By Rachel Hudson – As my body slammed onto the rough pavement and my clicker tumbled into the road, a thought flitted through my mind: Why am I doing this?
I had been chasing the tiny, migratory birds called Vaux’s Swifts all through my town, and just when I thought I could finally catch up with an errant flock, I misjudged the distance from the curb down to the road collapsed in an unsightly heap onto Chehalis’s main street. When I staggered to my feet and raised my head to search the skies, the Swifts were gone. I had failed. Again.
Finding the Swifts’ roost sites was an ongoing trial for me, as Chehalis hosts half a dozen confirmed chimneys in which the little birds roost, with more possible sites throughout town. This year, however, their southbound migration was particularly trying for me; night after night I found myself losing flocks left and right, with no leads as to where they were headed.
Vaux’s Swifts cannot perch on trees like most birds can, so they must rest together by clinging each night in the safety of large, rough, hollowed-out structures… such as old brick chimneys. The best way to estimate the Swifts’ population is to count each bird as it enters a communal roost at night, and I am the main Counter for the Chehalis Swifts. I found two active roosts in Downtown Chehalis this migration, but only a handful of birds were using them. The others kept vanishing to parts unknown… and it was my duty to find exactly where they were headed. However, because the Swifts gather to enter said chimneys at sunset, I only had a few minutes of remaining light each evening to attempt to follow the birds.
Weeks passed. Mentally and physically, I was exhausted, and beyond discouraged. I had covered miles of ground on foot, miles of road by car, and I still had little more than a general direction from the disappearing swifts… they were flying southeast. Each night, too, I needed to return to the one still-used chimneydowntown, so I could, at least, count the 40 or 50 Swifts there. I knew there was another roosting site farther afield with more birds, but I was powerless to locate it.
Why am I doing this?
A month after their migration began, I was finally able to make headway in my search. One night, a dear friend and experienced Swift Seeker from up north, Diane Yorgason-Quinn, came down to visit, and I had her keep tabs on the small chimney in Downtown as I wandered in the departing birds’ flight path. Thanks to her, I was able to keep looking throughout sunset, and I was able to eliminate all the other known roosts within the immediate area. Several small flocks kept flying southeast, and though I was unable to catch up with them on foot, I knew I could follow them in my car the next night.
Plus, I had another friend and excellent counter who could cover the small chimney the following night—Sally Nole. Everything was starting to fall into place.
The next night, I timed my departure from downtown perfectly, leaving Sally in charge, and I was able to follow a group of swifts by car through the sprawling neighborhoods of Chehalis and back out onto the main road. As I turned onto the busy road, a massive group of swifts caught my eye, still flying southeast. When I looked at where they were headed, I shouted, raced through a yellow traffic light, slammed on the brakes at the nearest curbside parking spot, and leapt out of my car, my backpack dangling from my arm and my clicker unceremoniously stuffed in a pocket somewhere. I sprinted up to our town’s recently-closed R.E. Bennett elementary school, and immediately grabbed my phone to call Sally back at the tiny downtown roost.
There above me, with a small crowd of people watching, was a wheeling cloud of over 4,300 Vaux’s Swifts.
Thus began “The Glory Days” of swift seeking in Chehalis. Over the next few weeks, over 40,000 Swifts were clicked off into the chimneys of both R.E. Bennett and the adjacent (also recently closed) Cascade Elementary. There were about 70 unique spectators during that time, from all over the area, who had heard about the phenomenon in a myriad of ways. The Chehalis swifts made the local news, and I quickly realized I needed to have information ready for all these people; I handed out scores of little Vaux’s Swift info-sheets. After years of counting swifts here in solitude, I could hardly believe what was transpiring. For days on end, I gave half-hour speeches to excited crowds; everyone in the area quickly grew fond of the precious swifts. The locals agreed that they should save the schools if it meant that the swifts could use them… and I hope their words will carry weight, as the abandoned schools could be demolished in coming years.
All good things must come to an end here on earth, however. The Vaux’s Swift fall migration is in its final days in Western Washington. As I write, the swifts are en route to Central America, and the excitement in Chehalis is drawing to a close. By October, the little birds should all be gone. The other night, I arrived early to my station, and for the first time in September, I was standing alone. A group of spectators were scheduled to arrive later in the evening for the “Swift Show”, but for the moment, all was calm.
I walked out into the lush, grassy lawn between the two school buildings. The evening was warm, and the skies were soft with cotton-candy-wisps of clouds overhead. The swifts were enjoying the break in the stormy weather, and were flying high in loose flocks, chirruping happily. I tossed my backpack onto the lawn and collapsed to the earth… not in the painful heap on the road of last month, but with joyful bliss into the welcoming grass.
It’s moments like this… I thought, gazing up at the tranquil scene above me. I reminisced about the whirlwind of the past several weeks, and thinking of all the lives the wee birds touched, filled me with warmth and glee. I truly loved the little birds, I loved the project regarding their conservation, I loved being able to share them with others, I loved seeing the wonder in a crowd of upturned faces… I loved it all.
This… This is why I do it.
For more information about Vaux’s Swifts, visit www.vauxhappening.org
Interested in becoming a Counter/Swift Seeker yourself? Email me at lightningdash09@nullyahoo.com
Watch the Chehalis Swifts enter RE Bennett in two videos I took at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUr4StQ34pk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjBxALs_2Gg
