Swifties’ Night Outside Agate Hall; Not a Single Sequin in Sight!

Close to sunset on Friday, September 6, (and several nights before and after), countless bird-lovers could be found gazing up at the sky above Agate Hall. On this beautiful late summer evening, they were fascinated by a real-life nature show: watching thousands of Vaux’s Swifts circling overhead, waiting for them to funnel down the Hall’s iconic chimney. And keeping an eye on the hungry Cooper’s Hawk perched on the chimney’s edge, awaiting its dinner delivery.

This show goes on twice a year for a number of days in the spring and again at summer’s end as the swifts make their long-distance migrations back and forth between the Pacific Northwest and Central America. They spend their entire day on the wing, devouring thousands of insects daily. Thousands of the birds stop to rest in the Agate Hall Chimney every night, as well as in other chimneys or tree snags along the way. The Agate Hall Chimney on the UO campus has been a major nighttime migration roosting site for more than 40 years.

This particular night was special in two ways: the Lane County Audubon Society was staffing an information table, and KLCC’s Brian Bull was gathering images and information for KLCC’s radio show and official YouTube channel. Maeve Sowles and Dick Lamster shared information with Brian for his stories. His YouTube video went online soon after, and his audio story was aired on KLCC as well. He has graciously shared links to those stories with us, as well as sharing some of his photos and permission to use them.

Here they are.

Vaux’s Swift Roosting Ritual Demonstrates Adaptation Congregation and Sacrifice