At midmorning on 21 May 1982, Erickson and his birding companions Lynn C. Berner, Gary S. Lester, Gary J. Strachan, and Richard S. Tryon were near the spruce grove at Point St. George, Del Norte County, extreme northwestern California, when a swift caught their attention. Erickson’s first impression was of Black Swift Cypseloides niger, but Strachan noted white on its neck; soon the whole group focused on the bird. It was a large swift with tattered primaries that fed with a flock of swallows, including Barn Hirundo rustica, Cliff H. pyrrhonota, Tree Tachycineta bicolor, and Violet-green T. thalassina swallows, over the grassy headland northeast of the spruce grove. The morning fog was breaking up and lighting conditions were good. The observers watched the bird with binoculars and a 20 x telescope, as it approached them sometimes to within 15 m, for 20 to 40 minutes. The swift fed from a height of 100 m to within 8 m of the ground.