Vaux's Swift

On Wednesday evening some of the Urban Nest Team and the lovely Paula Bowles gathered at Chapman Elementary School. With a picnic dinner and a bottle of champagne, we adjusted our eyes upward toward the dusky sky.

During the month of September you can go out nearly every evening and watch one of the most spectacular natural events occur. Thousands of Vaux’s Swifts gather in the chimney of Chapman Elementary as they prepare to migrate to Central America and Venezuela.

According to the Audubon Society, migrating swifts often use chimneys as roosts, and they are likely to return to the same place every year. This swift population has been returning to NW Portland since the 1980′s, and it is one of the largest known roosting sites!

See this and other great things to do this month on our September Monthly Picks!