MONROE — Kids weren’t the only ones who returned to school this month.
Thousands of Vaux’s swifts — tiny birds that summer in Washington — again are using a chimney at Frank Wagner Elementary School as their own motel during their southern migration.
At the peak of the migration, thousands of the birds circle the red brick chimney before sunset. Dozens of visitors gather each night on the school’s lawn to view the spectacle.
One recent sunny evening, a couple of hundred birds swooped and wheeled before about 40 onlookers. Some people sat in folding chairs, eating teriyaki or jalapeno chips. Others stood with binoculars in hand, trying to get a better look at the quick-moving birds, which are about 4 inches long.
“It’s cool,” said Paul de la Cuesta, 51, of Monroe. “We’re fortunate to have something like this.”
De la Cuesta and his 9-year-old daughter, Ciara, had never seen the migration before. Others were old hands at the event.
Laurie Yocum, 43, of Monroe said she lives a block away. She had visited the school three times this season already. She said the migration was cause for celebration.
“I think people just look for a way to come together,” she said.
The birds certainly know how to do just that.
Generally, they gather in the air above the school more than an hour before sunset, flitting about in a dizzying display. About 30 minutes before sunset, they head into the chimney. There, they layer themselves on top of one another in a shingle-like pattern to conserve body heat, according to Susie Schaefer, vice president of the Pilchuck Audubon Society.
The birds seek out brick surfaces such as the chimney for their nightly rests.
“They have very weak feet,” said Schaefer, 69, of Edmonds. “They have to be able to hold on to something.”
The birds may be in Monroe for a few more weeks. Usually all have left for points south by early October. They can be seen again in mid-April when they return to Monroe on their northern migration.
“They’ll be back,” Schaefer said.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com.
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