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For awhile, I’ve been meaning to edit some DV footage shot in Nova Scotia in July 2005. Last night, I finally got around to doing a bit of work and came across this very short but interesting clip of Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) descending into the chimney of the Robie Tufts Nature Centre in Wolfville, N.S. The movie clip isn’t exactly terrific (story of my life when it comes to video stuff), but it’s kind of neat to watch regardless. It’s about 20 seconds long and about 1.2MB and may be viewed using QuickTime. It was growing dark when the swifts finally decided to go into the chimney for the night, and they are so small and quick, so that didn’t make for ideal taping, but you’ll get some idea of the scene. What you’ll see is the main group of swifts funneling down into the narrow brick chimney. They remind me a bit of falling leaves as they go into the final descent – but also a bit like a stream of dark smoke going into reverse and being sucked back into a chimney. There is sound on the clip — not great, but you should be able to hear the twittering of the swifts.

Something should also be said about the Robie Tufts Nature Centre in Wolfville. It’s located on Front Street and is a sort of pavilion built around the brick chimney that is all that remains of a former dairy. The centre is surrounded by a small park with benches. It’s named after Robie W. Tufts, who was a noted ornithologist and long-time resident of the town. On many summer evenings, people from the town, as well as visitors to the area, gather in the park to watch the swifts make their descent into the chimney around dusk. A few volunteers attempt to count the swifts each evening and keep a tally sheet posted on the bulletin board in the center (the time of each evening’s activity also recorded). I gather that this has been an ongoing volunteer project for some time. If you would like to know more about the swifts or the nature centre, visit the above link as it contains quite a lot of info.

On a bit of a down note, I should probably mention that the swift population in Nova Scotia has probably received a blow over the past few months. I subscribe to NatureNS, a nature listserv for Nova Scotia, and last autumn there were a number of reports of swifts which had not migrated south due to unusual weather conditions — perhaps a combination of a very warm autumn in N.S., as well as the hurricane activity (especially Katrina), which seemed to be driving birds back to the north. Swifts were being found dead after they had taken refuge in the chimneys of buildings when furnaces began to be used in the late autumn. It will remain to be seen what impact this will have on the resident populations this summer.

Anyhow, if you’re ever in the Wolfville area in summer, do make a point of spending an evening watching for the swifts at the nature centre. As mentioned, times and counts are posted, so you can drop by earlier in the day to try to get some idea when you might expect to see the swifts make their descent. That leaves you free to wander around the town and maybe have dinner somewhere, then return to the park in time to see the swifts. In all likelihood, you’ll meet a number of residents and visitors at the park and enjoy some good conversation while waiting for the swifts.

bev

Tags: Chimney Swifts, Chaetura pelagica, Robie Tufts Nature Centre, Wolfville