A Tornado Of Birds

I'm on the morning show this week, which means my alarm starts screaming at 1:30 a.m.-even so, I found a great excuse to stay up late Sunday night (and by late I mean 9 p.m. ).  Imagine a perfectly choreographed tornado of thousands of birds-all funneling into a chimney.  Sounds like a scene from a scary movie-but it's reality around sunset every night in September at a school in Northwest Portland. Take a look at some of my pictures.

At about 6 p.m. people start to gather on the hill above Chapman School.

People bring their blankets, picnics, binoculars and cameras.

Waiting for the big show with friends Ashley and Danette.

Photographers line up underneath the chimney preparing for the perfect shot.

Swift paparazzi.

About two hours before sunset, you notice the tiny black Swifts hovering over the chimney.  According to the Audubon Society of Portland, the swifts congregate here as they prepare for their migration south to Central America.  Swifts use chimneys to roost and the chimney at Chapman School in NW Portland houses the largest known roost of migrating swifts in the world. They return year after year. For  several weeks in September-the swifts bed down every night  in the school's chimney.  It's quite a sight to see!

This gal is with the Audubon Society of Portland.  Notice her swift headband!  Saweet....

In this picture they look like bugs.  As the clock ticks closer to sunset, more and more swifts hover over the smoke stack.

Thousands of swifts flit around over the chimney.  The Audubon Society says as many as 35,000 birds can roost in the same chimney.

About 20 minutes before sunset they all start flying in circles-clockwise, then counterclockwise

...and then all of the sudden-just like a tornado-they start funneling into the chimney.

...from afar it looks a little like reverse smoke

I wonder who makes the call that it's time for bed.

Gorgeous sunset and backdrop for the swift show.

Spectacular.