Last night, we went with some friends to the Chapman School to watch swifts go to bed. Basically, each September, thousands of swifts (cute little birds) stop in the Portland area to munch on bugs before continuing their migration south. At night, they sleep in the chimney of a local elementary school. At sunset, they gather around the chimney and fly around the sky while we humans gather on the lawn below to watch them. After a good long time of flitting about the chimney (it was like no one wanted to be the first to go to bed), the swifts get an uninvited visitor. A peregrine falcon shows up for his evening snack. He circles the air for a bit, then dives into the swift congregation at impressive peregrine speed. He misses (there has to be some build up for the big climax) and gets chased for a bit by some angry (and rather brave) swifts before another attempt. After a number of close calls, the swifts decide that it’s time to turn in for the night. They start funneling down into the chimney, which gives Mr. Peregrine a good idea (or was he planning this all along?). He hangs out close to the side of the chimney, then shoots up and snags one of the swifts! He flies off into the sunset triumphantly amid loud cheers and jeers from the audience below. Meanwhile, the thousands of swifts continue to cram themselves into the chimney using, one can only assume, the same packing technique as clowns in a car.
It was jolly good fun.
It was jolly good fun.
(I forgot my camera, so this is someone else's picture.)