This fall, park volunteers met in the Garden of the Gods late one afternoon to observe the white-throated swifts and their sunset flight behavior. The fast-flying birds
are one of the reasons that the Garden of the Gods is a National Natural Landmark, as the park is one of the largest summer and migratory roosting sites for the
white-throated swifts along the Rocky Mountain Front Range.
 Dave Meyers photo
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When our group gathered on the west side of North Gateway Rock, the swifts were flying so high overhead that they were difficult to see without binoculars. Then, as the sun sank lower toward the horizon, the swifts lowered their circular flight pattern over the park's Central Garden area. We could hear the birds twittering as they flew in wide circles near their roosting sites. Then, as the sun dipped behind Pikes Peak, the swifts began to funnel into a long crack on the west side of the Tower of Babel in North Gateway Rock, their primary roosting site. It took about 10 minutes for the swifts to disappear into the large rock crevice and smaller roosting sites nearby.
In 2009, I observed that the swifts migrated on September 23, just before a cold front brought snow to the foothills. This year, Lenore Fleck, a member of the Friends of Garden of the Gods, watched for the swifts' departure. On September 25 this year, she wrote, “No change in weather, still warm and dry. Yesterday, the swifts were circling at six o'clock. Today, silent skies.”
The swifts migrated to the southwest border of the United States and farther south into Mexico where they will find abundant flying insects to sustain them through the winter. At the Garden of the Gods, we will be watching for the swifts to return in early April as they complete another full circle of their annual migration journey.
 Haleigh Shafer photo
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In early September, Haleigh Shafer, Garden of the Gods Park intern, rescued a white-throated swift that she had found lying in the Visitor Center parking lot. Before the bird was transported to a wildlife rehabilitation center, Haleigh took several photos. In this photo, note how the bird's folded wings are longer than its tail. The swift's wingspan is 15 inches and its body is only 6.5 inches. The photo shows how small a swift really is, about the size of a cell phone, yet it migrates hundreds of miles every fall and spring.
Walker, a long-time area naturalist, posts regular entries in her online blog at naturenarratives.com. She has given her permission to reprint selected pieces in the Westside Pioneer.