I, too, witnessed the masses of swifts this afternoon in Montpelier. Probably at least 100 were flying over the Vermont College campus at around 3pm. I've never seen that many there so I suspect they were migrants. It was quite a sight! I didn't get a look at whether they were roosting nearby but it would be worth keeping an eye out for them tomorrow. I posted a pretty bad video of them on youtube: http://youtu.be/b72b4w8S7yU Good birding, Larry On Mon, May 13, 2013 at 6:39 PM, John Snell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > This is good news! About 10 years ago a large colony nested in an unused > chimney at the gymnasium at Vermont College; one year they failed to > return, not sure why. > > John Snell > Montpelier > > > On May 13, 2013, at 6:23 PM, Scott Sainsbury 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 > -- Larry Clarfeld Environmental Educator Youth Birding Coordinator North Branch Nature Center 713 Elm St. Montpelier, VT 05602 www.NorthBranchNatureCenter.org (802) 229-6206 [log in to unmask]