A ST. ADOLPHE NEST SITE UPDATE: JULY 1ST BONUS ROUND TO JULY 6TH
Before heading into the nest site update, I would like to send a huge shoutout of THANKS to Amanda for all of her great work with MCSI!
Our webmaster, Fabulous Frank Machovec, lifted up a blog for me in the morning of July 1st. Thanks for your speedy assistance, as always, Frank! The blog summarized recent nest site activity in St Adolphe and relayed information on how to identify incubation – a nasty, difficult stage to predict the start date for.
What is easier is identifying IF the Chimney Swifts are incubating. As a refresher, here’s what was posted in the last blog: “in ascending order of good, better, and best, I use 3 criteria which usually indicate that Chimney Swifts are on eggs. For monitoring sessions of at least 60 minutes, signs of incubation are: 1. % attendance, or time spent in the chimney, is > 50%; 2. A duration-in interval <10 min. (for an entry where a partner is not obviously flying nearby and doesn’t enter); and/or 3. A classic incubation exchange i.e., an entry followed by an exit 30-120 sec. later. Classic incubation exchanges take place 1 X hour (give or take a few minutes) at a site with 2 breeding adults.”
Canada Day afternoon was lovely and I headed south to monitor 4 of the 5 nest sites situated along the main thoroughfare in St Adolphe. With an opportunistic sighting at the 5th nest site, all the bases were covered. The data highlights of key monitoring sessions from July 1st through to July 6th (the MCSI Wednesday Swift Watch Day) are summarized here. Spoiler alert: some breeding pairs are now feeding young – eggs are busting out all over!
July 1st at Club Amical (3:10 – 4:10 PM)
SE Club Amical: entry at 3:14; entry at 3:25 (2 IN); exit at 3:29. At least 1 bird was in the chimney for 56 minutes, so attendance >>50% = incubation is indicated. The site was unattended at the start of observations unless a helper was on site during the monitoring session.
NE Club Amical: entry at 3:12; entry at 3:44:54 (2 IN); exit at 3:45:05 (FAST exchange!); entry at 4:07:29; exit at 4:08:06 (another quick turnaround time) The site was unattended at the start of observations; no helper has been identified at this site. Two exchanges in an hour = the breeding pair likely are feeding brooded young!
July 1st at Brodeur Bros./Daycare
An opportunistic observation was seen from the Main St site = an entry at 2:49 PM. This was a nice little puzzle piece to harvest. The site remains active.
July 1st at the Church (12:35-1:35 PM)
Entry at 1:12:02: exit at 1:14:19. Once classic incubation exchange in 1 hour = incubation is indicated!
July 1st at Main St (1:50-2:50 PM)
Entry at 2:05:32 (lead bird of two that approached – the trailing bird flew off after its partner entered the chimney); exit at 2:49:49 as several Chimney Swifts moved nearby – from the Brodeur Bros./Daycare site across the street to the Caisse, then to the tower adjacent to the house. The site was unattended > 16 minutes at the start of the observation period. The attendance rate of ~73% would indicate incubation. Finally!
Ok, let’s move onto Tuesday, July 5th after yet another rainy, soggy day on Monday (3/4” more rain fell – I can feel the mosquitoe larvae wriggle):
July 5th at Club Amical (9:25-10:25 AM)
SE Club Amical: entry at 9:26:11; exit at 9:28:04; entry at 9:58:51; exit at 10:00:08; entry at 10:10:35; exit at 10:12:11 (Teaser note: see the last exit noted below for the NE Club Amical chimney!). Three entry/exit exchanges in one hour indicates hatching has taken place and a helper is likely on site!
NE Club Amical: entry at 9:31:37; exit at 9:32:07; entry at 10:11:18; exit at 10:12:11 (oh boy – is this a coincidence or do those swifts communicate through brick walls to coordinate their activity?). Two entry/exit exchanges in an hour indicate that feeding brooded young continues. Nice.
July 5th at Brodeur Bros./Daycare (10:35-11:35 AM)
Entry at 10:48:20; exit at 10:49:13. One classic incubation exchange in an hour = serious incubation is underway.
July 5th at the Church (11:35 AM -12:35 PM)
12:04:09: a pair of Chimney Swifts were seen flying low into the dead tree located due north of the Church’s east end; the birds were striking a branch extending due east at mid-height of the tree.
12:04:33: 2 consecutive entries = the above birds seen twig collecting; the lead bird hit a branch, circled to enter from the south, then flared and dropped in slowly, low to the rim; the partner caught up and hovered above the chimney, close to the rim, for a very short time after the first bird dropped in, then proceeded to lower itself slowly into the chimney. The nest site had been unattended for > ~30 min. 2 IN.
12:07:01: exit. 1 IN.
12:35 end of observations – 1 IN. Twig collecting by a pair indicates continued nest building; eggs are unhatched as no nest building takes place after hatching (it’s full-on feeding time then!). The attendance rate = 50%, which also supports the nest site status = incubation stage.
July 5th at Main St. (1:45 – 2:45 PM)
Entry at 2:32:31; exit at 2:34:02. One classic incubation exchange in an hour = incubation + a happy monitor!
Lastly, here are the juicy tidbits for July 6th = a MCSI Wednesday Swift Watch Day…
July 6th at Club Amical (9:35 – 10:40 AM)
SE Club Amical: entry at 9:59:10; exit at 10:00:12; entry at 10:37:46; exit at 10:38:34. Nominal entry/exit cycle rate = 2 X hour which indicates continued feeding of brooded young (<6-7 days of age), but no helper appears to be on site today (compare to July 5th).
NE Club Amical: entry at 9:46:32; exit at 9:47:10; entry at 10:19:02; exit at 10:20:11. As no consecutive entries or exits were seen, the parents appear to still be sharing brooding and feeding duties.
July 6th at the Church (10:50 AM – 12:15 PM)
Entry at 10:52:15; exit at 10:55:05 as 7 swifts fly near the Rectory and Church low together; 11:26:08 – 9 swifts in the air, racing over the Church to the NW, a pair close together are displaying the “V” behaviour; 11:35:56 – 9 swifts are seen in the air. Given that incubation OR feeding of brooded young is taking place at all the nest sites (and one parent should be in the chimney except for short aerial forays), the number of swifts seen in the air suggests that new birds have moved into the area and/or swifts from the 6th nest site in old town have come on over to the Church area for a social moment!
Entry at 12:06:14 by a lead bird which approached with a partner in close proximity – the partner displayed the pair bond “V”, while the lead bird dropped into the chimney, then flew off.
Exit at 12:07:17. This was a classic incubation exchange, with a 1-minute turnaround interval, BUT the bird entering at 12:06:14 was with a partner that remained airborne! Is it possible that a new helper OR the helper from the SE Club Amical chimney is on site here today?
This is a perfect place to end the blog…with lots of intrigue and a tantalizing cliff hanger moment. There is always a reason to show up at the chimney sides for another glimpse into the world of breeding Chimney Swifts!
- Enjoy the swifts at your nest site, Barb.
P.S. Look out for the milestones of hatching (Day 1 of feeding; 2 entry/exit cycles per hour) and then the transitioning to feeding non-brooded young (Day 6-7 of feeding; 3-4 entry/exit cycles per hour; consecutive entries and exits). The stages of nesting change quite quickly at this time of the breeding season!
