By Mary Anne Weber
 
The Houston area is known for an abundance of bird species, especially during spring and fall migration. Most bird watchers head to protected habitats near the coast, the eastern pineywoods, and the bottomlands to enjoy migration. However, dedicated birder and casual observer alike are now rubbing elbows beneath an old sugar refinery situated on a major interstate and surrounded by the suburbs of Sugar Land, Texas. The Imperial Sugar Company refinery is a stone's throw from Houston. The refinery stopped operation in 2003 and has remained a quiet reminder of days gone by to the citizens of Sugar Land. The main brick building has scattered broken windows and a rusty historical marker hidden and forgotten in the front yard under the old live oaks. While humans no longer occupy in the structure, new residents took the opportunity to claim squatter's rights, arriving in force.
 
Chimney Swifts have found the old smoke stacks. They are now delighting young and old, novice and experienced bird watchers.
 
The discovery of the swifts was made by a local resident, Gene Odom. He and his wife, Kathy, live near the old sugar refinery, by Oyster Creek. They had been observing small dark birds darting and circling over the water for a few weeks. They both had guessed they were watching Purple Martins. But when an article appeared in the Houston Chronicle about the "Swifts over Houston" initiative (a partnership between Houston Audubon and the Nature Discovery Center), they realized that these birds were Chimney Swifts.
 

Gene and Kathy were curious about where their swifts were going for the night. They looked up the creek, and there stood the old sugar refinery. They ventured out, and then discovered what is possibly the largest Chimney Swift roost outside of Virginia.
 
Gene started spreading the news. Swift counts in the thousands were happening every night. It wasn't long before a nightly crowd of interested observers was over 50. They watched in awe the spectacle of Chimney Swifts circling and spinning as if in a tornado between the smoke stacks and the old silos.
 
These swifts brought together folks from all walks of life, all ages, and all levels of interest. There is no long drive to reach the birds. No long bug-filled hike to reach their site. No long wait. Just pull into the parking lot at 7:30pm for the show. At 8:00pm, as if by magic, the old "Imperial Sugar" sign turns on as if to welcome these new guests. The swifts disappear in the darkening sky by 8:15pm, and you can go home knowing that you have watched a very special event.
 
In just a few short weeks the swifts will be heading to wintering grounds in South America. It will then be up to the newly formed "swiftaholics" in Texas to make sure this roost will be waiting for the birds next September. Of course, moments like this are simply too important in terms of education to let slip. We would never belittle the migration of any bird, but when you can bring a teacher, parent, student, retiree, out to an otherwise empty parking lot to watch 9,000 or more swifts get comfortable for the night, it is a learning opportunity not to be missed.
 
For more information about counting Chimney Swifts: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=w85rf4cab.0.0.cvohqmcab.0&ts=S0409&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chimneyswifts.org%2F&id=preview.
For background and photos on the Imperial Sugar Company swifts, click here.
For insight on the well-known Vaux's Swifts and their roost in Portland, Oregon, click here.

 

Photos by Mary Anne Weber.