Volunteer counters Cline and Carr counted 2,870 Vauxys at Frank Wagner last night. Here’s what they had to say in their observation report:
IT WAS EXCITING ONCE AGAIN
Thanks you guys for your help here!
Great news! Cindy Easterson welcomed 618 Vaux’s Swifts to our retrofitted, crow proofed, live streaming, five star accommodations at Frank Wagner. Not that anyone for one moment was ever doubting their return, but it’s great to see them.
The Vaux’s Swifts are on the way! We have had sightings in California already, and into Oregon…and the first swift was counted going into the chimney at Frank Wagner Elementary School in Monroe on Wednesday evening, April 18! We hope this single swift has more company very soon. Welcome back!
Calling all counters (and wannabe counters)!
The intrepid counters at Frank Wagner started their spring migration count on Sunday, April 15th. If you can help out, please contact us at contact@MonroeSwifts.org.
Spring seems to be around the corner.. the temperatures are warming up here in Western Washington.. the Flickers are starting to drum.. and soon the Voxies will be back in town. Stay tuned!
Hey, we’re a part of the Audubon family – so OF COURSE we were BirdingtheNet!
We even built some bird nests – but have taken them down now, as the game is over. Hope you all had fun!
We’ve been seeing some big numbers of swifts at some other sites here in WA – namely Old Northern State Hospital and Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Check out those counts here.
See below for an account of counting the swifts at the defunct chimney stack at the Old Northern State Hospital grounds in Sedro-Woolley. Gives you a sense of how dramatic the swift roosting experience can be…
Monroe Swift Night Out may have passed, but there are still swift parties happening down the flyway, and in fact this Friday, Sept 23rd is “Birds over Broadway” – the celebration of the swift roost in Downtown Los Angeles, sponsored by our sister groups, LA Audubon and Audubon at Debs Park. We wish them fun tomorrow!
Check out this great story in the Everett Herald about our chimney and Monroe Swift Night Out.
Wow! What a night!
Thanks to everyone for the part that you played in making Monroe Swift Night Out 2011 such a rousing success! Whether you were behind the scenes or out on the front lines that night, every single one of you were so important to how the event went! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Wasn’t it wonderful that the swifts put on such a spectacular show for our visitors and that the weather was beautiful! We had another large turnout–about 1,500 folks in all, with about 100 folks out back.
Once again, Leann outdid herself with the spaghetti dinner! Did you taste it? It was delicious!! Thanks so much to Leann, her daughter and her faithful crew (Connie Young and others) for all their hard work! You are awesome!
The booths were very well done, interesting and informative. Neil and Carleen’s (Seattle Audubon) bird skins were a “magnet” to anyone that went near them. What an experience for folks and, especially, children, to see the birds close up and to be able to touch them. Thanks for coming every year!
And, speaking of birds close up, how about having Jeff and Freedom, the eagle, at the Sarvey Booth! That was a delightful addition to a really interesting booth. Thanks for coming!!
Special thanks to Monroe Digital Copy Center for providing so many tablets, coloring books, and puzzles for our visitors, and for their donations to Swift Night Out. They are gems to be sure! And thanks to all who volunteered to staff booths and to help out in so many other ways!
Larry (AKA Dr. Swift) gave another delightful lecture that entertained and educated everyone. A “not-to-be-missed” part of the evening, for sure! Thanks, Larry!
And thank you, too, Robin (Frank Wagner Principal Extraordinaire!) — you are such a delightful “emcee” at our event! (And we could hear you so well this year - Charles, thanks for helping out with the speaker system!)
Cindy, what a super collection of signs you made for us! Just awesome! We really need good signage at this event! And we had it this year! Thanks for making them for us, Cindy! And please thank your company for donating time and materials!
And let’s not forget our docents, who got our brochures into willing hands and answered so many questions that night! Thanks to each one of you! You are an essential part of this evening! (As well as the nights that follow Swift Night Out when so many people come to enjoy the swifts.)
We hope folks saw the great article in The Herald (Everett) Saturday morning? The Monroe Monitor had a cameraman at the event. Watch for an article about it next week. Thanks to Diann for contacting all the media for us and for nudging them where needed! This is such an essential part of the success of our event-we need to let the public know what’s happening.
And, a special thanks to the YMCA, for providing fun games for the children to play and for providing several extra tables for us to use that night! You are a wonderful asset to Swift Night Out!
Also, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce was so helpful to us this year as before. Thanks so much, Kim and Larell!
And let us not forget some of the most important folks of the night: Mike Farrell and his crew from Monroe Parks and Recreation Department, who provided the Sani-Cans and garbage cans for our event. Thanks so much, Mike, for such an essential service! Imagine what the evening would have been like without those two items!
So, again, we want to thank each and every one of you for all your efforts to make Swift Night Out a rousing success this year! Whether you were out front or behind the scenes, we couldn’t have done it without you!
Also, let us not forget to give a very special thank you to the Cooper’s Hawk for spending the evening elsewhere! : )
