On the Migratory Path of Tree Swallows

September 17, 2011, Saturday evening on the Connecticut River at dusk.

Tonight, my family enjoyed a voyage to Goose Island on the Connecticut River to watch a spectacular event, the annual occurance of the night time roosting of the Tree Swallow.  This event happens throughout the month of September in Old Lyme as the Tree Swallows' migratory path leads them to the Connecticut River Valley for this short time. 

According to the research I did, the winter migration path is to the Carolinas and the Gulf Coast and occassionally as far north as New York and Massachussetts during September and early October.  Their diet includes bayberries and this allows them to winter farther north than other swallows.  An estimated 300,000 swallows congregate each evening over Goose Island and the surrounding water and perform an astounding display of avian twirls, dips and dives forming Escher-like paterns in the evening sky. 

Sometimes, they flew so close to us it felt like we could reach out and catch one. We were surrounded as the birds skimmed the water surface and then moved up and around including us in their ballet.  These tree swallows are tiny and to see them at a distance is difficult until they form a large group. 

I think you would need a very powerful camera to capture this with any justice. They are only about 5-6 inches long and they move fast.  As the sun sets they form into a more consolidated group and start to fly in a vortex like funnel cloud formation. As a final culmination, they fly high up into the air, swirling and churning in unison.  

Then like an orchestrated movement, they all start to twirl down really fast and it seems like they are poured down into the fragmites like the drizzled frosting on a strudel, back and forth they pour themselves over the fragmites, dropping into the reeds so fast you wonder how they look when they land and how they don't crash into each other.  Then just as fast as the formation started, it is over. 

The sun has set, the birds are gone and the sky is clear again.  It is dark and the Tree Swallows are in bed for the night.  Tonight the sky was cloudy. My group wondered if the birds would be easier to see on a clear night. There are several ways to view this amazing spectical. If you own a motor boat, you can lauch from the State boat launch under the Baldwin Bridge in Old Saybrook. 

For those without power, you can launch a canoe or kayak from Pilgrim Landing in Old Lyme.  This is located on Pilgrim Landing Road off of route 156 near the intersection of Hall's Road and route 156. There is a very small parking area for only a few cars here, and no room for trailers.  These are the two closest launches, there are many others if you want to enjoy a longer ride. 

The Connecticut DEEP website has boat launch information. It is important to understand you will be returning to the launch after dark, so make sure you have navigastional lights and make sure they work.  For those without a boat, out of Haddam has daily cruises for viewing these birds.