Good morning, DMV. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 6.
I wanted to go to a chimney swift watch event late last month, but it rained and was postponed to this weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make the rain date.
So I’m grateful that John Colpoys, a volunteer bird walk leader with the Northern Virginia Bird Alliance who led the event, sent me photos from Sunday evening at Penrose Square in Arlington.
This photo doesn’t do it justice, he said, “but give[s] a sense of the mass of birds.”
(John Colpoys)
“We had about 15-20 people show up. Despite the overcast skies, we were able to see first a few, then a dozen, then several dozen of them. They first circled the sky around the square, chittering away at each other (that's the only word I can think of to describe their high-pitched call) and hunting for insects,” John wrote to me in an email.
“As sunset approached, they began to circle their chimney roost for the night (an old chimney attached to a convenience store). First, one or two would decide to dive in, then suddenly, almost to the second at sunset, they all dove into the chimney (one observer described it like a reverse plume of black smoke) and were soon out of sight.”
(John Colpoys)
Here are some of the chimney swift facts he shared at his event:
Due to their body shape — oblong bodies with small feet — they cannot perch in trees like other birds and fly around all day in search of insects. From a distance, they look like a cigar with wings!
Their summer range includes most of the Eastern and Central United States and Southeastern Canada, with “vagrants” (individuals sighted outside their normal range) reported as far north as Greenland.
They come to this area starting about mid-April, stay through the summer, then depart for South America (Peru specifically) by the end of October.
A group of swifts (including chimney swifts) is called a “scream.”
Before European settlement of what is now the Eastern United States, chimney swifts would roost in hollow trees; they now almost exclusively live in chimneys.
Due to the destruction or capping of chimneys, these birds are classified as vulnerable. John said one reason he wanted to host this event is to raise awareness about them and promote their preservation.
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📰 News around the DMV
Capital Weather says: A brisk but beautiful Tuesday. Off the chilliest morning of the season so far, the sun dominates as temperatures rise to the mid-60s. Read the full forecast here.
🎨 Things to do
26 things to do in the D.C. area this week and weekend (Washingtonian)
‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ is tops (City Cast DC)
📷 Your joy
(Karen Fairweather)
Karen Fairweather, who is “about to hit 70” (as of Sept. 17), sent me this photo taken Sept. 6 in her front yard in Arlington.
“It is a Horace’s Duskywing butterfly sitting on sedum and lavender. I find the muted colors very soothing,” she wrote in her submission.
🏠
