The Swifts

Those of us who grew up in Southern California know about the swallows who come to the Mission at San Juan Capistrano for the winter. Apparently, the swifts stop in Portland for a short spell on their way South. There is a chimney at Chapman Middle School in NW Portland. Apparently, it is a Portland tradition, which I have never heard of before. People bring blankets and picnic dinners and make an evening of it. You can see the swifts flying around by the thousands, and then just before dusk, they start flying in the same direction, whipping up a cyclone cone, only backwards, almost like a whirlpool. Then the swifts dive into the chimney until they are all tucked in. There was a hawk hovering near, hoping to get a snack, but there were so many swifts that they chased it away.