Hello! The weekly monitoring summary has arrived. The weather sure has been interesting, with several days of cool, windy, rainy weather. Many volunteers have reported low insect numbers and poor feeding conditions for the swifts. Low prey availability could be impacting some of the nesting swifts and may add an element of confusion when it comes to interpret their behaviour, as feeding rates could be lower than we typically expect to see during the feeding phase. Fingers crossed that feeding conditions improve, and that the swifts and their young are able to successfully fledge!
Winnipeg
In Winnipeg, Gwen observed the chimney at 139 Market Avenue on July 12 and while she saw 9 swifts flying around, she did not see any enter or exit the chimney.
On July 10, Blair visited the Riverwood Church Community Firehall (325 Talbot Ave) and observed an entry at 3:24pm and an exit at 3:25pm, and another entry at 3:51pm and exit at 3:51pm.
Blair also visited the No.9 Fire Paramedic Station (864 Marion St) on July 12 and saw one entry at 3:38pm, and an exit at 4:15pm. At 4:20pm, two swifts flew by the chimney by did not enter.
On July 17, Blair monitored both the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (340 Provencher Blvd) and the former Euro Craft Office Furnishings building (847 Marion St) during the daytime and saw no activity at both sites.
On July 19, Blair visited Niakwa Park Plaza (1310 Archibald St), one of our priority sites, during the roosting hour and observed 3 entry/exit cycles before a final entry at 9:25pm. Frank then visited this site the next day on July 20 during the roosting hour and observed 2 entry/exits and a final entry at 21:31. It is great to know and confirm that site is being used! Thanks Blair and Frank for getting another priority site crossed off our list.
On the morning of July 20, Blair monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) and observed 4 entries and exits throughout the hour long session, with 1 swift confirmed in the chimney at once and up to 22 swifts seen in the air!
While out for a walk on July 18, Rudolf noticed a swift exiting the chimney at 1171 Kildonan Drive (a private residence) around 7 pm. This site was first discovered in 2020, but has not been regularly monitored.
On July 19, Rudolf monitored the Northdale Shopping Center. Here’s Rudolf’s recap: “Of the three potential chimneys visible, only the one at 1010 Brazier seemed to be in use. I was there from 8:45 to 9:40 p.m. During that time I saw max. 9 birds – flying together in a tight flock of 8 with one other bird nearby. At 8:48 one bird entered the 1010 Brazier Chimney and less than a minute later two birds exited. One bird entered at 9:26 and was not seen exiting anymore – obviously went to roost. By 9:40 when I left at least one bird could still be heard overhead, but it became too dark to see.”
Donna checked out the apartment building at 834 Grosvenor Ave as well as two chimneys at Lanark Gardens (465 Lanark St) which are all on our priority site list, and did not see any swift activity.
Lower Fort Garry
Moving north, Gerald was at Lower Fort Garry on July 11 during the roosting hour. He saw 5 entry/exit cycles at the Fur Loft (maximum of one swift confirmed in the chimney at once). Gerald also observed the Men’s House and counted 5 entry/exit cycles as well as an additional exit, resulting in two swifts confirmed in the chimney at once.
Selkirk
Moving on to Selkirk…On July 14, Winona monitored the 367 Main St apartments and observed 3 entry/exit cycles with 1 swift confirmed in the chimney at once. Winona monitored the Merchant’s Hotel on July 15th during the roosting hour, and observed 1 entry at 9:29 pm.
The Selkirk Mental Health Centre continues to have high levels of activity at all 6 sites (2 chimneys and 4 artificial towers). It’s very interesting to have so much monitoring data for these sites that are in close proximity to each other. A big thank you to Gerald, Tim V, Robert, Nia, Linda, Patti, Dennis, Winona, Tim P, Baylana, Cam, and Veronica for their continued efforts in monitoring this chimney.
As has been mentioned several times in the last few blog posts, deciphering swift behaviour can be quite the challenge. Tim Poole, with the help of Barb Stewart, has put together the following summary of what is currently happening at each of the SMHC sites:
“I am going to get one more check on these towers tomorrow morning to confirm a couple of things but with Barb’s help here is how we think the nesting chimneys stand at SMHC based on the excellent data from the Selkirk Birdwatchers and our own daytime monitoring:
Yellow Brick Chimney– incubation was occurring on June 13. Hatching occurred most likely between July 4 and 10. Feeding of brooded young had shifted to non-brooded by July 17 with a good rate of feeding on July 18 as well (7-10 visits per hour). Given the above, fledging is due from August 1-10 (based on 28-30 days post hatch and hatching could occur anytime from Jul 5-10). Barb has added that a helper appears to be on site (3 birds with a high level of feeding).
Admin (Infirmary) Chimney – Still incubating June 30 but not sure exactly when shifting to feeding. Were feeding on July 10, likely non-brooded and a high rate of at least 8 visits per hour on the 18th suggests feeding is going well (and indicates a helper is on site). Given the above, we would expect fledging to occur earlier than the yellow brick.
T1 – Full incubation (>50%) only detected on June 26 and incubation still ongoing on July 10 (two incubation exchanges). Shift detected on July 17 – may already be at non-brooded suggesting hatching just after July 11 (based on lack of evidence of attending adults early in the evening and high feeding rate, including high between visit intervals). However, data on the 18th showed a bird in attendance for 45 minutes. Barb added that the 3 feeding visits per hour is normal – higher rates elsewhere reflect helpers on site – and agreed we are at a non-brooded stage.
T2 – Full incubation by June 19 with incubation exchanges on the 23rd. Up to two helpers might be attending this tower (4 roosting birds on the 4th and 10th July, 3 on the 17th). Like the Yellow brick, hatching occurred by the 10th. Tower was not attended by adults for an extended period on the 10th suggesting they may already have been at the non-brooded stage and would therefore be expected to fledge at the end of July/early August. In addition, two birds entering simultaneously on the 18th also indicates non-brooded.
T3 – Observed use in every monitoring session but no clear patterns established. 1-2 swifts each time. One roosting swift for past three sessions might suggest the other was sitting tight on eggs. Barb added some good supporting information on this one. This is the first time birds have tried to nest in this tower. It is clearly number 6 on the favourable list of sites. Barb’s direct quotes here: ‘Given that, the breeding pair are likely first timers and activity suggests lack of progress with a nesting attempt; with a 37% attendance, they are likely late nest building-egg laying at best…this is probably not going to culminate in fledged young – BUT you know how swifts love to torment us and do their sneak ‘n’ stealth routine. Got to love those cleanouts!!! Really, a big locked door to the base must be included in every tower.’
T4 – We think hatching might have occurred between July 4 and 10. Feeding rate only 3 visits on the 18th – indicating no helper on site. The 3rd roosting bird on the 17th was an interesting distraction. A late exit on the 10th June suggested that the pair were still brooded at that stage as there would have been an adult attending for most of the monitoring session. Would expect fledging therefore to occur towards the middle of August.”
Thanks to Tim and Barb for diving into the SMHC swift data, and piecing together the different clues! They should both consider detective work as a secondary career… And once again, thanks to the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club for gathering weekly data – an essential component of this detective work!
Lockport
On July 7 during the roosting hour, Gerald and Tim V monitored in Lockport and noted 2 entries into the south chimney, and 1 entry and 1 exit at the north chimney. Fred, Nettie and Tim monitored again on July 11 and 3 entries and 1 exit into the south chimney (2 swifts in the chimney at once), and 1 entry/exit cycle, followed by another entry an hour later in the north chimney. Fred, Nettie and Tim returned once again on July 18 and did not see any activity at the north chimney, but saw the following activity at the south chimney: 1 entry at 8:15 pm, 2 exits at 8:39 pm, 1 entry at 8:47 pm, and another entry at 8:50 pm.
St. Adolphe
Barb and Rob have been busy keeping an eye on the swifts at St. Adolphe. Barb’s reports from this past week at the Club Amical chimneys show how quickly things can change day to day in the swift world. Last Friday, the pair using the northeast Club Amical chimney were feeding 3 times per hour, while an incubation exchange was seen at the southeast chimney. When Barb was there on Monday, there were no swifts around the northeast site but there were 2 entry/exit cycles at the southeast chimney. On Tuesday, there was no activity at the southeast chimney while at the northeast chimney, 2 swifts entered after 45 minutes of monitoring and had not exited by the end of the 75-minute session. On Wednesday, things got exciting… 30 minutes into her monitoring session, Barb observed 15 swifts overhead, feeding and in V-displays! This large number of swifts isn’t a common occurrence for St. Adolphe. The record for the most swifts seen at once in St Adolphe was in August 2009, when 19 swifts were observed at the Church (pre-migratory roost). In addition to these 15 swifts in the air, 2 swifts exited the northeast chimney (still no activity at the southeast chimney, though). Barb went back on Thursday but did not see the same numbers. Rather, there was no activity at both the northeast and southeast Club Amical chimneys, which unfortunately indicates that nesting at both these sites has most likely failed.
On the bright side, things still seem to be on track at the other St. Adolphe sites. On Wednesday, the pair at the Church were feeding 4 times per hour, and there were exchanges at the Main St and Daycare sites.
Carman
In Carman, Jacquie monitored the Carman Memorial Hall during the morning of July 14 and noted 5 entries and 3 exits within 90 minutes, with 3 swifts observed in the chimney at once.
Dauphin
The swifts are keeping busy (and mysterious) in Dauphin. Ken writes in an email sent on July 16:
“Well, it took a few trips to get a count on the Dauphin swift chimneys but all are still occupied. The adult rotations seem to indicate they might still be sitting on eggs with only 1 to 2 per hour but we haven’t seen even moderate counts of flying insects to allow for a quick mouthful to feed young with.
It seems that swifts always throw you some sort of curve ball or a cookie crumb and this was ours: As we sat watching the roost for the roosting hour, we suddenly saw a flock of 12 swifts fly past and a short time later there were 8 with 1 going down the chimney (a total in chimney of 2). We never saw any of these other swifts by the roost chimney again that evening! Where did they go, we have no idea??”
Sounds like there may be another swift chimney somewhere in Dauphin… Keep those eyes peeled!
Hartney
In last week’s blog, we mentioned that Katharine had spotted some swifts in Hartney but wasn’t sure where they were going, as we didn’t have any confirmed sites in Hartney. Great news – Katharine has since managed to find a site in Hartney! On July 16, she spotted swifts at the Hart-Cam Museum. She returned that evening to monitor during the roosting hour and observed 2 entry/exit cycles at 9:03 pm and 9:39 pm, and a third entry at 9:48pm. At 10:09, she saw what may have been another exit but it was quite dark and with the added glare of the streetlights, she didn’t get a great look and suspects it may have been a bat. Thanks Katharine!
Souris
While out west, Katharine also monitored the Hillcrest Museum in Souris on the afternoon of July 18. She did not see any entries/exits at the Museum, but did see seven swifts in the sky. As she was leaving Souris, she happened to see 2 swifts exit the Whistling Donkey Pub, about 15 seconds apart.
Brandon
At the Orange Block in Brandon, 1 entry into the north chimney was observed during a roosting hour watch on July 12 by Sandy, Glennis, Gillian, and Louanne. On July 19, there was a lot more activity. The observers noted an entry at 8:53pm followed by an exit one minute later, another exit at 9:05pm followed by an entry at 9:07pm, an entry at 9:18pm followed by an exit at 9:19pm and another exit at 9:21pm, two entries at 9:32 and 9:33 pm, an exit at 9:34pm and an entry at 9:45pm, corresponding to three swifts observed in the chimney at once.
The Pas
We’ve received many swift reports from The Pas. On July 9, Joel noticed 2 swifts flying with cliff swallows over the Carrot River, approximately 30 kilometres west of The Pas On July 5, David saw a swift enter the Frontier Apartments chimney on 3rd street at 11:37 am, followed by an exit within a minute. On July 12, David watched this chimney again and saw an entry at 12:18 pm followed by an exit 20 seconds later, and another exit at 12:50 pm. Joel had reported hearing swifts over this site on June 26th.
Here are a few words from David about other possible swift sites (or lack thereof) in The Pas: “I have spent several lunch breaks watching this and other locations in town, and am convinced that none of the other locations are occupied. I have spent a couple of hours watching the building near Fas Gas with no luck. I have spent a couple of hours watching a chimney on second street immediately west of the tracks and seen no birds. This chimney looks wide and inviting, but it is quite short which might make it undesirable to the birds.”
Flin Flon
In Flin Flon, David noticed a ‘fantastic looking chimney’ on the MTS building and monitored for 20 minutes but did not see any swifts. We do not know of any swift sites in Flin Flon, but it is great to know that this chimney should be considered as a possible site if there are swift sightings in the future.
Priority Site List Update
Here’s an updated list of priority sites that have not yet been confirmed:
| Settlement | Neighbourhood | Location | Site | Observer |
| Manitou | . | 338 Hamilton St | St Andrews United Church | |
| Morden | 325 Stephen St | Pembina Hills Art Centre | ||
| Gerald Machnee | ||||
| The Pas | . | 380 Hazelwood Ave | VIA Rail Station | |
| Wasagaming | 106 Buffalo Dr | |||
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 803 Erin St | Elan Designs and Upholstery | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 520 William Ave | Living Gospel Church | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 520 William Ave | Living Gospel Church | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 33 Kennedy St | Lincoln Towers Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 100 Adelaide St | Immigrant Centre Building | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 348 Assiniboine Ave | Redboine Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 91 Albert Str | The Old Market Autonomous Zone | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 239 Colony St | The Florida | |
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 411 Stradbrook Ave | Lancaster Apartment | |
| Aynsley Woods | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 105 Clarke St | My Place Realty | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 272 Cockburn St | King George Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 118 Scott St | Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 280 River Ave | Moxam Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 245 Bell Ave | Children’s Education Funds Inc | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 834 Grosvenor Ave | Eugene Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 444 River Ave | Augustine United Church | |
| Winnipeg | North End | 935 Main St | Ukrainian National Federation | |
| Winnipeg | North Kildonan | 25 Valhalla Dr | Valhalla Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 465A Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 465D Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 1055 Grant Ave | Grant Wilton Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 890 McMillan Ave | Milan Apartments | |
| Blair Reid Frank Machovec | ||||
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Frank Machovec | ||||
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 99 Birchdale Ave | Nordale School | |
| Winnipeg | St James | 2160 Portage Ave | Stanley Park Apartments | |
| Amanda Shave | ||||
| Amanda Shave | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2415 Portage Ave | Essex House, pest cage | |
| Winnipeg | St Vital | 531 St Mary’s Rd | Riverside Billiards |
That’s it for this week.
Thanks folks!
-Marissa
