Baby chimney swifts photographed by Mindy Walker.
I have definitely been birding more this summer than I usually do. I am attributing this in large measure to the mild temperatures and the need to feed the blog, a cruel and demanding master (“Yes, Mom, I know that your brain surgery will be dicey. Well believe me I would much rather be by your side than in the field, but then what would become of the blog . . .”)
Jon Wuepper lives and birds in Berrien County, Michigan. We met several years ago and what really binds us is our passion for historical natural history. Jon has examined every extant newspaper ever published in Berrien and Cass Counties and has come across the most amazing records. We haven’t seen each other for awhile so when he e-mailed me that he just discovered the blog, we made plans to get together.
The birding was slow. Berrien has some stunning forests but the avian denizens of such environments are difficult to find in early August. By playing a tape, though, we did induce a yellow-throated warbler to sing. We then checked some beaches for gulls and shorebirds, but scoping these summer playgrounds filled with Homo sapiens garbed in minimal apparel can make one feel as uncomfortable as any unintended scopee. (To paraphrase something Freud said about cigars and applying it to Mies van der Rohe’s famous dictum on architecture: “Sometimes less is just less.”) And that discomfort intensifies when the paucity of birds makes it clear that any rewards from further scanning would be decidedly non-avian in nature.
The highlight of the day was the Saratt Nature Center where John had worked as a youngster. Founder and director Chuck Nelson has expanded the site so it now encompasses over 800 acres of fen, woods, marsh,, and other community types along the winding Paw Paw River. It may be the best place in the world to see the federally endangered Mitchell’s satyr (the center offers walks to see the butterfly during the species’ narrow window of activity in early July) but several other rare species also find refuge here. A newly completed feature that Jon took me to is an elevated boardwalk that allows you to traverse the middle levels of the canopy. It is reminiscent of the canopy trails in the tropics. Chuck told us that the boardwalk is the only one of its kind in the Midwest.
What made our visit especially memorable were the baby chimney swifts that had just been dropped off by someone who had removed them from their favored habitat. Sarratt accepts abandoned and injured wildlife and then swiftly transfers their temporary wards to a fully equipped rehab facility. So we were incredibly lucky to have arrived during that brief period when the swifts were present. Staffer Mindy Walker allowed us to study the docile chicks with their diminutive bills and capacious mouths. It was the first time I have ever seen live swifts close up.
Chimney swifts are relatively common and widespread in the Midwest. During the night, they cling to the interior surfaces of chimneys or hollow trees with feet so tiny the scientific name of their family (Apodidae) denies they even have any; spiny tail feathers pressed tightly against the hard sides of their lair provide additional support against the pull of gravity. But with the onset of day, swifts become creatures of perpetual motion for hours at a time, with scimitar wings beating furiously in pursuit of most everything they need: food, water, sticks for nests, mates, and for some species maybe even sleep.
Chimney swift showing its spiny tail, photographed by Mindy Walker.
Tags: Berrien Co. MI, chimney swifts