August 30, 2019 3:35 a.m.
Roseburg Swift Watch is underway through September 13th.
The event is a partnership between the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society, the City of Roseburg Parks and Recreation Department, and the Umpqua Valley Arts Association.
Vaux’s Swifts nest only in western North America, and migrate to Central and South America for the winter. Each year thousands of the tiny birds gather in the chimney adjacent to the Clay Place in Fir Grove Park off of West Harvard, behind the Umpqua Valley Arts Center as they migrate. At sunset, Swifts gather in the dozens, hundreds, or thousands, to communally roost.
While the birds gather each evening, on Friday nights members of the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society, are available to serve as interpretive naturalists. They have information about the Swifts, as well as more general information about birding and the natural world. Also, on Friday evenings, local artists are leading free activities for kids ages 5 and up. Participants must be supervised by an adult. In addition, the “Swifts Sisters and Friends” will play a variety of music, from old time fiddling, to bluegrass and Americana.
Roseburg Swift Watch will begin this Friday at about 7:00 p.m. The next two weeks, it will start around 6:30 p.m. as the time for sunset gets earlier.
Go to www.umpquavalleyaudubon.org for more information.