swifts

Since the 1980s, the swifts have been descending upon the chimney in the Chapman Elementary School in the fall, usually around late August and throughout September. The swift is actually the most aerial of birds, hardly ever choosing to voluntarily land on the ground but instead opting to roost in vertical structures.

The city of Portland has embraced this small but mighty natural wonder and encourages people to come roost on the lawn of the school and watch the swifts. They come from all over the horizon and begin to circle this chimney. When they are all moving together, it's a chirping funnel cloud that drifts and changes shape. It's like watching a 3-D painting, one of those ones from the 90's that make you cross your eyes to see the image. It's like that but in motion and gigantic.

The swifts probably start gathering in the mid to late afternoon but they don't start flocking around the chimney in a noticeable demonstration until around 7pm. By 8pm, they begin to funnel into the chimney, like the opposite of smoke, in the most natural of displays.

This was my first time seeing the swifts. I was enthralled by them but I was also awed by the crowd. There was a light murmur throughout the swifts' hovering over the chimney but there was a gentle cheering when they began to descend. It reminded me of watching fireworks with a large crowd of folks. However, this time there was no unnatural loud banging, there was not smoke and startling flashes. It was the calm drifting of a flock of swifts on a beautiful September dusk.