Greetings all,

We attempted a multi-roost Chimney Swift coordinated roost count this 
evening in Concord, but it looks like we were just a little too late. There 
were only four of us, and we had the following results:

Penacook: no swifts (80 last Sat)
St. John's School (Thonrdike St.): 21 swifts (vs. 90+ on Thursday)
St. Paul's School: 9 swifts (vs. 68 on Weds)
39 S Main St.: 8 swifts (peak of 103 over a week ago and dwindling since).

Observers in downtown Concord noted additional swifts that DIDN'T enter 
their focal chimneys but apparently dispersed elsewhere, and concensus from 
the rooftop nighthawk watchers is that there are fewer swifts about from 
their perspective as well. I'm guessing that a lot of birds moved south with 
the cold front that passed through Thursday. I'm sure there are more to 
still trickle through, so folks are encouraged to keep checking their 
favorite spots now and then (I'll be in Utah for the next week, so you're on 
your own!).

So what have we learned in the last two weeks of frenzied swifting?

1) During peak periods roosts can be pretty easy to find once you learn the 
clues
2) Birds appear to be shifting between local roosts to some degree (but 
we'll need more coordinated watches to really sort this out)
3) Roosts can be in all sorts of buildings, from single family residences to 
old abandoned mills - only one of the roosts I'm aware of was a particularly 
large chimney.
4) I think we ended up with data from about 15 roosts, mostly in the greater 
Concord area, but a few elsewhere (Laconia, Hillsborough, Keene, and Upper 
Valley). The ranged in size from a handful of birds to 4 with over 100 at 
one point or another. BUT, there are recent records of 200-300 birds at a 
roost. Did we miss those, have these dispersed to new roosts, or is this a 
manifestation of the continued decline?

Next spring I'll start this up again, and hopefully we'll be able to involve 
a much larger core of citizen scientists across a broader portion of the 
state. What for details in NH Audubon communications and the NH and UV 
birding listserves.

Thanks to all who've helped in this pilot project this month!
Pam Hunt
Penacook NH and NH Audubon