total_number_of_swifts

observation_start_time

observation_end_time

first_sighting_time

first_bird_in_time

last_bird_in_time

time_of_sunset

temperature_at_sunset

temperature_scale

remote cam. never saw a swift flying

Remote cam obs. Never saw a swift flying.

First night I have seen swifts - have checked many times since Apr 24 and there has been nothing (weather too warm)

Remote cam obs. One camera blinks on and off.

Remote cam obs. Now both cameras are flashing off and on.

Remote cam obs. Both videos steady now.

Remote cam obs. Over the evening saw 30 go in and 24 come out. Most perhaps shortly after going in.

remote cam obs. Rewind necessary.

remote cam obs. Cameras are back to on and off.

It has been raining all day, sometimes heavily. The rain had tapered off when I began my observation tonight but more is in the forecast. I did not see any birds for over 10 minutes but finally there were 20 - 30 flying around. The birds kept peeling off toward the woods east of the chimney location. There may have been as many as 40 in the air.

Around 8:20 pm, a GHOW land on the roof ridge near the chimney. It then moved to the rim of the chimney and peered inside. After 20 seconds or so, it flew away. The last few VAUXs kept trickling into the chimney, seemingly unperturbed.

Around 8:50 I noticed a cat on the roof near the chimney. The cat walked around the chimney on the roof, then it jumped up to the top of the chimney and walked around there. The swifts ignored the cat and kept flying into the chimney. The cat did not attempt to leap or jump after the birds, but it was still on the roof, lying next to the chimney when I left.

The VS came in rather late and quietly, probably due to presence of a Kestrel very near the roost. The later, darker light conditions for entering the roost seemed a good strategy, with no attacks observed.

Most VS arrived and entered the roost within 10 minutes. The last 10 entered as singles or pairs across a period of about 10 minutes. They were pretty quiet, not much tweeting going on, and maybe happy to enter the warm, concrete "roostunda" tank.

Just a small number of Swifts again tonight. Windy and cold evening, surprisingly the Swifts stayed out late circling repeatedly, until almost dark !

2 hawks in tree 1/4 mile away, did not appear to bother the few swifts that roosted tonight.

Unexpected drop in numbers for this time in the migration. Would sure like to know the migration route for the majority of VS crossing northern california.... had one report years ago that over a hundred VS entered a chimney in Happy Camp CA, some 70 miles west of Yreka... all that pacific coast range offers nice hollow trees for roosting and plenty of food along coastal rivers and streams.

Might we be observing resident VS this entire migration ? Tonight 2 birds came in together, 3 others arrived separately, scattered in time.

Swifts came into the roost as singles & 2 pairs. 2 American Kestrels in the area don't phase the Swifts, and the Kestrels seem disinterested, yet share the immediate vicinity for nesting and hunting.

Few birds, but all seem circled for extended periods before entering the Roostunda.

Probably the birds that have been over wintering. Showed up and went right in

About 200 swifts assembled and started swirling over the chimney when a peregrine came through multiple times and dispersed the flock. Only three birds quickly returned and entered the chimney before I left. It’s possible the rest came back, but it was quite dark when I left…

No swifts seen at all during my time. Another observer saw one bird about two minutes before I arrived. Very weird to have no birds at this date.

Once again, no birds seen

Finally a day of “normal” swift behavior

The first swifts in were only 2 the rest arrived after 7PM

Birds arrived in small groups starting when I arrived. It’s possible I missed earlier groups arriving and entering the chimney

The swifts arrived and went straight in.

Early count is via our new video camera activated by David. Later counts are in person visual.
A crow kept coming to the chimney but did not successful snag a swift.

Light NW wind 5-10 mph, picking up after sunset. On the chilly side.
A flock was audible on arrival; fairly large number, definitely large for this time in spring (probably largest ever seen this early). We had some nice flying demos and a beehive torus. All birds seen used Hoffmann #1. The overwintering flock was not seen but not much attention could be paid to Hoffmann #2 - will check the video later.
BirdNET-PI showed today had many detections but there hadn't been any for a few days previously, but likely a few separated days last week. It's possible that this was the first wave thru here.
Brenda Helm assisted with this observation.

Clear and dead calm. Pleasant conditions.
Another large-ish flock. Appeared suddenly about 1930 and went int quickly at sunset, unlike Tue nite when they dribbled in after a big rush. All Hoffmann #1 and no sign of activity at Hoffmann #2, but not monitored, solo tonite. Will check video later.

Light W wind ~ 5mph. Patchy clouds mostly overcast.

A modest noisy flock circulating around the stacks for about 30 minutes.
Then a sudden inrush with no formation about sunset, and a couple waves after.
First burst ~100 fast & very heavy probably undercounted.
No "sentinels" or 2-3 birds flying around for a few minutes after.

Brenda Helm helped with this observation.

BirdNET-Pi had 45 detections during this period, nearly none during the day.
Birdweather PUC (finally got it working out here this season) - 314 detections over about 45 mins. That's an interesting comparison. The PUC I usually keep up close to where we have the video & counting set up, but it's effectively not that much closer to the flock than the BirdNET-Pi.

About 40% cloud cover ; windy, 15+ mph (weather station reads too low)
Swifts circled the chimneys and then went in rapidly; I didn't see any audio detections during this , altho the birds were quite audible; maybe the Pi maintenance I was doing affected it, or something else. Mic back under solar panels for coming storm.
Robin Mitchell assisted with this observation.
(Prepped by mwh from HG's field notes)

Mostly clear, dead calm, with chance of showers later (small shower as we left the area)
A VERY large flock for the season showed up, some from southwest across the bay, some from the usual northeast. A lot of coming and going, and passages over the chimneys.
Most birds were in starting at sunset and over the next 3-4 minutes, then waves of stragglers for about 10 minutes.
All Hoffmann #1. No activity noted at Hoffmann #2 or the round chimney.
This is one of the largest spring flocks I can remember.

BirdNET-Pi showed a relatively small number of detections - about 101 - during the roost period; but yesterday there was an enormous number at the same time.
Brenda Helm helped with this observation.

Weather conditions - typical spring observation weather: Miserable.
High temp well below normal (close to average low for season). Drizzle. Winds W 5 mph but a lot of gusts > 10 mph; obvious rain in distant clouds
A few birds were seen just after 1900 and soon went in. Not heard and no audio detected from them. (No PUC detections showed up after upload)
Looking at the audio record of the day, it's clear a lot of activity occurred 2-3 hours earlier and likely a substantial flock went in mid afternoon. The previous days show a lot of audio detection near sunset.
Brenda Helm did most of the observing and I did equipment wrangling and audio check. No video due to fear of rain.

Weather: almost ideal; dead calm, no clouds
A lot of languorous and disorganized flying around. 400 or so went in an early burst, then about 25 minutes of various sized waves
Counter broke so missed most of the first burst while I looked for a replacement; field count was 1852; video count (complete) was 2610
BirdNET-PI shows detections the past few days:
127 by departure 28 Apr; 121 27 Apr; few at sunset 26 Apr
perhaps this is a new group that came in 2 days ago?
Birdweather PUC shows a lot of detections while I was there

3 birds appeared at 8:00, then nothing for 14 minutes. They showed at 8:14 and went into the chimney.

Weather conditions: Poor; W wind around 5-10 mph, variable; cloudy especially west, so poor light conditions; unseasonably cold. However, the weather station shows it briefly reached normal temps mid-afternoon, then crashed. Typical spring observation weather.
A burst of swifts at about 1938 of around 70 birds, then 5-8 min gap with occasional approaches. Then about 3 bursts, with 2 sentinels finishing at about 1958.
The bursts are really difficult to count accurately.

BirdNET-Pi shows about 24 detections tonite, and about the same or even more the past few days, so perhaps this indicates the same level of occupancy for the past few days.
Didn't see bluebird activity, did check the osprey nest (no birds there) but osprey overhead later. Mother goose and goslings on the road.
Brenda Helm helped with this observation - we are splitting the difference between her 150 and my 167, and rounding up.

Heavy_clouds,Rain_coming,Light_rain,other

Cold and clear with a light breeze. No birds seen.

M.A. Kruse, Bob Johnson, Judy Meredith

Currently 47dF; 10 mph NNW wind now decreasing to 8 mph NNW @ sunset; Freezing temp last night and gusty winds today; Early but wanted to start a baseline.

Overcast,Heavy_clouds,Rain_coming,other

M.A. Kruse, Bob Johnson, Judy Meredith