It’s early August, and at the Wildlife Center of Virginia you might say it’s chimney swift season. As homeowners take advantage of warm weather to clean their chimneys, dozens of baby birds fall or are removed from nests and brought in for care.

Chimney swifts have feet that are perfect for perching or building nests on vertical surfaces like rock crevices or hollow trees, so when humans began building homes with chimneys, swifts made the switch — according to Connor Gillespie at the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

“They find different sticks that they like,” Gillespie says. “They’ll bring them into that chimney and secrete a glue-like substance from under the tongue and adhere those sticks to the side of a chimney.”

There they create colonies.

“Huge colonies, beautiful colonies, very loud colonies,” says Alejandra Olvera, a rehabilitation supervisor at the center.

“They’re kind of like the last baby birds we see in our season. They start fletching out of chimneys because people are cleaning their chimney or attics – doing renovations over the summer and they find all [these] babies.”

At first, employees feed the birds a nutritious mix of high protein kitten chow, vitamins and minerals. Later they get tiny worms or crickets, and when they’re ready, staffer Mac Stewart says they’re freed in areas near other chimney swift colonies.

“Once they show us that they’re able to fly around their enclosure, they’re eating on their own on the wing, their feathers are in good condition and waterproof, we can release them,” Stewart says. “And they’ll do just fine.”

This work is especially important because – in the age of central heating – fewer homes and businesses have chimneys, so swift populations are in decline.

Peyton Falzone, a four-star recruit out of Nazareth (PA) made the decision to end his recruitment process almost 2 years before the early signing period and committed to the Virginia Tech Hokies over offers from major colleges Syracuse and Penn State. Falzone is the 6th ranked quarterback in the state of Pennsylvania and 215th in his class according to 247 Sports.

In an interview with 247 Sports, here’s what Falzone had to say on his early commitment:

“It’s more why not, the family atmosphere around the program and the great coaches made the decision easy. I love everything Coach Pry is about and I am excited to be a part of their journey. I talked to Coach Bowen and Coach Pry earlier in the week discussing my interest in committing, It was something I had been thinking about since my visit and I was just super excited to be apart of Hokie Nation.”

According to 247 Sports, Falzone was also seen at Virginia Tech’s “Hokie Fest” and helping do some early recruitment for his future class of 2026 and did an interview about it:

“I’m obviously locked into Virginia Tech and I want to help build a strong ’26 class. Every time I get on campus it feels more like home. The coaches have found great guys and I’m going to help out anyway I can to bring them home.”

Having a quarterback coming in at 6 foot 5 and can see over defenses, scramble, and throw the ball far down the field is very exciting for the Virginia Tech Hokies’ class of 2026. Falzone gels well with what offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen and head coach Brent Pry are looking for. History shows Virginia Tech likes to have versatile duo-threat quarterbacks such as Michael Vick, Tyrod Taylor, and Kyron Drones all of which future Hokies quarterback Peyton Falzone brings to the team.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) officially lost his congressional primary race Thursday after a recount effort determined Republican state Sen. John McGuire narrowly defeated the House Freedom Caucus chairman. 

The Virginia State Board of Elections called the 5th District race in McGuire’s favor last month, finding that the state lawmaker, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, beat Good by 374 votes out of more than 62,000 cast – a margin of 0.6% — in the June contest.

A recount, paid for by the 58-year-old incumbent, was completed Thursday night and slightly narrowed McGuire’s margin of victory to 370 votes. 

“Mr. McGuire received more votes than Mr. Good and is the winner of this election,” Chief Judge Claude Worrell II ruled, cementing Good’s loss. 

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we won on June 18,” McGuire, a former Navy SEAL, told reporters ahead of the judge’s call, according to the Associated Press. 

Good acknowledged defeat in a Facebook post after the recount was finished, according to the outlet.  

“While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia’s 5th District over the past 3.5 years,” he wrote.

Good took the reins as chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus earlier this year and had rankled some prominent members of his own party during his time in the lower chamber.

The Virginia Republican was one of just eight in the caucus who banded together with 208 House Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year.

He also drew the ire of Trump, 78, when he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the GOP presidential nomination last May.

McCarthy, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Good’s fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) were among other GOP notables backing McGuire’s effort to primary the incumbent congressman.

McGuire will face Democratic businesswoman Gloria Witt in the November general election, a race the Republican is favored to win.