(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Daily Bucket - An evening of counting Swifts. [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-09-06
I seldom start a diary with my Bug of the Day but this is a short, sweet and simple little tale of voyeurism disguised as behavioral research. I’ll begin after the page break and group declaration.
Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream,visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on follow.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
The Mantis (in the title photo) was spotted on an patio table. The lack of vegetation did not bother this skilled hunter as his camouflage was effective. The brownish grey color is different than the bright green of the Carolina Mantid usually seen here.
The wings are longer than the Carolina and the abdomen is slender (instead of plump). The face had vertical stripes (like war paint) and the front legs are spotted. I didn’t check to see if there were the classic white dots on the thorax (at the beginning of the front legs) known as “Bull’s eye” markings. The Euporean species are slightly larger than the native Mantis; growing to three inches. The antennae of the males are much longer, suggesting my photo is one. The green legs will darken as the insect ages.
* * *
As I stated, during CalBird’s excellent Daily Bucket Friday Sequence , I participated in an official Mississippi State bird count of migrating Chimney Swifts Thursday (September 4th). Our official number was 1153 individuals for one location.
Here are the things I learned from the experience. A person that has never seen a large number of Swifts entering a roosting site must be prepared for the awe inspiring event. I was not, but managed to count birds anyway.
I’ll first describe the setting. There is a 24 inch diameter, 30 foot vertical, stainless steel, fresh air intake pipe emerging from the roof of a utility structure of a building on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, MS.
The pipe rests on a pedestal inside the building and has a “T” joint 15 feet off the ground leading to larger segments containing filters.
My thanks to the maintenance personal for allowing access to photograph the interior of the building.
I decided to try and collect video of the event Friday night (which was impossible during Thursday’s count). I begged encouraged my wife to join me, knowing it would astound her. I set up the camera and adjusted all the settings for optimum recording. I filmed only two minutes before the lighting conditions became impossible. After I got home, I edited the footage (to increase exposure) to show 40 seconds of Swifts entering the pipe. Here is the film.
Audio off because of disruptive noises.
My technique for the bird count process was to estimate the number of birds in each division of groups (segments) entering the pipe continuously. There were 14 segments with about 100 birds per duration. We watched (and counted) for 18 minutes on Thursday night. My video shows less than 1 minute of birds (so the math would seem to indicate a lower number for the final count).
However, more birds entered the pipe early and fewer birds joined in the later groups. With two independent counting groups, our combined numbers estimated closer than if one observation technique was used.
Other things I observed about the Swifts entering the pipe were: the birds created a vortex (cyclonic funnel) rotating counter-clockwise, birds would “bullet” into the pipe like a train through a tunnel, there was a constant chirping (I assume to coordinate and communicate) from the birds and finally, if you look up with mouth agape, a splat of bird poop may find it’s way inside.
That is my report for today. What bits of curious items have you seen lately?
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/6/2342091/-Daily-Bucket-An-evening-of-counting-Swifts?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
