PORTLAND, Ore. — Swift Watch 2021 is canceled.
Near the fall thousands of Swifts come to Portland and people flock to the grounds of Chapman Elementary School to see the birds take flight. However, this year, like last year, the school grounds will be closed to visitors due to COVID-19.
Portland Audubon said on its website:
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the annual public viewing of Vaux’s Swifts at Chapman Elementary School is cancelled again this year due to COVID-19.
There will not be resources in place to deal with parking, crowd management, garbage cleanup and other logistics necessary to make Swift Watch a success, and the crowds that Swift Watch attracts are far too large to allow for safe COVID-19 distancing, especially considering the arrival of the Delta variant.
We thank you for coming together as a community to prioritize the safety of all by skipping the swifts this year."
The delta variant of COVID-19 continues to be of concern in the state of Oregon. Case numbers have climbed higher than they were during the height of the virus in 2020. There is both an indoor and outdoor mask mandate in effect in the state.
The video below is from 2019
