A Terrific Night of Swift Watching
Certainly in this writers experience, this was the most entertaining night of swift watching in 2019. There were some excellent reports, and as ever, you guys have challenged us in trying to condense all these into a short blog. We will try though!
Firstly though to business. We will be back out this Friday, the 9th, for our final MCSI roost monitoring night. After that, there will be some swifting in Souris on Sunday, and a Wednesday night open roost watch at Assiniboine School, our first Wednesday night swift watch event of 2019 (more to come on this).
And tomorrow is also INTERNATIONAL SWIFT DAY, and no, we did not make that up!
We will begin in La Broquerie. David had to go out a night early, but did have plenty of fun even so:
‘It was interesting because I never saw more than 8 in the air at any time thus the mysterious 6 that flew past last time and never showed up again, didn’t show today either. However letting exits cancel entries my final count was 6 in the large chimney and 6 in the small one.’Keelie in Steinbach had some interesting observations:
‘I only saw one sadly. And couldn’t stay long enough to see him go into the chimney. I have been noticing less swifts this year. I feel like last year there was a maximum of 7 or 8 in the sky from what I could observe and this year I have only seen a maximum of 5 at a time!’
A segue then to Lac du Bonnet and Cam and Diann:
‘No swifts seen or heard! We generally get to Lac du Bonnet early to scope things out at various locations where we have seen swifts and not a one anywhere! Near the end of the monitoring the smoke haze, while it wasn’t thick , did make seeing the chimney’s difficult ( dark sky/ dark chimney) but I don’t think there were any swifts to see.’Luc in Saint-Jean-Baptiste turned in an epic evening, 4 entries, 2 exits, and 2 in the chimney at bedtime. A total of 7 swifts were counted in the sky, a great number! The patterns of entry and exits points very much to a nesting attempt.
Speaking of nesting attempts, in Morden, David could not make it out to monitor at the roosting hour. Never fear, he went out regardless and did an excellent daytime watch, sharing these results:
’10:44 Start monitoring10:47 1 exit (I assume I just missed a entry)10:57 1 Entry (2 birds in air chittering, only 1 entered)11:02 1 Exit11:21 1 Entry (single bird, silent entry)11:28 1 Exit11:53 1 Entry (2 birds in air chittering, only 1 entered)12:00 1 Exit’We asked MCSI’s resident nesting sequence expert, Barb Stewart to comment on the patterns David observed, and she didn’t disappoint:‘This is classic nest building behaviour. Often a pair socialize together in the air, flying close to each other, sometimes with those classic “V” displays, vocalizing, and perhaps flying broad circles in their territory around the chimney. Sometimes the pair enters together and sometimes they both approach and 1 enters while the other peels off.A swift was in the chimney at the start of David’s session. As two swifts were seen in the air (I am ASSuming close to each other), the entry/exit sequence suggest no swifts were inside at the end of the session.The time chosen to monitor is really excellent. The birds feed after leaving the site in the morning, then they get busy with breeding chores. When the heat of the day forces insects high in the sky, the frequency of activity declines (say 2 PM to 5 PM -ish) on really stinkin’ hot days.’In Otterburne, things also took a turn for the hectic. Colleen and Mark had an impressive count of 12 swifts in the chimneys, split as 7, 3 and 2 respectively in the trio of chimneys.
Blaire in St Norbert sent an email entitled ‘oh what a night at the Behavioural Health Foundation’:
‘I’m not sure if I’ve been in a different world but tonight was hectic at the health foundation.Numbers make no sense to me but here’s the break down.Today there were 4 swifts flying around over head all day9:11 pm 4 swifts flying around and 1 swift entered chimney9:11, 1 swift attempted but flew off9:22, 2 entered chimney9:24, 2 entered chimney9:24, (seconds later) 2 exited chimney9:26, 3 swifts flying near chimney9:27, 4 swifts flying around chimney9:42, 3 swifts flying around chimney9:46, 1 swift attempted to fly in but took off9:46, 2 swifts entered chimney.No activity after that.I noticed when they exited they skimmed the top of chimney and went straight down and in a blink would be missed so I’m not sure how many exits there may be. I was closer than normal so the chimney was higher from this point of view and tougher to see the top. Anyway, it was quite exciting and strange at the same time. I saw 0 entries last night too BTW. ‘
Nicole and Cain were also completely up to their eyeballs with a swift party over in Wolesley:
‘The swifts were loud and proud in Wolseley tonight. As I enjoyed the evening on the deck there were swifts overheard chittering. I counted 4. As Cain and I walked to the Fleetwood he counted as many as 15 flying over and making a ruckus. I had one entry at 8:49, followed by a really graceful exit at 8:55. Then we were treated to quite the show overhear with birds circling in chittering so loud I thought there were a hundred birds…alas only 8…then 4. We finally had entries at 9:29 and 9:32 to close out the night. Good thing it was getting dark!’
Unfortunately, Hardo and Evelyn were unable to see any swifts at the Old Grace Housing Coop.
Kelly-Anne was at her site on Academy and watched the pair safely roost for the night, a quiet night by some standards!
Janice and John continue with the epic Lanark swifts:
‘We saw swifts but didn’t have many enter the chimneys that we were watching. I’m not sure if 2 ravens in the area were a deterrent as 1 raven stayed on the ground while the other stayed close to it. The raven on the ground appeared bright but never attempted to fly. There was a lot of noisy conversation between the 2 ravens which then seemed to attract a couple of crows. We counted 15 swifts overhead but only saw 4 enter the chimneys we were watching – there must be another chimney or 2 in this area. This was another enjoyable evening of swift watching but has left me with many questions! Where did the other swifts go to roost???’
A few blocks east, Leah and Carol reported a dumpster diver and a few swifts at 915 Corydon:‘Quite an active night – probably all over the place! We had a max count of 8 birds in the sky at once, lots of activity in smaller groups… but only 2 went into 915 Corydon – while 6 others headed off in a tight group to the WSW right after sunset. Where to?!?!’
Where to indeed! This segues to Tim in Osborne Village trying to locate a roost in the area (patterns described by other monitors suggested that a roost must be present in this area). Alas, no roost….BUT that was one crazy evening! At least 12 swifts could be seen at various times, but this was clearly an undercount. There were aerial copulation’s, gangs of swifts chasing each other, courtship flights, and a lot more! There was an entry early on in the small chimney at 424 River. A bit later, a pair of swifts were spotted dropping into a new site on Bell. Then a pair roosted at 321 Stradbrook. Finally, a swift exited 375 Stradbrook after sunset, joined another swift, whizzed around the chimney twice, and flew off, probably to the mystery roost! On the 5th, Tim also found another new site:
‘This year continues to be crazy. Driving along Portage Ave with the window down (and Radiohead on the radio), I heard a swift above a building west of all our known chimneys. I turned around, parked up, and watched an apartment with a broken pest cage called Essex House. Within a couple of minutes a swift almost seemed to climb out the cage.’
Back to Osborne Village. Barbara sent the following report:‘Phil watched 94 Roslyn, while I watched 395 River. The birds he saw circling may well be the same as the birds I saw. We both did a little passer-by education, a good deal of curiosity and interest. No twig collecting – HOWEVER,at 5:50, when we were stopped at lights at Osborne and York, I saw 1 CHSW swooping through the dead twigs at the top of one of the grass on the west side of Memorial Park.’
In total, Barbara counted 2 entries for the night, and Phil lucked out with zero.
Across to St James. Beth and David counted 111 swifts enter the school. This is down a few on the previous count, but that’s a good thing, suggesting that our swifts are now redistributing to nest sites.
Frank and Jacquie sent the following:
‘A night of appropriate behavior from our CHSW for a change. Perhaps my change to decaf has helped somehow. At the Silver Heights, three CHSW went in and they stayed in. A little bit of entry/exit action at the Moorgate, but four CHSW were there at closing time. During the observation period, we had six CHSW circling near the Moorgate, but only two in the vicinity of the Silver Heights.
Anecdotally, we heard some chittering behind us (to the SW) when all of “our” birds were accounted for (21:30-ish). This has noted by us in past years, perhaps there’s another site in the vicinity.’
Ooh, extra swifts, more new sites out there to discover perhaps!
Peter continued to see no swifts enter the chimney at St Anne’s Church on Hampton, strange as this has been an excellent breeding site for swifts in recent years. BUT then on Wednesday he sent this report:
‘Between some other jobs this evening, I stopped by St. Ann’s Church. Your breeding pair may indeed be setting up house this year. Two birds appeared at 9:20 and after some coming and going; one bird entered the chimney at 9:35. I don’t think the other slipped in unnoticed; and I only stayed another ten minutes.’
Kelsey also reported a strange evening, her two swifts in two chimneys at the Foodfare and Mount Royal chimneys in St James now reduced to one swift between two chimneys.
Garry had an easy 2 swifts at the Watt Street site in East Kildonan. In the same area, we received an excellent summary of reports from Jessica watching the Gordon King Memorial United Church:
‘May 18 – No swifts
May 26 – two swifts entered chimney
May 30 – one swift entered chimney (five in total seen in sky)
June 3 – two swifts entered chimney (three seen in sky)
I spotted two chimney swifts flying overhead at my house, in Elmwood. I leave near the firehall on Talbot. My neighbor twice removed (couple houses down) has a chimney that looks like a suitable location for swifts. I don’t know if it is capped. I will keep an eye on it!’
Still in Winnipeg (we promised an epic), Blair in St Boniface sent the follow-up form his Sunday night discovery:
‘Tonight I arrived an hour before sunset at 188 St. Mary’s. I had a pair of swifts fly by the chimney, first at 8:44 and again at 9:12. The two entered the chimney at 9:15. Later, a single swift flew by going north at 9:24 but did not come back to enter. Hopefully, it is a pair who are going to nest here.’
Justin and Melodie at the nearby Good News Fellowship saw 3 swifts in the air, but alas they did not enter the chimney, flying off to the SE. 4 days earlier, it was Cathy who lucked out, but interestingly saw a similar patter of behaviour. Maybe there is another explanation, as the 3 swifts seen in Windsor Park last week did not show for Jenny again. Indeed, on the same theme, Kirsten has still not seen a swift at the Flag Shop, and Gary and Marj were left empty handed at St John’s Ravenscourt.
Leaving Winnipeg breathlessly behind, next to St Francois Xavier. Michele and Mike write:
‘This evening we were joined at various times by a couple of friends who live in town and stopped in for a visit while we were monitoring the chimney at the church. They were delighted to witness some entries and exits, something I have been enthusiastically describing to them for a few years now. We had a few more entries and exits than last week.’
Hurtling north up the Red River, Gerald’s watch at Lower Fort Garry was promising, until 3 swifts decided to disappear, leaving him alone, with no one to count. Seem to remember the swifts at this site doing unusual things previously! So to Selkirk, Donna and Robert had a pair in the Mental Health Centre Infirmary, Winona had a pair at the Yellow chimney, and Linda and Nia had a net 19 swifts at the large stack. In town, Ray and Sybil continue to count a consistent 4 at the Merchant’s.
Another nesting attempt is going here then. Diving south to Rhonda in Carman:
‘I was a little late at getting out tonight. I arrived shortly after 9 at the Carman Elementary School yard. There were 8 swifts circling and cavorting but I saw no entries at the two chimneys at the school and across the street. I did go over to the Town Hall chimney after 9:30 but there was no activity, either. It looked like all the swifts took off in an easterly direction on their last fly by and I couldn’t locate or hear a single swift after 9:25 pm. They are my type of swifts…they like to go to bed early, too. I will keep trying to be in four places at once and maybe I should start earlier next time, too.’
More heroics from Rhonda there. Talking about heroic, Gord continues to watch the United Church in Portage la Prairie, counting a pair in the nesting chimney on Monday.
Margaret and Millie finally set eyes on a pair of swifts in Brandon:
‘2 swifts in the air circling fairly high came low and continued circling above the bldg. doing a couple of low swoops and flew to the north area of the building in the direction of the N chimney not visible from our observation site.’
After all these years, they may have to move their observation spot if the swifts decide to switch chimneys on them. Said they were crazy….
The final epic reporting is from our Dauphin group, with Ken sending in the report:‘The weather wasn’t looking very favourable with almost 100% heavy cloud cover over Dauphin this evening. Swifts were out and about in 2’s and 3’s until we got a light sprinkling of rain and then they seemed to group together but then they had trouble deciding where to spend the night with 3 chimneys to choose from.
Pat and Marilyn reported this while observing the Watson Arts Centre chimney:
“There was lots of chatter tonight. At times we couldn’t see them but could hear them. The most we saw in the air was 5 but usually they flew in twos or threes. Not as many chimney fly by’s as there had been last Thursday, and at 9:41 there were (2) entries and then it started to rain. We heard some chatter about 10 minutes later saw 2 more fly overhead and that was it for the night.”
Jan’s observations at the old Scott’s Hardware chimney were similar but Jan faces the west so has the advantage of the brighter sky as the sun sets. Birds were again in small groups of 2 and 3 and when it started to rain (1) bird went down her chimney and she could see the others flying towards the large roost chimney.
The roost chimney had larger groups overhead with 10-12 at times. When it started to rain 1 swift went down almost immediately followed ever minute by another single until 5 were in the chimney and then 1 decided to leave as the rain stopped. The sky was very dark and lightning was seen to the south when 7 swifts went down leaving a few unaccounted for in the dark but (12) in the chimney. The overall swift count seems stable over the last observation nights.’
And that is us up-to-date. As Blaire stated way back, somewhere near the start, ‘oh what a night’. It truly was a fantastic swift watch evening. Thanks to everyone who took part!
We look forward to the next, and final spring reports after Friday. We will not stop there though! There are lot’s of possibilities and we will be sending an email out next week to encourage you in continuing to watch for swifts in the coming months.
— Tim Poole
