Monitoring Recap & July 17 Blitz Announcement
Happy Friday!
As we approach mid-July, swift nesting attempts continue to move along at different paces. Some nesting swifts are still incubating, while others are now feeding young. It’s been an eventful few weeks, full of reminders that swifts can be hard to predict and that we should never jump to conclusions too fast. Thanks to everyone who has continued to monitor and share with us your observations.
Before jumping in, I would like to announce another MCSI monitoring blitz on Wednesday, July 17. If you are free during the day or the evening, we’d love if you could check out your usual site or another site on our list! Please send us an email if you would like some chimney options.
Keep reading for a jam-packed monitoring update, including a new site, and some crow drama.
Selkirk Mental Health Centre
It’s been very interesting to follow along the Selkirk Mental Health Centre updates. The combination of Gerald and the Selkirk Bird Watchers (SBWC) doing regular roosting hour monitoring sessions and Kevin and Evan doing regular daytime monitoring sessions has been providing a wonderful depth of information.
Last week, there was some crow drama chimney-side at the SMHC.
On July 4, Evan and Kevin monitored for 1 hour during the daytime. Evan watched T04 and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:15pm, followed by another entry/exit cycle at 12:54pm. Evan also watched the Yellow Brick chimney, where he saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:07pm.
Over at T1 is where the drama started. A few minutes into the monitoring session, Kevin noticed a crow sitting in the top of the T01 tower. Half an hour later, the crow was sitting atop T03. The crows finally left for the final 22 minutes of monitoring, but no swifts entered the tower (though they were diving and veering away on several occasions). This observation set off a bit of a panic – where the crows now going to start perching in the towers regularly and become a major disturbance to the swifts?
Later that evening, the SBWC did a roosting hour watch. Things were normal at T04 and the Yellow Brick chimney – Nia and Linda saw 2 entries into each chimney. At the Infirmary however, Gerald saw a family of 5 crows north of the Infirmary building. They moved around a little bit and eventually went to an antenna around 15-20 feet away from the Infirmary chimney. They finally left the area at 9:27pm. Gerald did see swifts circle around throughout the evening, but he did not see any entries or exits at the Infirmary chimney, T01, or T03.
Kevin and Evan returned the next day, July 5, for another daytime watch (9:45-10:45am). This time, Kevin saw no activity at T02 or the Yellow Brick chimney. Fortunately, there was activity at two of the “crow drama” chimneys. At the Infirmary, Evan saw 1 entry at 9:49am, 1 exit at 9:59am, 1 entry at 10:15am, and 1 exit at 10:21am. At T03, he saw 1 exit at 10:17am, and 1 entry at 10:38am.
On July 7, Patti and Dennis watched T02 saw 2 entries during the roosting hour.
On July 8, Kevin did another daytime morning session from 10:10-11:10am. At T03, Kevin saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:38am, and another entry/exit cycle at 11:14am. At the Infirmary, there was 1 exit at 10:16am, followed by 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:40am, and another entry/exit cycle at 10:56am. These observations seem to indicate feeding exchanges at both T03 and the Infirmary.
Later that evening, Gerald did a roosting hour watch at T01. He saw 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:13pm, either a dive or a rapid exchange at 9:59pm, and 1 high speed entry at 10:08pm.
On July 9, another daytime monitoring session by Kevin. At T01, there was 1 entry/exit at 10:10am, 1 entry/exit at 10:12am, and 1 entry/exit at 10:35am (seems to be typical feeding exchanges). At T04, there was 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:03am (seems like an incubation change). At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry/exit cycle at 11:58am (seems to be an incubation exchange). At T02, there were 2 entry/exit cycles within an hour (typical feeding exchanges).
So, to recap – despite last week’s crow scare, there are six ongoing breeding attempts (some still incubating, some feeding young) at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre! This is the first time we have had breeding attempts at all 6 sites. Very exciting!!!
Selkirk
On July 3, Fred and Nettie watched the Merchant’s Hotel during the roosting hour. They saw 1 entry at 8:43pm, 1 entry at 9:10pm, 1 exit at 9:13pm, and 1 entry at 9:57pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney).
Lockport
On July 2, Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam and saw 2 entries into the north chimney during the roosting hour.
Stonewall
Kevin did a 60 minute daytime monitoring session in Stonewall on July 3, watching the chimney at 336 Main St. He did not see any swift activity.
Ste Agathe
New site alert! On June 28, Tim was in Ste. Agathe. At 11:57am, he saw 1 entry into the chimney at 223-225 Chemin Pembina Trail. This site is our first confirmed site in Ste. Agathe – woohoo!
St Adolphe
Now for some more exciting, in-depth nest monitoring updates from St. Adolphe.
On July 2, Barb did a 60 minute daytime monitoring session at the Church. She saw 2 classic exchanges (entry/exit cycles) within the hour, so the swifts are now feeding brooded young.
On July 3, she spent 70 minutes at the Club Amical chimneys (9:45-10:55am). . At the SE chimney, she saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:55am (classic incubation exchange). At the NE chimney, she saw 1 exit at 9:59am, 1 entry/exit at 10:34am.
Barb returned to the Club Amical chimneys on July 4, to watch from 10:37-11:42am. At the SE chimney, there was a classic incubation exchange around 11:39am. At the NE chimney, she witnessed repeated flyovers and “drop ‘n’ veers”. Things began a little bit chaotic – She saw 1 entry at 10:47am, followed almost immediately by an exit 3 seconds later. Barb comments – “Was that a short snoopy visit by one of the local flock members?” She then saw 1 exit at 10:49am, and 1 entry at 10:54am. Things then settled down, with a classic exchange at 11:08am and another one at 11:37am. The two classic exchanges within the hour point to feeding brooded young.
On July 5, Barb checked out the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and saw 2 classic exchanges within the hour, showing that they are feeding brooded young at this site as well.
On July 7, Barb returned to the Club Amical. At the SE chimney, she saw 1 classic exchange, suggesting that incubation is ongoing. She saw no activity at all at the NE chimney, which is quite different than the 2 feeding exchanges within the hour that she saw 3 days prior…
Barb returned the next day (July 9) to further investigate this strange change in activity. This time, she saw no activity at both sites (though she does point out it was late morning and it was getting pretty hot and humid out). In Barb’s words, “I feared a double down disaster with two nest failures”.
The next morning, July 9, she made an earlier visit from 8:36-9:36am. Much to her (and our) relief, she saw 3 exchanges at the NE chimney, and 1 exchange at the SE chimney. So, it seems the NE chimney swifts are still feeding young, and the SE chimney swifts are still incubating, despite the lack of activity in the previous sessions.
Barb also pointed out that there seem to be extra swifts around town (more than the breeding pairs accounted for at the nesting sites): “How they are partitioned for roosting is a mystery…no obvious sign of “helpers” at any site so far this year.”
Darlingford
On July 5, Frank returned to the Darlingford School Heritage Museum for a 2 hour session, from 8:05pm to 10:10pm. He saw 1 entry at 9:43pm, 1 entry at 9:48pm, and then 1 exit at 10:01pm followed by an almost immediate return and entry at 10:01pm.
Morden
On July 5, Marvin and Nicholas watched the Pembina Hills Art Centre chimney. There was a concert happening just below the chimney. No swifts were observed.
Carman
On July 7, Rhonda watched the chimney during the daytime at the Memorial Hall in Carman. She saw 1 exit at 9:48am, 1 entry at 10:39am, and 1 exit at 10:43am. She mentions there is also another pair of swifts that do fly overs of the hall at about 4 hour intervals, though she isn’t sure which chimney they are using.
Brandon
The swift situation this year in Brandon continues to be a hard puzzle to decipher. To refresh your memory, no swifts were seen or heard on June 19 at the Orange Block. On June 26, Glennis, Sandy and Louanne decided to check out other areas near to the Orange Block chimney. They did hear swifts a few times, but did not see them.
On July 3, they decided to split up into groups and cover a few areas. Sandy, Glennis and Louanne stayed in the downtown area, visiting various locations. They saw 2 swifts around Princess Ave/13th St at around 8:46pm and 8:54pm, and 3 swifts at 8:56pm. Of the 3 swifts, 2 left the area towards the NE, and 1 went the opposite direction. Carson and his group were around the north campus of the Assiniboine Community College, and saw 3 swifts at around 8:40pm. It is hard to know if both groups saw the same 3 birds, or different individuals.
Gillian and Gwyn spent some time over the past few days scouting around downtown, but they did not see or hear Chimney Swifts. Sandy, Glennis and Louanne were at the ACC North Campus last night and also did not see or hear swifts. While there, they looked around for suitable chimneys around the campus and while there are several chimneys, it seems they are all capped or screened.
The swifts must be hanging out and roosting somewhere in Brandon, but where that is remains a mystery!
Hartney
On July 5, Katharine monitored the Hart-Cam Museum (a new site Katharine discovered last year). Unfortunately, she did not see any signs of Chimney Swifts.
Here are some thoughts Katharine shared about the swift situation in Hartney:
“It is difficult to know if CHSW ever returned to Hartney this year or whether they attempted to nest again in the Hart-Cam Museum. Although I was in town briefly in the third week of June, I was not able to do a monitoring session until this one on July 5. In the weeks prior to this monitoring, there were a number of rainstorms, thunderstorms, some hail and a severe windstorm in the area with several occasions of very heavy downpours, including one the previous afternoon. Even if CHSW had been present earlier and had attempted to nest again here this year, I fear the nest may have failed due to the extremely frequent wet weather this season. At this point, I have seen no evidence of their presence.”
Souris
Katharine did some daytime monitoring in Souris on July 7. At a private residence on 5th Ave W, she did not see any entries/exits or any swifts in the immediate airspace (though she did see 3 swifts flying around in the distance). She then briefly stopped by another private residence on 5th Ave W and saw 2 swifts fly over the house relatively low but did not see any entries/exits.
Melita
Cory and Scott were in the Melita area on July 4 and decided to stop by the Legion Hall to look for swifts. They saw up to 8 birds in the sky at once, and saw 2 entries into the chimney.
Swan River
Janine and Madeline watched the chimney at 518 Main St E during the roosting hour on July 7. They did not see any swift activity.
Winnipeg
There’s been lots of activity at the Canadian Mennonite University. On June 25, a 5 minute daytime observation by Graham yielded 1 entry at 9:57am followed by an exit within the minute. On June 29, John and Kayden watched the chimney and saw 1 entry at 3:15pm followed by 1 exit at 3:16pm. On July 2, John and Richard found themselves chimney side once again. In John’s words: we were forced to go outside because a fire alarm went off in one of the buildings. While we were outside it began to rain. Almost immediately a swift dropped into the chimney and in about 30 seconds, a swift popped out of the chimney”. It seems incubation is ongoing at the site.
On June 29, Jennifer was at the CCFM (340 Provencher Blvd) and saw 1 entry just before 9pm, as well as 2 other swifts swooping close to the chimney but flying off. She returned around 9:15pm to further investigate, and saw 1 exit at 9:25pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, and one more entry at 10pm. So at least 2 swifts are using this site, and we’re not sure if that third one is also part of this chimney group or if it went to roost somewhere else.
On July 5, Rudolf saw 2 swifts around the chimney at 1171 Kildonan Drive, including one entry.
On July 7, Garry watched the chimney at 722 Watt St for a morning observation session. 61 minutes into the session, he saw 1 entry followed by 1 exit a minute later, indicating the swifts are likely still incubating at this site.
On July 5, Evan and Kevin did some daytime monitoring at a few sites in Winnipeg. Evan watched the St. James Foodfare (2285 Portage Ave) and while he saw 4 swifts in the air, he did not see any activity at the chimney. Kevin watched Essex House (2415 Portage Ave) and saw 1 swift in the sky but no entries/exits. Afterwards, they headed to 465 Lanark St and watched the “A” and “D” buildings but saw no swift activity.
On July 8, Donna monitored 525 Lanark and did not see swift activity, but she did see 1 entry at 555 Lanark at 9:32pm.
Updated Priority Site List (July 12):
| Community | Neighbourhood | Address | Site | Observer |
| Eriksdale | – | 16 Railway Ave | St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum | |
| Ron B. | ||||
| Marvin & Evelyn K. | ||||
| Swan River | – | 518 Main St | Commercial building | |
| capped | ||||
| Wasagaming | – | 106 Buffalo Dr | Dragonfly Delights Tea Room | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 100 Adelaide St | Immigrant Centre Building | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 172 Edmonton | Ladywood Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 91 Albert St | The Old Market Autonomous Zone | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Garry | 1022 Pembina Hwy | Cambridge Hotel | |
| Ron B. | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 141 River Ave | Ludlow Court Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 245 Bell Ave | Children’s Education Funds Inc | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 260 Wentworth Ave | Lady Wentworth Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 272 Cockburn St | King George Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 280 River Ave | Moxam Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 411 Stradbrook Ave | Lancaster Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 526 Walker Ave | Clarence Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 834 Grosvenor Ave | Eugene Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 444 River Ave | Augustine United Church | |
| Meredith S. | ||||
| Winnipeg | North Kildonan | 25 Valhalla Dr | Valhalla Gardens | |
| Capped | ||||
| Ron B. | ||||
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 465A Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 465D Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Cam T. | ||||
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 394 Academy Rd | Uptown Lofts | |
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 780 Elizabeth Rd | Arundel Apartments | |
| Frank M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 99 Birchdale Ave | Nordale School | |
| Blair R. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2285 Portage Ave | Foodfare | |
| Donna M., Eugenia G. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2415 Portage Ave | Essex House (broken pest cage) | |
| Ron B. | ||||
| Winnipeg | West Broadway | 39 Balmoral St | Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | West End | 318 Home St | Mennonite Church | |
| Jeff H. | ||||
| Winnipeg | West Kildonan | 31 McBeth St | McBeth House (A) middle chimney |
Thanks again for being here,…
and stay cool!
-Marissa
