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Date: | Sat, 24 Aug 2013 21:41:15 -0400 |
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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
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