Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 21:53:57 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Walter Ellison Subject: Re: Chimney Swift Questions MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Tom Beal asked: > Found a Chimney Swift roost in my Survey block. Does this count for anything > more than just observing them overhead? Unfortunatley it doesn't count as evidence of breeding for the atlas. Although it is worth knowing about . Tom Beal also asked: > Have seen pairs in my neighborhood > sort of playing follow the leader, sometimes gliding with the their wings up > in a V shape. > Is this courtship? Yes, and it can be coded as "C". It can be difficult to confirm Chimney Swift as it is often hard to catch them dashing down chimneys. You can sometimes catch swifts breaking off twigs from treetops, usually snags, as they build their nests. With practice you can learn to detect the fledglings chasing their parents soon after they leave the nest, they fly somwhat less assuredly and are sometimes fed on the wing by their parents. Good Atlasing, Walter Ellison MD/DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS 23460 Clarissa Rd Chestertown, MD 21620-3645 410-778-9568 "A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast." - E. B. White ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================