Things got dicey this week for the Vaux’s Swifts we’ve been tracking in downtown Los Angeles. If you’ve been following this story, Vaux’s Swifts migrating southward have been using a brick chimney in the Chester Williams Building high above Broadway in downtown Los Angeles for the last few weeks, attracting hundreds of people to witness this spectacle of nature in this unusual urban setting. Things took a scary turn Thursday, when we received word that the owners of the building had capped the chimney, creating a potentially dangerous situation for the swifts.

Fortunately, the birds have become incredibly popular, and a number of local activists reached out to their local City Council office and others to take immediate action. Councilmember José Huizar’s office reached out to the building’s operators, which had capped the chimney for cleaning and to block rainwater. Apparently, they hadn’t realized this would create a problem for the birds. So they uncapped the chimney for the time being until a longer term solution can be worked out. Audubon will be in touch – we want to make sure this important migratory stopover stay intact.

The only question left outstanding is what happened to the birds over the two or three nights the chimney was capped. Well, there’s good news there, too. Our own Jeff Chapman went out there last night and discovered that the birds had taken up temporary digs at a chimney next door (photo below). So this is one story that ends well for the birds. Thanks to everyone involved in this happy ending.