Recap – A Memorable Night 2 of NRMP
Hello!
It’s been quite the exciting week in the swift world!
On Sunday May 26, volunteers around the province went out for Night 2 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey dates. Unlike May 22 which was cold, rainy, and not very swift-friendly, Sunday evening was beautiful and presented excellent foraging conditions for the swifts, many of which stayed out past their curfews and tested the patience of the monitors. We received a variety of very interesting stories and reports, which we will share with you all in this blog! Keep reading for some record-breaking roost numbers, some unlikely chimney choices, and even a little poetry. Before we dive into the recap, quick reminder that Night 3 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey is this evening, May 30. It’s a little bit stormy in Winnipeg at the moment, but it’s supposed to clear up by this evening (fingers crossed).
NRMP Night 2
We will start in the Lockport/Selkirk/St Andrews region. Fred and Nettie watched both chimneys at the St Andrews Lock and Dam. They saw 1 entry into the south chimney, and 2 entries into the north chimney. In Selkirk. Evan watched the Merchant’s Hotel and saw 2 entries at 9:10pm.
Gerald watched the Lower Fort Garry sites and got to see a sky full of birds! At times, there were a dozen or so swifts in the sky, and about 50 Common Nighthawks. Gerald mentioned this is the most swifts he’s ever seen in the Lower Fort Garry area. At the Men’s House chimney, lots of action: 2 entries around 8:55pm followed by 2 exits about 15 minutes later, 2 entries around 9:31pm, 1 exit at 9:38pm, 1 entry at 9:39pm, 1 exit at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, 1 entry at 9:52pm, and a final entry at 9:55pm. That’s a lot to keep track of – in the end, there were 4 swifts in the chimney. Things were calmer over at the Fur Loft, with 2 entries at 9:31pm.
The excitement continued at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMCH). Aynsley was monitoring T01. All of a sudden, towards the end of the roosting hour, she noticed over 50 swifts move into the area and immediately start trying to enter a chimney on the west side of the Infirmary (but not the chimney the swifts usually use on this same building). Many swifts successfully dove into the chimney, while others seemed to have trouble getting in and tried a few times. This event was quite remarkable for a few reasons – the total number of swifts seen was much higher than usual in Selkirk, and we’ve never seen swifts use this particular chimney before. In fact, because this chimney is quite short on the inside, we had considered it unsuitable (and is likely why the swifts were having a hard time all fitting inside). One thing is for sure – we will never be fully able to predict what the swifts will do or where they will go.
Photo by Aynsley Woods: The chimney circled in yellow on the west side of the infirmary, where all the swifts were trying to enter on May 26. The tower on the left is T01.
In addition to catching this very strange and unprecedented event, Aynsley also saw 2 entries into T01 and a possible entry into T03. Robert watched the Infirmary chimney (the one usually used by swifts) and saw 1 entry. Patti and Dennis watched T02, and saw 2 entries at 9:37pm, 1 entry at 9:48pm, 1 exit at 9:49pm and 1 entry at 9:53pm for a total of 3 swifts confirmed in the chimney. Linda and Nia saw 4 entries into T04, and 2 entries into the yellow brick chimney.
Gerald (armed with his video camera) returned to the SMHC on May 27 to see if the swifts would repeat their strange behaviour from the night before. Would the swifts use the chimney on the west side of the infirmary again, or was that a one-time thing? No swifts attempted to enter this chimney. Instead, he did see more activity at T01. Between 9:27pm and 10:03pm, there was a series of entries and exits that resulted in 11 swifts confirmed in the chimney for the night. He also saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney, and no entries/exits at T03.
It was also quite the unprecedented night in Dauphin. Ken and Jan watched the Malcolm Block building. On the first NRMP night, they saw zero swift activity. This time, around sunset, they saw a “whole bunch” of swifts flying in the sky, and at 9:50pm there was a mass entry of an estimated 80+ swifts into the chimney! Ken describes the sight as a “black rope, a string of swifts so close together we couldn’t count them!” Wow. Ken and Jan returned to this site to do another count on May 28 to see if this would happen again. The swifts stayed out late – between 10:10pm-10:17pm, they counted 67 swifts entering the chimney. Less than on May 26, but still a very high count!
Portage la Prairie was also no exception to the ‘lots of swifts’ trend. Gordon, Jana and Elliot watched the 3 chimneys at the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada (formerly the Rufus Prince Building). 12 swifts entered the north chimney, 10 swifts entered the middle chimney, and 6 swifts entered the south chimney. That’s a total of 28 swifts! Much higher than what Gordon and Jana counted on May 22 at the same time (1 entry at the north chimney, 1 entry followed by 1 exit at the middle chimney, and 3 entries at the south chimney for a total of 4 swifts).
Over in Brandon, Louanne watched the Orange Block and saw 2 entries into the north chimney (site 900.1) at 9:42pm. There was no activity at the south chimney. Louanne and Glennis monitored this site again on May 29 and once again saw 2 entries.
Michele and Mike watched the St Francois Xavier RC Church and throughout the session, there were 3 swifts foraging with a pair of Common Nighthawks. They saw 1 entry at 8:24pm, 1 exit at 8:27pm, 1 entry at 8:34pm, 1 exit at 8:37pm, and then 2 entries at 9:21pm. They did not see the third swift entering the chimney.
Luc watched the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and between 9:20pm and 9:33pm, there were 9 entries. Luc returned to monitor this site on May 27 and May 29 and on both these nights, 8 swifts entered the chimney.
Frank watched the church in La Broquerie. He first saw 6 swifts flying around 7:40pm, but then did not see them again for half an hour. There were 3 swifts that entered the small chimney (at 8:56pm, 9:18pm, and 9:22pm). As for the large chimney, 1 entered at 9:23pm followed by 2 entries at 9:25pm. By the end of the session, there were 3 swifts in each chimney.
Ron watched the 3 chimneys at Providence College in Otterburne. At the ‘large chimney’ (site 551), there were lots of ins and outs. It started with 1 entry at 8:46pm, followed by 1 exit at 8:50pm, 2 entries at 9:07pm, 1 entry at 9:24pm, 2 exits at 9:27pm, and 2 entries at 9:29pm (3 swifts total using this chimney). At the ‘skinny chimney’ (site 552), there were 2 entries (9:23pm and 9:35pm). At the chimney near the bell tower (site 550), there was 1 entry at 9:35pm. Ron saw up to 8 swifts in the air at once, meaning that 2 of those swifts were still unaccounted for at the end of the night.
Blaire watched the Behavioural Health Foundation building in St Norbert. She notes that at 8:55pm, there seemed to be 3 swifts in the area. At 9:16pm, she saw 2 entries into the chimney.
Barb did some daytime monitoring in St Adolphe. She noted a maximum of about 4 swifts in the area around Club Amical, and 6 or 7 swifts in the area around the church. The swifts were mainly feeding, low to medium-low in the sky and they did not make any approaches to the chimneys. Barb’s main take-away from this monitoring session was that the number of swifts in the area is the same as before the stretch of nasty weather, meaning that they made it through the tough conditions! Great news.
Over in Winnipeg, Tim watched 424 River Ave. For most of the session, there wasn’t much going on at the chimney. They eventually all decided to rush into the chimney all at once, of course – Tim estimated 195 swifts (likely an underestimation) entered under 30 seconds. That’s a lot of swifts!
Nicole watched the Fleetwood Apartments, and between 9:23pm and 9:47pm, she saw 6 entries. She also saw another possible entry at 9:54pm. That’s 6 birds, at least! Nicole mentions that she’s never counted more than 3 swifts there previously.
Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower and saw 5 entries between 9:31pm and 9:47pm.
Beth watched the Assiniboine School and saw 1 entry at 9:29pm, and 2 entries at 9:40pm.
Debby and Nicola watched the Old Grace Housing Co-op and though they saw 5-6 swifts flying around in the air, there were no entries or exits into the chimney.
Blair watched 690 St Joseph St, and saw 2 entries at 9:47pm. He notes seeing 5 swifts overall in the air during the session.
I (Marissa) watched the Nordale School (99 Birchdale Ave) which is one of our priority sites this year. My hopes were up as I was seeing up to 11 swifts flying overhead throughout the first 30 minutes of monitoring. The swifts were foraging with at least 6 Common Nighthawks. However, I last saw this group of swifts around 9:20pm and did not see them again.
All in all, what a great night of swift monitoring! Exciting to see such high numbers at several roost sites around the province. A possible explanation for these high numbers is that during last week’s stretch of cold weather, swifts that would normally roost in smaller groups came together to roost together as a way of staying warm. It will be interesting to compare what we saw on Sunday with what folks see tonight.
Other results
There are some other Chimney Swift reports from the past week to share. On May 22, Kevin and Evan monitored during the roosting hour in Melita. Kevin watched 139 Main St and though he saw 6 swifts in the sky, he did not see any entries into the chimney. Evan watched the Antler River Historical Society and saw 2 entries at 9:15pm. On May 25, Gwen was in Melita and also saw 2 swifts enter the Antler River Historical Society.
On May 23, Evan and Kevin monitored Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home and 47 Fourth Ave West in Souris during the roosting hour. They did not see any activity, likely due to rainy weather.
On May 25, Kevin monitored Fernwood Apartments (Winnipeg) during the roost hour and saw 2 entries.
Finally, yesterday evening on May 29, I (Marissa) led a monitoring workshop for the Manitoba Metis Federation. Our group of 11 folks watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower. It was a gorgeous night, and the swifts spent most of the evening foraging high above while being quite vocal. We saw a total of 4 entries into the tower. The first two entries were around 9:42pm, followed by another 2 entries at 9:57pm.
That’s all for now!
I leave you with these funny and relevant words written by Barb, inspired by all the recent unpredictable swift happenings:
“There’s a group of crazy good folks
Who count Chimney Swifts – ’tis no joke
Watching birds as they fly
To know where, when and WHY?
Means therapy may be invoked!”
— Barb Stewart
Happy Monitoring!
-Marissa
