Skylands September 15, 2018

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DeKorte September 15, 2018

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chimney swifts chimney roost

On a warm September evening

Eating dinner outside on our deck

We expect for guests our usual companion birds

Feeding at our suet, seed and thistle.

A hummingbird passing through comes close

Finding our sugar water set out for it

Pausing for a long deep drink allowing us

A moment to admire this tiny long distance traveler.

Looking up we see a migrant monarch flutter and glide

Stopping to rest a moment near the spruce tree top

Then much higher up by chance we see chimney swifts

That fly nonstop all day catching insects.

So we decide to go to the nearby school chimney

In hopes we might see the migrant swifts roost

And we happen there upon a man with a few orphan swifts

Releasing them that they might fly up and join the flock.

He takes one in his hands and swings his arms up

And the bird flies above us in a large circle

Until a bird from the flock high above swoops down

Being the ambassador to guide it into the group.

A second and a third bird are released successfully

In the open space behind the school

And then it’s time for us to walk around in front

To get the best view of the chimney roost.

There are several hundred swifts flying overhead

Looking like cigars with wings paddling so fast

Chittering calls communicating among themselves

Ready to stopover here on their way to Peru.

Like clockwork in the ten minutes after sundown

By ones and twos and threes they drop down

Into the chimney out of sight for the night

Grasping onto the roughened brick surface.

To witness this spectacle is truly amazing

What little we know of the life of these birds

Whose fantastic feats are beyond our abilities

Known only to those who watch birds.

Rainy Day Deck Visitors September 9, 2018

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