But they’re so CUTE!

Invader...
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43997-Myocastor-coypus/browse_photos?place_id=10

Ooooo...lovely. Also, a nice catch!

Wow! Great catch! These guys are very elusive.

Thanks for the information and words of encouragement, Dotie. I’m anxious to find out how this shot works out and how long the effect is. It won’t surprise me if I resort to surgery some day but I’d like to push it out as long as possible. We have other plans.

I was really pleased at how well the video came out. It really works better than still shots, which at least with my camera can’t focus quickly enough. It really is a terrific show, and this is still well before the peak. The numbers should be considerably larger by mid month before it starts tapering off.

You don’t need to come to Portland to see the show though. They need tall, open chimneys (their natural habitat in hollowed out trees is disappearing), and Chapman School is just one of a series of them up and down the coast. I first saw this event down in Salem t North High School 40 years ago, and Jen says they show up at a chimney in Salem too.

There’s a website that tracks these sites, at least the ones where bird counts are maintained. I don’t see any up in Canada, but maybe it’s too far north for them to have concentrated along the flyway yet: https://www.vauxhappening.org/data/2022.html

I’d love to see the show down in the Bay Area, at McNear’s Brickyard. Last year it had the highest single night count, with over 70,000 birds. Hard to imagine.

And thanks for the well-wishes about the knee. I’m pretty optimistic. Even a modest improvement would help.

Thanks, Patrick. I’ll be interested to see what the impact is if any, and how long-lasting it is.

Flying out tomorrow! Have a safe flight and a wonderful tour. It looks like you could be in for a spell of fine weather.

It’s because I hadn’t had my coffee yet. Everything was stilly pretty out of focus.

Fish, most likely. He pulled one up and made quick work of it from a previous lunge just a minute earlier. Amazingly quick bird. I should have taken. Video.

Yes best of luck with the steroid injection Scott! Loved Jens Ode to your left knee.
Looking forward to following you in Spain. We are heading off to Frankfurt tomorrow and abuzz with excitement.

The presence of the hawk is like an evil Darth Vader and the crowd boos loudly whenever he lunges at a swift. It's a dramatic affair.

It is one of the coolest things I've ever witnessed in Portland. Thank you for reminding that the swifts are back.

Frog or fish I wonder.

It's a very cool shot. Dreamy.