundreds of people go to watch. That was about all we knew. We decided we would go check it out. We weren't even sure what kind of birds would be there and if it was going to be anything interesting. Upon showing up at the school (which was about a mile from our house), we saw hundreds of people laid out on the grass having picnics and enjoying the beautiful evening waiting for the bird show to begin.
We joined right in and within minutes there were thousands of birds flying in the air circling this towering chimney below that juts right out of the center of the school. (It has been estimated that about 12,000-14,000 birds fly in each night.) At first they were just flying around completey scattered about, but eventually they became organized and starting flying in a cyclone fashion. Soon enough, they started diving into this chimney. The amount of birds, the size of the chimney and the show they put on was something no less than spectacular. I still am pondering about how that many birds can fit into a chimney that size. It looked like smoke coming out of the chimney in rewind. Pretty amazing!!!
To be more specific about the event, the birds are called Swifts. They migrate south each fall. At sunset in September during the migration they choose a place where thousands of birds can roost. Since the late 1980s the Chapman School chimney has been one of the roosting sites. They are interesting birds and amazing aerialists. They spend much of the time in the air and hunt, drink, court, collect nesting materials and copulate all in flight.
We had a great time with each other, Wanda and the free show nature put on for us.
1 comment:
That is amazing! What an amazing thing to witness. I love how it's become a free show for locals :)
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