Once a year delightful birds, Swifts, gather in a swirling mass to sleep in a chimney of a school in NW Portland. Swift watchers gather at dusk with blankets and beverages to see this incredible sight. I've only heard of this vision, I've never actually gone to the school for the "Swift Show". But last night after a family dinner to honor my late-brother's birthday, while walking to our cars, I looked up and saw hundreds, if not thousands of birds swirling above our heads. "It's the Swifts!" my mom said. And off we went to their "main stage".
Now, I had heard that they had moved into a North Portland chimney about 2 years ago and again, I never went to check them out. Foolish! Here I was, trying to wrap my brain around the sight I was seeing! It was spectacular and truly full of awe. Here's an iPhone video of the end of the show. When the birds are done flying, they dive bomb into the chimney for the night. My uncle and I tried to stay quiet, but we just couldn't! So cool!
That suave voice you hear is my uncle and yes, he is a professional actor. (Maybe I can find the commercial he did for the game "Simon" years ago ;-> ).