Birds of a Feather

About this time last year, I was walking down to our local park - Wallace Park (yes I am famous) - to throw the frisbee with Sona. The park shares space with Chapman Elementary School. As I walked by, I noticed that the hill on the other side of the park was crowded with people of all ages. Young children were "sledding" down the hill on flattened cardboard boxes. Young couples and families were having picnics. Fathers and sons were throwing the football. Then I noticed that everyone kept looking up into the sky towards the school's chimney. That is when I saw them for the first time. The Chapman Swifts.




Vaux Swifts are a small migratory bird, often described as a cigar with wings. Each fall they arrive in Portland and roost at night in the chimey at Chapman Elementary. From late August to mid October, each night hundreds of people - young, old, families, hipsters, yuppies, yipsters, hippies... - gather on the hill and in the fields adjacent to the chimney as sunset approaches. At first the sky is clear. Then as the sun continues its slow descent behind the west hills, the birds start to appear. Flying in an erratic pattern - darting this way and that - these graceful flyers approach the chimney, only to suddenly revert back out into the nightsky. This nightly ritual isn't without peril, as most nights the peaceful show is interrupted by a large falcon that will try to snatch one of the swifts, which invariably elicits "oooohs" and "ahhhs" from the crowd. Finally, as the sky starts to turn towards dark, the swifts come together in a whirlpool pattern circling the chimney and dive into the chimney in shifts. It is as if someone turned on a giant vacuum cleaner and the birds are being sucked right in.

We went the other night and had a nice little picnic. Priya had the best spot on the house as she was laying on the blanket, eyes to the sky. It is quite a site, and I don't know which is more impressive to watch - the Swifts or the community coming together to enjoy a beautiful summer night.