Houston Chronicle article on Swift Night Out, by Cindy Horswell. Reprinted with permission of the Houston Chronicle.

August 5 - Chimney Swift presentation by Pam Smolen, Swifts Over Houston Count leader
At the Nature Discovery Center. Pam has offered to give this presentation to other groups. Please contact Pam Smolen for more information.

August 27 - Swift Night Out in Dayton
(by Barbara Tilton) At our Swift Night Out we counted 172 Chimney Swifts as they went to roost in the old rice dryer in Dayton. We were happy to have coverage from the Houston Chronicle as well as other visitors out to see the swifts. Thanks to Pam Smolen for bringing her Chimney Swift display board out too.

September 1 - Pershing Middle School
(by Mary Anne Weber) Swift Night Out was another great success and the swifts did not disappoint. Over 90 folks turned out for the event and helped count 675 swifts entering the chimney at Pershing Middle School. Whole Foods generously provided snacks and water again this year. The swifts started to stream into the chimney shortly before 8 PM just as the moon was disappearing behind the clouds. (Photos). Joining Houston Audubon in co-sponsoring the event were Whole Foods Market and the Nature Discovery Center at Russ Pitman Park.

September 11 - St. Paul's Methodist Church
We met in the parking lot just east of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 5501 Main at Binz/Bissonnet, Houston, 77004 (across from the Museum of Fine Arts). Thank you St. Paul's for hosting a wonderful event! The rain held off for 73 people and 346 Chimney Swifts! This event was co-sponsored by St. Paul's, Nature Discovery Center, Houston Audubon, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. (Photos).

September 13 - Imperial Sugar Stack
We met at 7:30 PM at this newly discovered site in Sugar Land. As a result of reading about Swift Night Out in a Houston Chronicle article written by Cindy Horswell , Gene Odom discovered that over 6,000 Chimney Swifts were using the stack at the Imperial Sugar Refinery. On September 2, at least 6,500 swifts were counted. Numbers have ranged as high as about 9,000! Everyone is invited to join us on the 6th. Lawn chairs are recommended to ease any neck pain. The Refinery address is: 198 Kempner St, Sugar Land, TX 77498. From Houston, go south on I-59 (towards Victoria), exit US-90 Alt and go west about 2 miles. The Refinery will be on the right. (More information about the Imperial Sugar Stack and Photos).

Nationwide Swift Night Out

Sponsored by the Driftwood Wildlife Association, this is a nationwide event to help promote awareness of swifts. It is held annually in late summer. The procedure is very simple: find a large roost of Chimney Swifts and estimate the numbers that enter it in the evening. Dates for 2007: August 10-12; September 7-9. For more information, to report sightings, and to see a map of last year's results, visit the Swift Night Out webpage.

Tips on Counting Swifts by Paul and Georgean Kyle: When counting Chimney Swifts at roosts, the numbers can become overwhelming -- especially as the numbers continue to climb as we move toward fall migration over the next few weeks. What we have found to work quite well is to use an athletic lap counter. These are available at most sporting goods stores. You can tally without taking your eyes off of the swifts.

When the numbers of swifts are relatively low, a direct count can be made -- one click per swift. At sites where the numbers exceed several hundred (or the entry rate is high), make one click per 10 swifts and multiply the end number of clicks by 10 for the total. It works really well if several counters can average their counts at the end.