Hello and good day! It sure was a hot week for chimney Swift watching. From what I have found out, this extreme heat wave was from a climate phenomenon called a heat dome. It basically comes from the build up of hot air coming from the ocean. That air, like a moving cloud, hovers over the country. You could think of it like a pressure cooker, where the heat waves are trapped under the lid. Despite the hot temperature, I spent most of my weekend outdoors with my family. I hope everyone else had something to distract yourselves from the heat, like some chimney monitoring!
In this week’s blog, we have data from Selkirk, Brandon, Lockport, Lower Fort Garry, St. Jean-Baptiste, Souris and Carman.
We start the blog with Amanda! Amanda has quite a bit of collected data. She was out at the St Jean-Baptiste Parish Church on June 11 for an abbreviated daytime monitoring session. There were no Swifts but other aerial insectivores (Purple Martins and Tree Swallows) were seen. On June 14, Amanda watched the Mount Royal Apartments and the Silver Heights FoodFare chimneys (both can be seen from the same spot) during the roosting period. At the Mount Royal apartments in Winnipeg there were four Swifts flying in the vicinity with four entries and two exits. In the end, two Swifts remained in the chimney. At the Silver Heights Foodfare location, there were a total of 6 entries between the two Swifts, with two using the chimney for the night. Skipping to the morning of June 23rd at Lower Fort Garry, we had one exit at a chimney and no entries after 90 minutes. Two Swifts were accounted for in the air.
Amanda was out near Souris and Melita last week doing early morning grassland bird surveys, and so checked out some of our southwestern Chimney Swift sites with 20 minute daytime monitoring sessions. First up is Souris. On June 25, there was one entry at a private residence on 5th Ave West and one entry at the Chocolate Shop Restaurant. There were no entries at the Rock Shop, Lagasse Art Studio and the Whistling Donkey Pub that day. On the 26th, still in Souris, Amanda checked out the Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home and the Chocolate Shop Restaurant again. They both had no entries during those monitoring sessions, but the Whistling Donkey had one quick and quiet exit that was spotted as she walked back to her car. Souris has a fairly large swift population, with the chimneys (that we know of) clustered in an area around First St and Crescent Ave, so there were almost continually a couple of swifts overhead.
Next is early evening monitoring in Melita on June 30, each site again watched for about 20 minutes each. Amanda monitored at the Melita Legion where there was one entry and one to three Swifts flying overhead. The Agriculture building on Main St had was one entry as well. No entries at the hospital chimney but there was another quick and quiet exit. This site was tricky due to the abundance of Purple Martins! There were Martin houses put up next to the hospital and it was clear that it is an excellent spot for a variety of insectivorous birds. Next was Antler River Museum, with only sightings in the air. From our past data, the Museum appear to usually be a roost site (as opposed to a nest site), so it is not too surprising that no one entered during the daytime monitoring period. Unfortunately waking up at 4:00am for grassland bird surveys is not conducive to staying up after sunset for Chimney Swift work!
Despite the cows being excellent Chimney Swift monitors, no swifts were seen in this tiny chimney.
On June 12, we had Marlene and Ward watch the Arundel apartments. In the evening, there were two entries. One at 9:37, and then another ten minutes later. At its 2nd chimney, it had one entry at 9:35.
Now we go over to the Selkirk Mental Health Hospital center, with its many chimneys! Starting with Tim on June 18th, the infirmary tower had an exit, followed by an entry and another exit within 15 minutes. Perhaps nesting is occurring! The tower attached to the infirmary had no entries, but the large tower chimney had one entry and exit within two minutes. A total of seven Swifts were flying over the whole building.
We then hear from Robert for the night of June 23rd, our final MCSI night. Two entries at the infirmary tower, zero Swifts from the tower attached to the infirmary, but a max of eight Swifts could be seen overhead.
On June 27, Nia and Linda watched the yellow brick chimney during the night. No Swifts entered the chimney, but there were two at the Stack tower that went in at the same time. One to five Swifts were overhead.
Gerald, Winona, and Robert also all watched the sites on the 27th. First, over at the west chimney there were no entries. At the east chimney, no entries. The infirmary attached tower had one entry at 9:58 pm, and the infirmary chimney itself had two separate entries. Around four Swifts could be seen flying overhead the Hospital center.
Ray and Sybil over at 367 Main St. Selkirk, had three entries on the night of June 27th. If I remember correctly, there were eight last week! I wonder where they went.
Gerald staked out the Merchant’s Hotel on the night of the 29th. There was one entry at 9:45 pm, and the swift stayed in the chimney for the rest of the monitoring period. Gerald also went to Lower Fort Garry in the afternoon and evening. The afternoon had two entries and one exit. The evening had one entry at 8:42. On the night of the 30th, together with Tim, they watched the site in Lockport by the Lock and Dam Maintenance compound. The south chimney had three entries, and the north chimney had one.
Backing up to June 22, we have Ron watching the St. Norbert RC Church for the evening. Three entries were made, all at different times. With an exit for each entry, except the last one.
On the morning of June 26, there was Ariel, who watched over at Kaljeb Logistics. There was one Swift entry at 1:49. There was a total of three flying overhead.
Frank and Jacquie visited Carman Memorial Hall for the evening of the 30th. While unfortunately there was no Timmies on offer in Carmen they were able to make do (and even saw some swifts)! There was an entry and exit, within 20 minutes of each other. And then, four Swifts made entries right after 10 pm. Frank and Jacquie expect that there is at least one other site being used by Swifts in Carman. We have historical records of some residential chimneys being used in past years, so perhaps one of these sites is where the extra swifts are spending their time.
At Kaljeb Logistics on the 30th, there were five entries during the daytime. Two Swifts entered at 10:20, then both left at 10:24. Again at 10:55, they entered and exited again at 11:12. After working in pairs, one Swift went solo, entering the Chimney and exiting again. The other Swift did not come back for the rest of the monitoring period.
Over in Lower Fort Garry, I was finally able to meet a fellow Swift watcher! I had the pleasure of meeting Leah on the 2nd of July. Leah had stayed an extra hour after I left. This gives us a solid three hours worth of a single observation period. Starting with my info from 8:10, a Swift exited the false chimney and soon returned within four minutes. At 8:41, a Swift exited the chimney and came back at 9:56. Leah caught a Swift making an entry at 10:54 and departing soon at 10:56. However, it could be possible that we missed some entries, since the bench was quite close to the Fur Loft chimney. I only ever watched Chimneys from a far distance, so it was very neat to see the entries and exits up close!
I also checked out a site in the morning of July 5. Over at the Eugene apartments, I thought I made out two entries. It was hard to tell, since the chimney is in the middle of the apartment building, but I saw the Swifts spreading their wings out and glide, like how they usually enter chimneys, so I am confident in the entries! Between one to six Swifts could be seen circling around the area.
In Brandon, we have Glennis, Gwynn and Gillian, who watched the Orange Block building chimney on July 4, in the morning. There were two entries in one of the chimneys for sure. There was another pair, but they have yet to pinpoint its chimney.
Thank you for joining me and reading this week’s blog. I will hear from you all next week!
- Vicky
