This even took place on Monday October 4, 2010 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm
Organized by Michael Lease, the performance of A Slow Song for Swifts by Jonathan Vassar and The Speckled Bird was timed to coincide with the twilight roosting of the Chimney Swifts at Grace and Adams streets in downtown Richmond. A fond farewell was bid to the city’s Chimney Swifts before migration south for the winter.

"Each summer, Chimney Swifts (Chaetura Pelagica), tiny insectivores that spends their entire day aloft, come to Richmond to eat, breed, and collectively roost in our city's chimneys.... These little birds, affectionately referred to as "flying cigars," are seen at sunset swooping and flitting, emitting high pitched chatters over their chosen stack, until twilight when they begin to drop one by one into the chimney for the night. A Slow Song for Swifts was written to coincide with one of the last evenings the Swifts will roost in Richmond before they migrate south for the winter."

Preceding the performance Mary Elfner, a local environmental scientist with the National Audubon Society, spoke about the habitat, nesting, and migration behaviors of Chimney Swifts.

Check out write-ups of the event on the following blogs:

I Could Go On and On

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