The other night I joined the huge crowd of people at the Chapman School in NW Portland to watch the famous Swifts. These tiny birds began gathering in the sky above just before 7 pm. Over the following 30 minutes the flock rapidly increased in number, swirling around in somewhat divided groups. Slowly but surely each group would make a dive and funnel like tornados into the Chapman School chimney.
An ever-so-clever hawk waited patiently for the little swifts to make their descent and then cut through the flock to make a grab at one. He made these attempts about 6 times, during which the crowd would gasp and applaud. Some were hoping to witness the hunter catch his dinner, others cheered for the tough little defenders who chased him off from their friends. Eventually he caught one and flew off into the distance. It was quite the show! The nature we have right in the middle of our city is amazing!
1 comment:
Beautiful!
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