‘Swift Night’ a hit at Housy

Daniel DeLong, a volunteer at Sharon Audubon, releases a rehabilitated swift, with the roosting chimney in the background.
Alec Linden

Daniel DeLong, a volunteer at Sharon Audubon, releases a rehabilitated swift, with the roosting chimney in the background.
FALLS VILLAGE — On the picturesque evening of Thursday, Aug. 21, the fields behind Housatonic Valley Regional High School were alive with the typical sounds of pre-season sports: the piercing whine of a coach’s whistle, the thud of shoulder pads crashing together on the football field, and the gruff commands from a captain. However, a different type of noise droned on behind the clamor from the gridiron: the twittering of chimney swifts, who swooped and pirouetted overhead before settling into their seasonal residence in the school’s long-defunct chimney.
There was also the addition of about 30 ornithologists, conservationists, volunteers and other bird-curious members of the public who had gathered to watch the swifts’ mesmerizing evening ritual and learn more about the unique species. The occasion was Swift Night, an annual event hosted by the Sharon Audubon Center that highlights the built-in connection between our region’s central educational institution and bird conservation.
“This is the sort of thing we live for,” said Eileen Fielding, director of Sharon Audubon Center, during her opening remarks as more birds flew in from the horizon to join the acrobatic group above. Despite two bald eagles perched above a distant field and the occasional shouts and laughter from a sports team finishing practice, the swifts’ agile display above held the group’s gaze skyward. “The swifts are the show,” said Fielding.
The HVRHS chimney is a “very important chimney for our regional swifts,” said Bethany Sheffer, naturalist and volunteer coordinator at Sharon Audubon, during her remarks. During their annual fall migration, fleeing the impending cold and heading for balmier climes in the Amazon River Basin, traveling groups of swifts roost collectively in large, defunct industrial chimneys for several weeks at a time. Each autumn, Sharon Audubon releases several dozen swifts it has rehabilitated at the chimney to join the migrating pack.
HVRHS science teacher Kurt Johnson has acted as the school’s liaison with Sharon Audubon for several years on the swift project, most recently installing an antenna to track newly-tagged birds as they pass near the school, either on their migration path or if they happen to return to settle in the area over the summer.
This year, Sharon Audubon placed tracking devices — “kind of like a backpack,” said Mackenzie Hunter, wildlife rehabilitation assistant at the Center – on about twenty of its rehabilitated swifts, joining a “continent wide effort” to “pinpoint” where to focus conservation efforts, explained Fielding.
Johnson has participated closely in Sharon Audubon’s efforts both with his family and with HVRHS’s student-led Local Environmental Action Group, whose motto is “thing globally, act locally.” He said the swift migration and tracking project offers students an opportunity to see “a tangible example of science in action.”
Swifts are a unique species in that they have both flourished and suffered from human intervention on the landscape. Unlike most other commonly seen bird species in New England, known as passerine or perching birds, swifts are not able to stand upright and can only cling to vertical surfaces. Prior to European colonization, they built their nests on the inner walls of hollow trees, however their numbers expanded when chimneys started popping up on the landscape.
Now, as out-of-use chimneys are being torn down en masse, these distinctive birds are losing their human-built homes while further development eats up the rest of their habitat. Sharon Audubon reports that their numbers have declined by nearly 70%.
Sharon Audubon is one of New England’s foremost rehabilitation centers for chimney swifts, taking in birds each summer from nests that have fallen into fireplaces or have otherwise been injured or abandoned. Sunny Kellner, who has been the wildlife rehabilitation manager at the Center for a decade, says it’s usually the first muggy and humid week that the hatchlings start coming in, the saliva-bound nests literally melted by the heat.
The Center also offers consultations for homeowners who find uninjured birds, which can be safely installed back into the chimney. Kellner said they make great houseguests by eating thousands of insects, and their nests have zero structural or functional effect on the chimney.
For Swift Night, Sharon Audubon staff brought out a surprise: over 40 rehabilitated swifts to be released into flock gyrating and twirling above the HVRHS chimney. Volunteers lined up to let the birds fly, holding their small bodies in gloved hands before giving a gentle toss. The birds took a moment to find their wings before giving a few powerful beats and banking upwards to join the rest of the aerialists.
As the last light faded from the sky, the swirling mass of hundreds of swifts slowly thinned as birds dove headfirst into the chimney, as if “sucked in by an invisible vacuum,” as Sheffer put it. Several night owls dwindled in the twilight, feasting on a late-night snack of insects, but before long the last stragglers had dropped into the vast brick chimney for another night’s rest.
The ofrenda at Race Brook Lodge.
On Saturday, Nov. 2, the Race Brook Lodge in Sheffield will celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead: El Día de los Muertos.
Mexican Day of the Dead takes place the first weekend of November and honors los difuntos (the deceased) with ofrendas (offerings) on an altar featuring photos of loved ones who have passed on. Elements of earth, wind, fire and water are represented with food, papel picada (colorful decorative paper), candles and tequila left for the beloved deceased. The departed are believed to travel from the spirit world and briefly join the living for a night of remembrance and revelry.
Music and events programmer Alex Harvey has been producing Día de los Muertos at Race Brook for the past three years, and with the closing of the venue looming, the festival takes on a deep and personal meaning.
“The anchoring gesture of Race Brook, long before I arrived on the scene, has always been to cultivate a space that thins the veil between the worlds. Something otherworldly is hiding in the mountain’s towering shadow: the whispering spring-fed stream, the dense lineage that founder Dave Rothstein brings, the woodsmoke that rises every night of the year from the firepits. This space communes with the spirits,” said Harvey.
“And so we cradle a special ache in our hearts as the leaves turn and the beautiful dance of Race Brook’s project of cultural pollination draws to a close. Fitting, then, to return for one last activation — Día de Los Muertos — a celebration of the end of things. A remembrance of those who’ve made the transition we are all destined for, but also a time when we honor many types of loss. And while we will all mourn those who aren’t there in the flesh, we will also, with humility, come as mourners for the space itself,” Harvey continued.
The event will be a night to remember, to celebrate and to release with ritual, music, and communal remembrance. Participants are invited to bring photos, talismans and offerings for the ofrenda (offering), as well as songs, poems or toasts to share in tribute to loved ones who have passed.
Mexican American musicians Maria Puente Flores, Mateo Cano, Víctor Lizabeth, Oviedo Horta Jr. and Andrea from Pulso de Barro, an ensemble rooted in the Veracruz tradition of son jarocho, will be performing.
Translating to “Pulse of the Clay,” their name reflects a deep connection to the earth and to the living heartbeat of culture itself. Through a synthesis of Mexican, Cuban, Venezuelan and Puerto Rican traditions, Pulso de Barro merges poetry, rhythm and communal song as pathways to coexistence with nature. Their performances feature the jarana and leona (stringed instruments), quijada, cajón, maracas, and marimba (percussion), the tarima (percussive dance platform) and a call-and-response of folk and original versadas.
The evening begins at 6 p.m. in the Barn Space with a Fandango de los Muertos featuring Pulso de Barro, a Race Brook favorite. At 8 p.m., the Open Mic for the Dead invites guests to speak directly into the spirit world — through word, music or memory. The night culminates at 10:30 p.m. with a Fandango for the Dead, a participatory music and dance celebration. Bring your instruments, your voices and your dancing shoes.
Race Brook Lodge is a unique rustic getaway destination for relaxation, hiking, live music, workshops, weddings and more. Sadly, it will be closing for good later in 2026, ending a storied chapter of Berkshire music, art, culture and well-being.
Come experience an evening that honors lost loved ones and the end of a Berkshire institution. The cycle of life endures. Surely, resurrection is in the cards for Race Brook Lodge.
For Tickets and info, visit: rblodge.com
Canyon de Chelly (1904) – Seven Navajo riders on horseback
At a time when questions of representation, cultural legacy and historical narratives are at the forefront of public conversation, the Norfolk Library’s upcoming screening of the award-winning documentary “Coming to Light” offers a timely opportunity for reflection.
The event will be held on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 5:30 p.m., and will include a post-screening discussion with the film’s director, Lakeville resident Anne Makepeace.
“Coming to Light” offers a deeply researched, visually rich portrait of photographer Edward S. Curtis, whose early 20th century mission to record Native American life resulted in tens of thousands of images, sound recordings and texts.
But the film goes beyond biography, critically examining Curtis’ romanticized vision of Native American life and engaging with the descendants and communities whose lives and traditions the photo archives continue to affect.
Between 1896 and 1914, Curtis photographed over 80 tribes from Arizona to Alaska in an effort to capture Native American cultures he feared were disappearing..
“Curtis saw cultural genocide going on, and he feared these cultures would disappear,” Makepeace said. “He wanted to show these people are still here and these traditions are still happening.”

In the late 1990s, when Makepeace was developing her film on Curtis — about a century after he had started his photographic work — she wanted to see how present-day Native Americans felt about his photographs. She found that while academics had long derided Curtis’ work as extractive, colonialist, and often staged, most Native Americans she spoke with were overwhelmingly appreciative of his work. In fact, some of Curtis’ photographs ultimately helped certain tribes revive specific ceremonies.
“Coming to Light” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2000, and was later aired on PBS’ “American Masters” in 2001. As the documentary nears its 25th anniversary, Makepeace reflected on the significance of the film and its lasting impact.
“The film shows the beauty and resilience of these cultures and the diversity of each of the varied tribes that were documented,” she said.
At a time when cultural preservation, national identity and documentary ethics are more important than ever, Makepeace said she believes the film’s message remains especially relevant in 2025.
For further details on the screening and to reserve a seat, visit: norfolklibrary.org/events/documentary-film-coming-to-light/
To see more of Makepeace’s work, visit: makepeaceproductions.com/index.html