Black Swift!
Got it! It's fun to get a bird you haven't seen before, but it's really fun
to get one you've been after for a couple years. Some just fall into your
lap. Some you have to go after. Box Canyon Falls. Nothing flying. Follow
the catwalk into the sheer rock wall slot the water comes out of. Early in
the day, but it gets dark as you get closer to the falls. The roar from the
falls gets louder. Let your eyes adjust to the light. Scan the opposite
wall with your binoculars. There. That little black smudge against the
black wet rock. Give your eyes a little longer, and there it is. A black
swift sitting on its nest. Perfectly clear. Judy spots another. She often
finds the birds first. Now that we know where they are, we can see them
with the naked eye too. Black swifts.
Back in the daylight, we watch the sky. There are swallows circling high,
above the forest on top of the cliffs, violet green swallows, but there,
flashing past, dark shapes with scimitar wings, much longer narrower wings
than a swallow. And twice the speed. White throated swifts and black
swifts as well. Steep rock canyon birds, feeding on insects in the air.
That really makes the day. We've seen them sitting quietly on the nest. We
see them flashing through the sky. This is very very good.
With the kestrel family of four we've been watching, we're up to twenty-five
birds at this park.
