Interesting Roy,
Are you actually able to see their nest?
S

On May 20, 2013, at 8:05 PM, Roy Pilcher wrote:

> Nesting pair of Chimney swifts at Kent Pond today.
> 
> Cheers Roy Pilcher 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alison Wagner <[log in to unmask]>
> To: VTBIRD <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Mon, May 20, 2013 8:00 pm
> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] swifts galore
> 
> 
> With the Hinesburders this morning, we counted 15 Swifts!  That's a new 
> all-time high for me at Hinesburg Community School.  The kids didn't seem 
> too impressed by "Nature's original gliders," as I like to call them, until 
> I explained their behavior!
> 
> Ali
> Huntington
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Scott Sainsbury
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 7:54 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] swifts galore
> 
> Happy to see a good number -- 10+ -- of Swifts in Waterbury today.  Always a 
> thrill to see the acrobats at work.
> Scott
> Moretown
> 
> On May 20, 2013, at 6:14 PM, Ken Copenhaver wrote:
> 
>> Sorry to hear that.  That probably explains why I haven't seen any recent
>> Swift reports from Bennington on VTBird.  I just checked eBird and there
>> have been only a few reports of small numbers of swifts in the past 10
>> years.  I saw them in May 2008, but didn't report them on eBird.
>> 
>> --Ken Copenhaver
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 3:24 PM, Bonnie Dundas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi Ken,
>>> My husband tells me there was a brick building on the corner several 
>>> years
>>> ago but was torn down. Sad for the swifts, sad for us.
>>> Bonnie
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Ken Copenhaver
>>> Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 10:15 PM
>>> 
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] swifts galore
>>> 
>>> Hi Bonnie,
>>> 
>>> I just looked at a list of Bennington hotels and I think it was the
>>> Kirkside Motor Lodge on West Main St.  We were walking back from dinner
>>> downtown, so we were headed west on Main St.  The building with the large
>>> brick chimney was on the left, set back a bit from the street, only a 
>>> block
>>> or two before the motel, which was on the right.  The factory building
>>> didn't look like it was in current use at the time, so I'm wondering if
>>> it's still there.
>>> 
>>> Hope that helps!  Would be curious to know your thoughts.
>>> 
>>> --Ken
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 9:51 PM, Bonnie Dundas <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Do you remember where you were??
>>>> Bonnie Dundas
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message----- From: Ken Copenhaver
>>>> Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 8:02 PM
>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] swifts galore
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Great story, Scott.  Some years ago my wife and I were in Bennington.
>>>> While walking back to our motel just before dusk, a swarm of probably
>>>> hundreds of swifts streamed into a large brick chimney on an old
>>>> industrial
>>>> building.  The show lasted only a minute or so.  There weren't many 
>>>> other
>>>> people out walking, but those who were there didn't seem to notice or
>>>> care.  I've often wondered if the swifts continue to use that chimney? 
>>>> Is
>>>> the chimney even still there?  I don't remember reading any reports of
>>>> this
>>>> on VTBird.  Can any Benningtonians fill me in?
>>>> 
>>>> --Ken Copenhaver
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 6:23 PM, Scott Sainsbury <
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>> 
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> This afternoon, in Montpelier, a merlin -- probably that seen often
>>>> 
>>>>> recently and reported here by the city's denizens -- caught my eye.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Near it, were a few Chimney Swifts.  Soon, the Merlin headed back 
>>>>> toward
>>>>> the State House and out of my view.  But the Swifts did not.
>>>>> 
>>>>> First there were a few.  Then 10.  Then twenty or thirty.  Soon there
>>>>> were
>>>>> well over a hundred -- more than I can ever recall having seen at one
>>>>> time.
>>>>> 
>>>>> It was a wondrous aerial show.  They seemed to concentrate over the
>>>>> hillside where National Life sits.  Then, they would wave over 
>>>>> downtown,
>>>>> and circle back to the south.
>>>>> 
>>>>> After about 10 minutes, they just melted away.  In 30 seconds or so,
>>>>> there
>>>>> wasn't a single one in sight.  If you asked me, I couldn't tell you 
>>>>> where
>>>>> they went -- or even what direction.  They just suddenly weren't there.
>>>>> 
>>>>> It was like it never happened.  And what was even stranger was that 
>>>>> there
>>>>> was a large number of people around me, walking up and down Main 
>>>>> Street.
>>>>> Here I was standing in the middle of the path looking up at the sky
>>>>> through binoculars, virtually blocking their way, and not a single 
>>>>> person
>>>>> looked up.  It was kind of eerie -- like I was in the Chimney Swift
>>>>> Twilight Zone and no one else got it.  I think it's one of those great
>>>>> birding moments you tend to remember for a long while.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Scott Sainsbury
>>>>> Moretown
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> Scott Sainsbury
> Beacon Associates
> P.O. 1660
> Waitsfield, Vt.  05673
> 802-496-9393 ext 13
> 802-249-0525 (mobile)
> www.beaconassociates.com 
> 
> 
> 


Scott Sainsbury
Beacon Associates
P.O. 1660
Waitsfield, Vt.  05673
802-496-9393 ext 13
802-249-0525 (mobile)
www.beaconassociates.com