End of July Update: Nest failures, fledglings, and everything in between!
I want to start off this week’s blog post with a moment of appreciation for the incredibly community we have supporting the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative. I am constantly amazed and so thankful for the enthusiasm, patience and dedication shown by so many volunteers! It’s heartwarming and inspiring. Thank you for continuing to brave the heat, the humidity, the bugs, etc. in the name of swift conservation! It really does make a difference.
We have a loooot of monitoring updates this week! Last week, we had another blitz night. Overall, over 13 volunteers participated. We managed to monitor at least 13 chimneys/towers, in 8 different communities! Thanks to everyone who participated.
As we approach the end of July, the swifts are at a variety of different stages – some sites are showing signs of nest failure, some are showing signs of late nesting attempts (still incubating), some are showing signs of feeding young, and some sites are showing signs of fledging. At some sites, there is even the arrival of large groups of adult swifts who weren’t there during the rest of the summer, already forming pre-migratory groupings! Spoiler alert: A large “swarm” of these newly-arrived swifts has been causing drama in St. Adolphe. I am sure that the next few weeks will continue to be interesting.
A quick note – throughout these monitoring recaps, in an attempt at brevity, I will often use “entry/exit” as a way of indicating an entry followed by an exit within one or two minutes. This pattern of an entry followed by an exit is often referred to as a “classic exchange” or with additional context, an “incubation exchange” or “feeding exchange” depending on the frequency of these exchanges per hour. For more details on these nesting dynamics, you can check out these old blog posts: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/mcsi-canada-day-blog/
https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/st-adolphe-in-2021-and-more/
Brandon
We will start this week in Brandon. As we’ve mentioned many times on the blog, this summer’s swift situation in Brandon has been downright confusing. On July 24, the Westman Naturalists led “Operation Chimney Swift” – they split up into 4 groups and watched 4 different areas (yellow x on the map), nearby to where Louanne spotted 3 swifts the previous morning on July 23 (blue x on the map).
Here’s a part of the recap shared by Gillian in a post-event email:
“Ken and Colleen saw a swift at Louise and 2nd at about 9:20pm, it flew off to the SW. This is very close to where Louanne saw swifts. Also, Sherry Punak-Murphy has seen swifts near New Era School. Our possible chimneys are 208 Louise Ave (S side), another down 2nd St to the South. We looked on the S side of Victoria and found a couple more possible chimneys: 510 Victoria (SW corner of 5th & Vic); 534 5th (I think). Glennis has spotted several possible chimneys near New Era School.”
A massive thank you to the Westman Naturalists for organizing this event (on top of their regular monitoring efforts) and for not giving up on the swifts this season!
St Adolphe
Last week, Barb did some intensive monitoring at all 5 of the St Adolphe nest sites that get monitored annually. Unfortunately, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys as well as the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and the Main St private residence chimney all showed signs of nest failure. Thankfully, all was well at the Church. Barb reports: “The Church: ah, my number one ranked chimney in town is holding all the hope for fledglings this year! A pair of breeding swifts and a confirmed helper (3 consecutive entries seen on Sunday) are feeding non-brooded young at a rate of 5-6 times per hour. That is excellent!”
More from Barb, for some insight on how the nest activity progresses and how to estimate fledging dates: “Hatching at the Church took place July 1-2, so that started the clock at Day 1 of feeding brooded young. The juveniles are now wing flapping and strengthening their flight muscles – this is when the nests tend to start to slip if they aren’t securely fastened to the inside wall of the chimney. Day 20-21 brings about the precarious transfer of the juveniles as they move out of the bowl of the nest onto the wall of the chimney. You want to see continued feeding through those days…that should be this coming Sat./Sun. Then we hold our breath again as the juveniles approach Day 28-30 (July 28-30 if they hatched July 1; July 29-31 if they hatched July 2) and get ready to fly out of the chimney for their first flight. There is no cleanout trap at the Church, so it becomes a daily task to monitor for changes in site activity that suggest fledglings are airborne.
Throughout the season, there has consistently been a group of 12 adult swifts in the St Adolphe area. Despite the nest failures, this number didn’t dramatically decrease, so the failed breeders have been sticking around.
However, there was a noticeable change in swift numbers in St Adolphe on July 19. While monitoring the Church site, Barb saw a group of about 16-17 swifts which is a higher count than has been accounted for this year. She has dubbed this group of swifts “The Swarm”. She knows they are adults (and not fledglings from the local nest sites) because of the easy-to-see moulting happening in the wings. She describes “big gaps in the trailing wing margin plus very frayed wing tips”. It’s the time of year when adult swifts are replacing their feathers, while fledglings will have brand new feathers that aren’t yet in need of replacing.
This new influx of adults must be a “pre-migratory grouping” – swifts that have arrived into St. Adolphe, on their way out of the breeding grounds and towards their wintering grounds down south. This pre-migratory grouping is noteworthy because of how early it is – the local nest site has not even fledged yet. Very interesting!
“The Swarm” brought some drama. On July 20, Barb was monitoring the Church and saw some typical feeding exchanges and the usual count of 3 swifts entering and exiting (breeding pair + helper). However, “The Swarm” then arrived, with a lot of low level flyovers and “peer ‘n’ veers” at the chimney. They then began entering the chimney! She saw 12 consecutive entries within 90 seconds. Over the next 8 minutes, she counted 19 consecutive exits. This mass use of a chimney with an ongoing breeding attempt, by non-breeding swifts during the daytime, is an unprecedented observation for Barb and was certainly worrying – how might this impact the breeding pair + helper + young that have yet to fledge? A monitoring session on Sunday with a lack of typical feeding patterns led Barb to fear a nest failure.
On July 24, Barb completed 3 monitoring sessions to try and understand what was happening here.
Here is her executive summary:
“Session 1 – 05:20 to 7:20 AM: three birds were accounted for; max seen was 2 exiting the Church chimney together; the activity pattern included three consecutive entries and three consecutive exits, suggesting that the breeding pair and helper were onsite feeding. Some juveniles have survived 🙂
Session 2 – 10:20 to 12:00 noon: The Swarm was active – 13+ swifts were accounted for; Drop ‘n’ veer, tilt ‘n’ veer flyovers etc. telegraphed interest with something(s) inside the chimney; small groups of 3-4 dropped into the chimney from the swarm and exited into the swarm. Single entry/exits took place = likely feeding events but the swarm activity tends to mask this.
Session 3 – 8:36-8:52 PM (daytime) then 8:52-9:52 PM (roosting hour; sunset 9:22 PM): single entry/exits during the daytime. Roosting entries began at 9 PM – the total for the night =14! Rob was instrumental in doing sky counts as I did rim watching…our “swifts in + sky counts” totalled 14 during the roosting hour, so we feel confident all the birds flying about roosted in the Church.”.
And a summary of swift count timeline: “The baseline count in St A was 12 before the influx of from-away birds on July 19th; the peak count was 19 last weekend; yesterday the max count was 14, so 5 swifts have shuffled along. There are at least 3 ST A birds still in town = breeding pair and helper. The other 11 could be some combo of St A swifts + from-aways.”
This situation is fascinating and unprecedented. I can’t wait to hear how things evolve over the next week!
Winnipeg
Blair has been making daytime monitoring visits to all the sites in St Boniface that showed promising nesting activity earlier this summer. On July 8, he monitored 531 St Mary’s Rd (Riverside Billiards) from 10:46am-11:30pm, and saw 1 entry at 11:03am, 1 entry at 11:07am, 1 exit at 11:18am, and another exit at 11:20am. He then monitored 1310 Archibald St from 12:34-1:34pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 12:42pm and 1 entry/exit at 1:13pm. On July 12, Blair monitored 790 Elizabeth Rd from 9:44-10:44am, and saw 1 exit at 10:24am. On July 15, he monitored 314 St Annes Rd (Fernwood Apts) from 11:06am-12:06pm. He saw 1 exit at 11:36am, and 1 entry at 11:54pm. On July 18, Blair monitored 690 St Joseph St from 10:07-11:43am and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:11am, 1 entry/exit at 10:18am, 1 entry/exit at 10:19am, 1 entry/exit at 10:30am, 1 exit at 11:05am, 1 entry/exit at 11:22am, 1 exit at 11:27am, 1 entry at 11:41am, and 1 exit at 11:43am. Lots of action, with up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once.
Over the past few weeks, Tim has gone on some very productive bike rides. On July 13, after 5 minutes of watching 260 Wentworth (a priority site), he saw 1 entry at 11:18am. Priority site confirmed! He then stopped to watch 890 McMilllan, but instead caught an entry into 915 Corydon at 11:41am. On July 14, he saw 1 entry (10:56am) at 105 Clarke St within a minute of arriving. He also saw 1 entry into 843 Sherbrook (Bardal Funeral Home) at 12:13pm, and 1 entry/exit at 481 Corydon at 1:50pm. On July 23 at 8:02am, Tim saw 1 swift exit the chimney at 526 Walker Ave (Clarence Court Apts). This site was also a priority site, so we can now cross it off our priority list!
There has been a lot of monitoring at the Canadian Mennonite University chimney. Paul monitored on July 13 from 7:55-8:40pm, and saw 1 entry/exit at 7:57pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:07pm, 1 exit at 8:30pm, 1 entry at 8:33pm, and 1 more entry/exit at 8:40pm. The next day (July 14), John watched the CMU chimney from 4:20-5:20pm and saw 1 exit at 4:34pm, 1 entry at 4:46pm, 1 exit at 4:50pm, 1 entry/exit at 4:57pm, 1 entry/exit at 5:08pm, 1 entry/exit at 5:19pm. The multiple entry/exits per hour point to ongoing feeding young at this site. On July 18, I (Marissa) visited CMU to join Graham, John, Paul, and Hilary for a morning swift watch. The group usually does a weekly bird walk around the campus, but this week we watched the chimney instead. From 8:32am to 9:32am, we saw 1 entry at 8:45am, 1 entry at 8:48am, 1 exit at 8:50am, 1 exit at 9:06am, and 1 entry at 9:13am. At 9:24am, 2 swifts flew low above the chimney but did not go in. On July 25, Graham and Richard watched the chimney again from 8:28am to 9:32am and saw more classic feeding behaviour – 1 entry/exit at 8:29am, 1 entry/exit at 8:31am, 1 entry/exit at 8:48am, 1 entry/exit at 8:53am, and 1 entry at 9:27am. Nice!
On July 17, Rudolf watched the chimneys at the Curtis Hotel and 1010 Brazier from 7:06pm to 8:16pm. At least 6 swifts were present. He saw 1 entry into the Curtis Hotel at 7:37pm. He also saw 1 entry into 1010 Brazier at 8:14pm, followed by an exit within seconds.
Kevin and Evan have been helping with priority site monitoring. On July 12, Kevin watched the Essex House on Portage Ave during the daytime and did not see any entries/exits. On July 19, Kevin watched 272 Cockburn St (priority site) for 60 minutes in the morning. While he saw 5 swifts in the sky, there were no entries or exits at the chimney. On July 19, Evan watched 834 Grosvenor (priority site) and while 4 swifts were seen flying overhead throughout the hour, none were seen using the chimney. In the afternoon, Evan watched the Mont Royal Apts (2265 Portage Ave) from 11:40am to 12:40pm and saw 2 entries at 11:40am followed by 1 exit at 11:44am. He also watched the Food Fare (2285 Portage Ave) but did not see any entries or exits. On July 24, Evan monitored the chimney on the North side of the McBeth House from 11:18am to 12:18pm. He saw 1 exit at 11:18am, 1 entry at 11:49am, 1 exit at 11:53am, 1 entry at 11:54am, 1 exit at 11:58am, 1 entry at 12:18pm, and 1 exit at 12:22pm.
On July 17, I (Marissa) started off the blitz day with a 60-minute morning monitoring session at 385 Henderson Hwy (formerly Roxy Lanes), which hadn’t been monitored since 2022. There was some activity at the red chimney, including 1 entry at 8:37am and 1 exit at 9:04am. There were crows near the chimney for part of the monitoring session which may have impacted entries/exits. Later that evening, I saw 1 entry at 9:47pm into the Viscount Apartments (1794 Portage Ave).
Photo by Marissa Berard: A swift entering the chimney at 385 Henderson Hwy.
On July 24, I did an impromptu roost hour monitoring session at the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower (in other words, I convinced a friend to spend some time watching the tower with me while we were on a walk in the area). We watched the tower from 9:14pm to 9:51pm. At 9:15pm, we saw 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:17pm (and 6 swifts flying together overhead). At 9:19pm, 4 swifts flew low over the tower but did not enter. There was then 1 exit at 9:28pm, 1 entry at 9:28pm, 2 entries at 9:36pm, and 1 entry at 9:42pm (4 swifts roosting in the tower). At the time of the final entry, there were no other swifts seen in the sky. I returned for a daytime monitoring session the next day (July 25) from 2:12pm to 3:12pm. Up to 4 swifts were seen flying overhead at the beginning of the session. There was 1 entry at 2:37pm, 1 entry at 2:43pm, and 1 exit at 2:47pm. I wonder if I may have missed some exits at the start of the session – I noticed that the swifts at this site seem to exit low towards to the south which is tough to see from the clearing to the north of the tower. About 10 minutes into the session, I moved to a spot along the paved path to the west of the tower which offered a better view of the south side of the tower. I would recommend this spot for future sessions.
Aynsley and Dennis visited this site this morning (July 26) from 10:55am to 12:00pm. There was 1 exit at 11:01am, 1 exit at 11:19am, 1 entry at 11:26am, 1 entry at 11:28am, 1 exit at 11:38am, and 1 entry at 11:57am. The max number of swifts seen in the sky was 12 individuals at 11:08am. Hard to know what is going on here – there is daytime activity, but not really any classic entry/exit exchanges.
Aynsley has been busy checking out different sites across the city. On July 18, she spent some time at 245 Bell Ave, 141 River Ave, and 444 River Ave but did not see any activity. On July 19, she watched a private residence on Balmoral St as well as 625 Osborne St (Fort Rouge Leisure Centre) but did not see any activity. On July 23, she visited 394 Academy Rd, a private residence on Dorchester Ave, and a private residence on Kylemore Ave but once again did not see any activity. On July 25, she visited the St. Avila School and saw 3 exits and 1 entry during the daytime. She also visited the St. Norbert Parish but did not see any activity.
Selkirk -Selkirk Mental Health Centre
Thanks to Tim, Tim’s students, and the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club, there has been some intensive monitoring at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre this past week which has provided us with valuable information on the site’s six nesting attempts. Buckle up, here goes a recap of the goings-on!
On July 15, Evan did some daytime monitoring. From 10:45-11:45am, he watched T01 and saw 2 entries at 11:12am, and 1 exit at 11:27am. He notes there may have been an exit at 11:25 as well but that it may have been a swift doing a fast low-fly over the chimney. From 11:50pm-12:50pm, he watched T02 and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:08pm.
On July 17 during the roosting hour, Nia and Linda watched these two sites again. At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 2 entries around 9:00pm, 1 exit at 9:06pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:16pm, 1 entry at 9:27pm, 1 exit at 9:32pm, and 1 entry at 9:58pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney). At T04, they saw 1 entry/exit at 9:09pm, 1 exit at 9:21pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:30pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 1 exit at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 entry at 9:56pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney). Patti and Denis watched T02, and saw 1 entry/exit at 9:15pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:20pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:35pm, and 3 entries between 9:49pm and 9:58pm (3 swifts confirmed in chimney).
On July 18, Gerald monitored T01, T03 and the Infirmary chimney during the roosting hour. At the Infirmary chimney, he saw 1 entry at 9:46pm. At T01, he saw 1 exit at 9:11pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, 1 entry at 9:39pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 exit at 9:51pm (up to 4 in the chimney at once, but 3 in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At T03, there was 1 exit at 9:05pm, 1 exit at 9:17pm, and 1 entry at 9:46pm.
On July 24, Tim organized a mini blitz of the SMHC sites to try and get a better idea of what is happening at these sites. Linda and Nia watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04, from 9:25am-10:36am. At T04, there was 1 exit at 9:53am, 1 entry at 10:10am, 1 entry at 10:28am, 1 exit at 10:31am. At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:37am, 1 exit at 9:43am, 1 entry/exit around 9:44am, 1 entry/exit around 10:11am, 1 entry/exit around 10:29am. Linda and Nia note that 2 of these exits were weak, and the swift “dribbled out” of the chimney – a possible indication of fledglings. Patti watched T02 from 9:03am to 10:32am, and saw 1 entry/exit around 9:23am, 1 entry at 9:28am, 1 entry/exit around 10:18am, and 1 entry at 10:23am. These seem like a few classic feeding exchanges. At the end of the session, there were still 10-12 swifts flying overhead. Kevin watched T03 and the Infirmary chimney from 9:32am to 11:02am. At T03, there was 1 entry at 9:50am, 1 entry at 9:53am, 1 exit at 9:57am, 1 exit at 10:25am, 1 entry at 10:26am, 1 exit at 10:32am, 1 entry/exit around 10:38am. At the Infirmary chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:56am, 1 exit at 9:58am, 1 entry at 10:32am, and 1 exit at 10:34am. Harry watched T01 from 9:32am to 11:02am and saw no entries or exits at all.
So, other than T01 which had zero activity and indicates nest failure, there seemed to be some feeding behaviour but with a lot of variability, so it was still a bit unclear what the activity at the other sites meant.
To further investigate, Tim organized a mini monitoring blitz the next evening, on July 25. Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:45pm to 9:52pm. There were 2 entries around 8:51pm followed by 2 exits around 8:52pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:07pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:15pm, and 1 entry at 9:39pm. It seems that feeding is ongoing at this site.
At the T04, there was 1 entry at 8:58pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:00pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:12pm, 2 exits at 9:16pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:35pm, and 1 entry at 9:37pm and 1 entry at 9:39pm. That’s up to 4 swifts in the tower at once. The combination of a higher number of swifts using this chimney along with messy entries/exits supports that this site has fledglings. Patti watched T2 and once again saw feeding activity as well as 3 swifts roosted in the chimney at the end of the night (which means there could be a helper at this site). At T1, there was still no breeding activity, but 3 swifts entered to roost for the night. At T3, there were at least 4 entry/exit exchanges within an hour, and 2 swifts entered the chimney for the night which seems to show that feeding is ongoing at this site. At the Infirmary, there was lots of activity. There were 7 swifts roosting in the chimney by the end of the session, 2 of which were fledglings (possibly more because of this high count of 7 swifts). It’s hard to confirm if these additional birds are more fledglings, or other adults coming to roost in this chimney.
So, to recap: Based on the incredible monitoring efforts by Tim and his students and the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club, it seems that of the 6 initial breeding attempts at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, 5 of them are either ongoing (still feeding) or complete (have fledged). That is great news!
Selkirk – Other sites
On July 15, Gerald watched the 367 Main St Apartments. He saw 1 entry at 9:03pm followed by an exit at 9:05pm. He notes seeing 10 swifts flying in the sky, which is more than usually seen in this area. He saw 1 entry at 9:20pm and 1 exit at 9:29pm. This chimney has two flues, and the swifts typically enter/exit in the south flue. This is important information because at 9:33pm, he saw something interesting – 1 swift entered into the north flue of the chimney! He then saw 1 exit from this north flue at 9:46pm. Interesting.
On July 23, Gerald watched the Merchants Hotel. He did not see any swifts flying around until he saw 2 swifts enter the chimney at 9:30pm.
Lower Fort Garry
Gerald watched the Lower Fort Garry sites on July 11 during the roosting hour. At the Fur Loft, he saw 1 entry at 8:56pm and 1 entry at 9:15pm. At the Men’s House, he saw 1 entry/exit at 9:04pm, followed by 1 entry at 9:17pm.
On July 24, Evan watched the Fur Loft from 9:15am to 10:45am. Over the 90 minute session, he saw 1 entry/exit around 9:56am. The rate of one exchange over a 90 minute session seems to be an incubation exchange which would indicate a late breeding attempt.
Aynsley watched the Men’s House and saw regular feeding exchanges.
Lockport
On July 14, Jackie monitored the St Andres Lock and Dam from 7:47pm to 10:02pm. At the north chimney, she saw 1 entry at 8:27pm, 1 entry at 9:03pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, and 1 entry at 9:45pm. There were no entries/exits observed at the south chimney.
The Pas
Joel along with a few other observers have been keeping an eye on the sky in The Pas. While there have been swift sightings (up to 3 swifts) in a few different places, swifts have only been confirmed in one chimney this year (Loraine Apts on 3rd St W). On July 8, Joel watched the Loraine Apts from 8:48am to 9:19am, and saw 1 entry at 8:53am and 1 exit at 9:17am. On July 15, Matt watched the Loraine Apts and saw 1 entry at 1 pm, and did not see an exit within the next half hour of observation. Meanwhile, Joel, Danica and Grace spread out and watched Bignell St but did not see any swifts. On July 17, Joel watched the Loraine Apts from 8:36am to 9:06am, and saw 1 entry at 8:58am.
La Broquerie
On July 17, Lewis and Frank made a trip to La Broquerie to monitor the two chimneys at the Church, from 7:45pm to 10:00pm (135 mins). There were 6 swifts circling over the area at the beginning. What follows is a whole lot of action at that large chimney! I will list it all here, for full effect: 1 entry at 7:57pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:04pm, 2 entries around 8:31pm, 2 exits around 8:33pm, 1 entry at 8:48pm, 2 exits at 8:49pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:55pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:59pm1 entry at 9:06pm, 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 entry at 9:08pm, 1 entry at 9:09pm, 2 exits at 9:10pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, 1 exit at 9:33pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:47pm.
Wow, that’s a whopping 15 entries and 13 exits! I wish all monitoring sessions were that exciting. While up to 4 swifts were in the chimney at once (4 entries in a row between 9:06pm and 9:09pm), only 2 swifts were in the large chimney at the end of the roosting hour. At the small chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:12pm, and 1 entry at 9:23pm. Barb mentioned perhaps the 2 swifts roosting in the small chimney could be helpers at the large chimney.
Frank returned to this site on July 24 and watched from 8pm to 9:50pm. This time, there was still some activity but there were no group flights. At the large chimney, he saw 2 exits at 8:18pm, 1 entry at 8:19pm, 1 exit at 8:25pm, 1 entry at 8:45pm, 2 exits at 8:50pm, 1 entry at 9:05pm, and 1 entry at 9:30pm. There were up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once, but only 2 at the end of the roosting hour. At the small chimney, there were 2 entries at 8:40pm followed by 1 entry at 9:30pm.
St Adolphe
This week, Barb did some intensive monitoring at all 5 of the St Adolphe nest sites that get monitored annually.
Unfortunately, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys as well as the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and the Main St private residence chimney all showed signs of nest failure.
Thankfully, all was well at the Church. Barb reports: “The Church: ah, my number one ranked chimney in town is holding all the hope for fledglings this year! A pair of breeding swifts and a confirmed helper (3 consecutive entries seen on Sunday) are feeding non-brooded young at a rate of 5-6 times per hour. That is excellent!”
More from Barb, for some insight on how the nest activity progresses and how to estimate fledging dates: “Hatching at the Church took place July 1-2, so that started the clock at Day 1 of feeding brooded young. The juveniles are now wing flapping and strengthening their flight muscles – this is when the nests tend to start to slip if they aren’t securely fastened to the inside wall of the chimney. Day 20-21 brings about the precarious transfer of the juveniles as they move out of the bowl of the nest onto the wall of the chimney. You want to see continued feeding through those days…that should be this coming Sat./Sun. Then we hold our breath again as the juveniles approach Day 28-30 (July 28-30 if they hatched July 1; July 29-31 if they hatched July 2) and get ready to fly out of the chimney for their first flight. There is no cleanout trap at the Church, so it becomes a daily task to monitor for changes in site activity that suggest fledglings are airborne.
Throughout the season, there has consistently been a group of 12 adult swifts in the St Adolphe area. Despite the nest failures, this number didn’t dramatically decrease, so the failed breeders have been sticking around.
However, there was a noticeable change in swift numbers in St Adolphe this morning. While monitoring the Church site, Barb saw a “swarm” of about 16-17 swifts (more than have been accounted for this year). She knows they are adults (and not fledglings from the local nest sites) because of the easy-to-see moulting happening in the wings. She describes “big gaps in the trailing wing margin plus very frayed wing tips”. It’s the time of year when adult swifts are replacing their feathers, while fledglings will have brand new feathers that aren’t yet in need of replacing.
This new influx of adults must be a “pre-migratory grouping” – swifts that have arrived into St. Adolphe, on their way out of the breeding grounds and towards their wintering grounds down south. This pre-migratory grouping is noteworthy because of how early it is – the local nest site has not even fledged yet. Very interesting!
St Francois Xavier
On July 17, Mike and Michele watched both sites in St Francois Xavier during the evening (pre-roosting hour). They started at the Church and saw 1 exit at 7:07pm and 1 entry at 7:25pm. They then moved to the private residence on Paul St, where they saw 1 entry/exit around 7:54pm, 1 entry at 8:07pm, and 1 exit at 8:12pm. They were also treated to 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers!
Portage la Prairie
On July 10, Gordon watched the two chimneys at the Trinity United Church during the roosting hour. He saw 2 entries into the south chimney (1 at 9:50pm and the other at 10:02pm).
On July 17, Gordon monitored 329 Duke Avenue (former Portage Correctional Centre) from 8:45pm to 10 pm and saw a lot of activity in the small north chimney. He saw 1 exit at 8:57pm, 1 exit at 9:11pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:13pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:25pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:27pm, 1 entry at 9:33pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm and 1 entry at 9:44pm. This looks like feeding behaviour, with a possible helper! Jana briefly monitored this site on July 19 from 1:00pm to 1:25pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 1:23pm, with around 15 swifts in the air.
Updated Priority Site List (July 26):
| 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 | |
| Tim P. | ||||
| 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 | |
| Tim P. | ||||
| 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,
Marissa
