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Re: Chimney Swifts and Sapsuckers



On Wed, 4 Oct 2000 Harttwins@aol.com wrote:
> 
> The past two evenings around 7:00 PM, I have watched a large congregation of 
> Chimney Swifts at Campbell University in Buies Creek, Harnett County, NC.  I 
> estimate 2,500+ birds. They are roosting in a brick chimney approximately 75 
> feet tall.  This roost site is located along US Highway 421 between two water 
> towers.
> 
> It was quite amazing to see all of these birds swirling around in cyclonic 
> fashion and eventually all dropping into the chimney opening.

Hi Carolinabirders,

There was a similar Swiftclone (Swiftnado? Swifticane?) above the 
concrete walkway that runs south from the Bryan Center at Duke the 
evening before last. Smaller, I'd guess maybe 3-400 but I didn't make a 
real effort to count them. The spectacle was impressive enough that even 
several members of the normally apathetic Duke undergraduate student body 
stopped to look up and wonder at the swirling critters; a couple thought 
they were bats, and one guessed swallows...

On Thu, 5 Oct 2000, Rob G wrote:

>   Heard a thud at my balcony window this afternoon and turned out to
> be an unlucky (but gorgeous) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, much to my amazement.
> Seems quite early for them, but maybe the coming weekend cold front is
> pushing some things along.

I actually had one in my backyard back on Monday morning, and Frank 
spotted one in the Duke Forest on Saturday. The Triangle Bird Checklist 
rates them as "occasional" for the last week of September, then upgrades 
them to "uncommon" for the first two weeks of October; this little flurry 
of sightings coincides quite nicely with the status upgrade. Will strikes 
again... Hey Will, when are you going to come out with butterfly and 
dragonfly checklists in the same format?

>   Also I stopped by Shepherd Trail today just to learn where it was and
> there were police flyers up saying that car break-ins have been a problem
> there -- are these flyers old or up just since birders started frequenting
> the area, and have any posters experienced a problem?

I haven't birded that area much, but as a regular reader of the Duke 
Chronicle, I remember that a major flurry of car break-ins at several 
Duke Forest gates was reported by that newspaper a while ago, last spring 
I think. It seems that many joggers leave wallets and such in their cars 
while they run. The paper has reported many on-campus burglaries over the 
past two months, but I can't remember any recent Duke Forest car 
break-ins. Of course, the Shepherd Trail is a little further from Duke, 
perhaps the Durham PD covers that area rather than the Duke UPD... To be 
more focused, I suspect that the flyers are left over from the binge, and 
are not specifically connected to recent events. Of course, the most 
valuable thing normally in my car is my binoculars, and I always take 
them out when I leave...

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/