They're here. Or. They're back. Depending upon whether or not this is your first Swift Watch.

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, Harvest Moonlight, from Swan Island Dahlias.

We're going backwards in time on this post because I wanted to lead off with a photo of the swifts diving into the chimney. I don't have a guess as to how many were there. I wish I'd seen even more of them like I've read there sometimes are earlier in the month. And next time I go to watch, in 2010 hopefully, I ought to remember to put the camera on sport. Bring my tripod and maybe get one of those remote things so that the camera doesn't move with each click. There was a man in front of us, over to the left, who had all of that and a zoom lens like you see at sporting events. I'll bet his photos are amazing!

As sunset neared to signal their finale, fewer swifts remained outside the chimney which meant clearer background skies.


Early on in the final rush, clouds of swifts headed for the chimney.


At some point before the final rush for the roost, the hawk gave up continually twisting his head in all directions, wondering which tasty morsel to grab. He took off for a few seconds' flight, then landed again on the rim of the chimney. The consensus of nearby swift-watchers--he missed.


I couldn't get a photo of one part of the night's event, an astonishing part, so I'll tell you about it. First, think for a moment about those clouds of bees in animated cartoons, the ones where the bees are about to sting someone or something, sort of quickly swirling in sync, this way, now that way. Well, that's what the swifts did, too. I saw two clouds of them, each swirling to their own sync. And I do believe one of those groups took off after the hawk who'd brazenly left the chimney top to shop for a meal in the sunset. He didn't confront them, but sort of flew away as they swiftly went the other way. Later on he flew through a less organized cloud. In fact, I'm wondering if the blur on the right of the chimney in the first photo in this post is the hawk.

The empty chimney--what I saw after I got settled on the hillside, before I started eating my pastrami on challah and potato salad.


Today's dahlia, Harvest Moonlight. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 10" Yellow, Bush: 4 1/2'

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's not the swifts, not yet anyway.

Please scroll down for today's dahlia, Mango Madness, from Swan Island Dahlias.

A couple of other interesting things happened at Swift Watch 2009.

A flock of Canada geese flew by, headed sort of southeast, I think. I wonder if they're on their way to join all of those Canada geese at the Ross Barnett Reservoir north of Jackson, Mississippi? When Mama and I lived at the Timberlake Campground on the Rez, those doggone geese walked all over the grass, eating and pooping. The flock looks pretty in the picture, but I wonder if they poop while they're flying, like some other birds do, witness many a windshield.


A little while later this Southwest Airlines plane flew overhead. Mama and I are flying Southwest to visit family and friends in Mississippi later on in October.


I promise the swifts did come to roost in the chimney. I'll show you tomorrow.

Today's dahlia, Mango Madness. Facts from Swan's Island Dahlias--Bloom: 11" Orange, Bush: 3 1/2'

Ah, Portland, I do love living here because you never know what you're going to see or where you're going to see it!

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, Swan's Sunset, from Swan's Island Dahlias.

While waiting to see the swifts last Thursday night, I couldn't resist a couple of nearby sights.

Trader Joe's Rosemary Apricot Chicken Salad. Cilantro & Chive Yogurt Dip. Two different kinds of crackers. Fresh grapes. Two different kinds of chips. And something called Marina, whose subtitle literally translates as "Starter Kit for Goldfish Attitude,"at least according to Yahoo Babel Fish. What's with all this fish? Surely those folks had re-packed the Starter Kit box with picnic goodies. Surely they didn't schlep a brand-new, unopened


And this. A Big K Lemon Lime in a can. A cylinder of propane fuel. A Paul Revere kettle. A single burner propane stove, replete with carbon monoxide hazard warnings.


Later on, in between watching the chimney with the perched hawk and wondering when the swifts would swoop in ...


...I noticed the owner of the single burner had it lit and heating water. She soon made a cup of tea--love it! That's so Portland. Out there on a steep, hard-as-concrete hillside among hundreds of people gathered to experience a wonder of nature, she made a cup of hot tea.


Tomorrow more birds, all sorts of birds.

Today's dahlia, Swan's Sunset. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 10" Red with Yellow Tips, Bush: 3 1/2'

Not part of the plan

Please scroll down to see today's dahlia, Sunny, from Swan Island Dahlias.

Last Thursday evening after work Marsha and I rode three buses to get to Kenny & Zuke's to pick up our to-go orders, half pastrami sandwiches and sides of potato salad. We had a plan that included a picnic, a chimney and lots of birds. We wanted to take part in Swift Watch 2009.

This particular bird wasn't part of the plan, though. Later on once we'd arrived at the site and had joined hundreds of people waiting for the event, I did hear a man near our blanket saying that there had been a hawk present last year, sitting atop the chimney as the swifts flew around and around. More photos tomorrow and Wednesday.


I'm not sure if I cropped and sharpened the previous photo too much, so I've left this one for you to see, too.


Here's a bit from the Audubon Society's Web site: Join us on the lawn at Chapman School each evening in September for a spectacular display of Vaux’s Swifts as they gather to roost in the school’s chimney. Volunteers from Portland Audubon will be present each night with information about the swifts, binoculars and a spotting scope for viewing.

Swifts are insect eating birds that migrate south each fall. At sunset during migration they choose a place where dozens to thousands of birds can roost (sleep). Since the late 1980’s the Chapman chimney has been one of these roosting sites.

Swift watching – coming to view the swifts as they prepare to roost – has become a very popular activity at the Chapman School site in recent years. On most evenings in September, several hundred to several thousand people gather on the school lawn and neighboring Wallace Park grounds to watch and listen as the swifts gather overhead before entering the chimney.

Today's dahlia, Sunny. Facts from Swan Island Dahlias--Bloom: 9" Bright Yellow, Bush: 4'