Thank you to everyone who sent in their results from the National Roost Monitoring Program Night 2 on May 27th. We have plenty of good reports, including a record haul for La Broquerie, and some first reports from Lac du Bonnet.
We should though begin with David in La Broquerie. David always sends detailed emails, and rather than summarise, let’s read his report:
‘The best Chimney Swift viewing since I’ve been monitoring the La Broquerie chimney which must be 6 or 8 years by now.
Immediately after I arrived at 8.45 pm 2 birds went down the small chimney. Then there were 6 birds flying around for more than 40 minutes with a 7th being seen on occasion. Then 6 went down the large chimney and shortly after 3 came out again. I then saw 4 flying around and at 9.45 pm 2 went down the small chimney. I stayed until 9.55 (well past the half hour after sunset) but no more action.
If you add it all up, I saw 9 birds, 7 of which are accounted for and 2 remain a mystery.’
If anyone knows of anyone in the Steinbach/La Broquerie area, then we would love to get an extra person or two out to watch a couple of alternative chimneys. Let us know at the usual place.
North of La Broquerie, and a slow start in Lac du Bonnet. Cam and Diann had their first night of the year and only counted a single bird in the physios, and none in the inn. We like a detailed report, and here is theirs:
‘There was a very vocal red eyed vireo and numerous swallows flying around and chattering( they nest in the eaves of Casey’s Inn ) so it was hard to hear swifts if there were more than the one. We have typically seen 3 in other years.’
Thanks for the great details guys, always great to catch these in our reports.
Selkirk is busy as ever, not least our very active group of volunteers. Ray, Sybil and Robin counted 20 birds into the main stack, a nice rise on night 1. They also noted the 2 birds fly into the yellow brick chimney. Robert and Donna were on hand to count an entry/exit cycle on the red brick chimney, and had net 2 swifts at the end of the night. In town Gerald had no avian visitors at the Lord Selkirk Hotel, but Linda observed swifts at the Merchant Hotel.
South we go to St-Jean-Baptiste. Luc counted 2 birds into his chimney at the church, but noted a couple of spare birds without a home. Monday evening he watched the school, and confirmed our third new active site of 2018. Well done and thanks Luc!
Barb and Rob, were in La Salle, and had a trio in the church chimney. The report here read as follows:
‘We had 3 swifts again in La Salle. The big shift in behaviour seen more often compared to NRMP-1 was a pair was seen closer together with 1 further away. The pair roosted up in the WEST chimney about 9:18 PM and the single swift came in at 9:23 PM also to the WEST chimney.’
Frank, Jacquie, Lewis and Roberta shared 5 swifts between the 3 Otterburne chimneys, and I daresay a few Tim’s goodies as well! Blaire also counted a pair into the St Norbert Parish Church, another success for her.
To Winnipeg now. Bob and Valerie counted a pair at the Silver Heights in St James. Further east, and Anna reported from the Assiniboine School complex as follows:
‘Since we started out only 3, Adolf wanted to monitor the Carillon but while there was good Swift activity around the chimney he found no Swifts entering or exiting it; he observed one bird entering the King’s theatre at 9:46.
At Ecole Assiniboia—Beth joined Kathy and me there just before sundown—we had, give or take–66 entries. There were two bigger bunch entries, one countable at 16, the other estimated at 25-33–not so countable. The rest entered as 2, 4 or 5 in a group; 5 were solitary entries. No exits.’
Speaking of large roosts, John continues to count a single large roost on his own, and is doing a terrific job! The new downtown roost turned up 42 birds, and a single bird in the adjacent chimney. Another report from his watch was of interest:
‘At 9:44 there was about 30 to 40 swifts flying just over the building and they started to enter the chimney. After 9 swifts had entered a large slim fast bird, likely one of the two large falcons I had been seeing for the last more than 20 minutes, flew by the building causing the swifts to stop entering and scatter. Four minutes later the swifts returned and 32 made a very quick entry. So fast that 32 is only my best guess at the number of swifts that entered.’
As I said, I love a bit of extra detail!
In Wolseley, Nicole awaits the return of ‘her birds’ at the Fleetwood, likewise Wes over in St Vital at Good News Fellowship, and Jessica in St Boniface at Springs Christian Academy. More interesting in the zero count department, Tim, watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo Tower. Zeros don’t usually class as interesting, apart from the fact that earlier in the day, Tim spotted 2 swifts doing a v-shaped courtship flight over the tower, with a third watching. There was at least one swift around the area in the evening, plus the local biking community, and seemingly more traffic than Portage Avenue!
Trying not to forget anyone, Sabina counted 1 swift at the Biltmore in Osborne Village, and Garry had a pair on his Watt Street site, a regular swift occurrence seemingly.
Onwards to St-Francois-Xavier. Mike and Michele had 3-4 swifts, the final one only being confirmed by one of them (I will check, but I would be comfortable saying 4 if one of them was sure they saw it). Gord counted a pair in Southport, as did Margaret and Millie in Brandon. Most baffling was Ken and Jan in Dauphin having only 2 swifts in one of Manitoba’s best roosts. Strange, but that I suppose is what ca happen when working with nature. Finally, Margaret and Millie continue to faithfully watch their pair in Brandon.
Onwards to night 3 on Thursday May 31st, This is shaping up to be the night for lots of breeding activity, so please try to get on site 60 minutes before sundown if possible.
Good luck everyone, and we look forward to sharing your stories on the outcomes of Thursday!
— Tim Poole
