NRMP Nights 3 & 4 (and more)
Hello!
The beginning of this monitoring season has been an eventful one, and the past week is no different. In this week’s blog post, we will recap the results from nights 3 and 4 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey Protocol (aka NRMP). It was a bit of a mixed bag again this week – some unexpectedly high counts, some unexpectedly low counts, some ‘back to normal’ counts.
Before we dive in, I just want to remind everyone that though the four scheduled NRMP nights are over, there are plenty more opportunities to monitor! We have another scheduled monitoring night on Wednesday, June 19. The goal of this monitoring blitz is to encourage as many volunteers are possible to get out monitoring either at your usual site or a priority site that we can assign you. We also encourage you to continue to monitor your site(s) if you are interested and available! As mentioned previously, whether you monitor once more or on a regular basis throughout the summer, this data is helpful and gives us a snapshot into what is going on at that site (such as if there is a breeding attempt and if yes, which stage that breeding attempt is at).
I will be posting the priority site list for monitoring on the blog next week. Thanks to everyone who has already monitored a priority site this year! If you’d like to be matched with a priority site, please send me an email (mbchimneyswift@gmail.com).
Monitoring Results – NRMP Nights 3 & 4
On May 30, Blaire watched the St Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation and had quite the exciting night! Though she only saw 2 swifts enter the chimney (which isn’t anything out of the ordinary), she counted up to 18 swifts at once flying over the Lemay forest. The group of swifts stayed over the forest the whole evening until they disappeared around 9:30pm. This is the most swifts she has ever seen in this area! The results were very different on June 3 – Blaire saw zero swifts at all in the area. Strange!
In St Francois Xavier, Michele and Mike watched the church and on May 30 they saw 4 swifts foraging in the sky. They saw 1 entry at 9:22pm and 1 exit at 9:24pm, followed by 2 final entries at 9:24pm. The other 2 swifts headed south. On June 3, they saw multiple entry/exits by a single swift between 8:45pm and 9:10pm, and 2 final entries at 9:12pm (total of 2 swifts).
Frank monitored the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie and on May 30, he didn’t see any entries into the large chimney but did see 2 entries into the small chimney. On June 3, there was a lot more activity – Frank saw a total of 4 swifts enter the large chimney and 6 swifts enter the small chimney!
Gordon, Jana and Elliot monitored in Portage la Prairie. On May 30, they watched the three chimneys at the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada. They observed 2 swifts enter the north chimney and 5 swifts enter the middle chimney. They didn’t see any swifts enter or exit the south chimney. On June 3, they watched the United Church and saw 6 entries into the south chimney and 1 entry into the north chimney.
Brett watched the Providence College chimneys in Otterburne. On May 30, he saw at least 12 swifts foraging at the start of the monitoring session. He saw 2 entries into the “large” chimney, 3 entries into the “skinny” chimney, and 1 entry into the “bell tower” chimney. At 10 pm, he could still hear swifts flying around in the dark. On June 3, he saw 5 entries into the “large” chimney, 1 entry into the “skinny” chimney, and 2 entries into the “bell tower” chimney. Interesting how the number of swifts roosting in each of these side-by-side chimneys seem to change each night!
Luc watched the St Jean Baptiste Church on June 3 and saw 13 entries and 2 exits, for a total of 11 swifts in the chimney.
In Dauphin on May 30, the Hong Kong Café had 2 entries, and while there were up to 11 swifts flying around the Watson Art Centre, there were no entries or exits seen. The main roost (site #600) had 17 entries on May 30, and 13 entries on June 3. These counts are much more ‘normal’ for this site compared to last week’s high counts.
In Carman, Rhonda reported 4 swifts flying over the Memorial Hall for over 2 hours on June 3.
In St Adolphe, Barb’s mission on June 3 was to check out nest activity and confirm occupancy at all five sites. She saw some swift action at both the Brodeur Bros and Main St chimneys. She also saw up to 9 swifts in the sky (which is the highest count in St. Adolphe this season), foraging as well as some brief trio flights and several “V” displays between flying pairs. Barb’s mission was successful – there seem to be breeding attempts underway at all 5 St Adolphe nest sites.
In Selkirk, Gerald monitored the apartment at 367 Main St on May 30 and saw 2 entries. At the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on May 30, Evan monitored T01 on May 30 and saw 14 swifts flying overhead around 9:30pm. Up to 4 swifts were confirmed in T01 at once, with 3 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour. Robert saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney. Patti and Dennis monitored T02 on May 30 and saw 3 entries. On May 30, Nia and Linda saw 3 entries and 1 exit at the yellow brick chimney, for a total of up to 3 swifts using the chimney but only 2 swifts in the chimney at the end of the session. They saw 3 entries into T04. On June 3, Nia and Linda saw 1 entry at the yellow brick chimney and 4 entries into T04.
On June 3, Fred and Nettie monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound and saw 2 entries into the north chimney, and no entries into the south chimney.
On June 3, Gerald monitored both sites at Lower Fort Garry. There were 3 entries into the Fur Loft. At the Men’s House, there were 2 entries at 9:30pm, and then 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:34pm, and an exit at 9:35pm.
In Winnipeg, on May 30, Rudolf saw at least 11 swifts in the airspace around the Northdale Shopping Center. At 9:10pm. He saw 2 swifts enter the Curtis Hotel and at 9:37pm, he saw 2 swifts enter the chimney at 1010 Brazier. Glenn and Sandie watched the Old Grace Hospital and though they could hear and see swifts overhead, they did not see any entries or exits. Kevin and Kylie watched Niakwa Manor and saw 1 entry. Nicole watched the Fleetwood Apartments and observed 4 entries. Jennifer and Marc watched 690 St Joseph St and saw 3 entries between 9:34pm and 9:42pm.
On May 30, Breanne, Aynsley, Dennis and I were at 424 River Ave and saw about 108 birds enter the chimney, in two big waves. Aynsley and Dennis were monitoring 424 River again on June 3 and counted about 145 swifts entering the chimney.
I was able to get a video of the swifts entering on May 30, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/9EbVimGgTuc Here’s a challenge… if you are able to count the swifts entering the chimney, I’d love to hear your count! Even with the video, it’s a bit hard to get an exact count.
On May 30, Blair watched the Fernwood Apartments and saw 4 entries (2 at 9:13pm, 1 at 9:25pm, and 1 at 9:28pm). Kevin watched this site on June 3 and saw 2 entries around 9:09pm.
Linda watched the Moorgate Apartments and on May 30, she saw a total of 4 swifts enter the chimney between 9:32pm and 9:48pm. On June 3, she had higher numbers than usual – she observed 15 entries and 3 exits, with 13 swifts in the chimney at once! At the end of the session, there were still 4 swifts in the air. Linda returned to this site the following night (June 4) to check it out again and had a total of 6 swifts enter the chimney for the night. Lots of variation from night to night!
Ron watched the Assiniboine School and saw 1 entry at 9:19pm followed by 1 exit at 9:23pm, and then 2 final entries around sunset for a total of 2 swifts in the chimney. Beth and Wolfgang watched this site on June 3 and also saw 2 swifts enter the chimney.
Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower and on May 30, they saw 1 exit at 9:17pm, 1 entry at 9:27pm, and 2 final entries around 9:47pm for a total of 3 swifts in the chimney. On June 3, Jo and Betsy saw 7 swifts enter the chimney! The highest count yet for this site this year.
On June 3, Jennifer and Marc watched St Mary’s United Church and did not see any swifts. Blair watched 340 Provencher Blvd and saw 1 swift enter around 9:20pm. Meredith and Krzysztof monitored the Chief Peguis School, which is one of our priority sites, and saw 1 entry at 9:03pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, and another entry at 9:18pm, for a total of 2 swifts in the chimney. Woohoo, another priority site confirmed!
Donna monitored St Paul The Apostle Church (2400 Portage Ave) and saw 1 entry. Donna had monitored this priority site a few days prior with Eugenia on June 1. They had seen 2 swifts enter at 9:23pm. Thanks to Donna and Eugenia for confirming this priority site!
During the day on June 3, Evan and Kevin monitored the Cambridge Hotel but did not see any swifts in the area.
Other Monitoring Results
On May 29, Breanne monitored the Maryland Foodfare chimney during the roosting hour and saw 2 entries. She monitored this site again on June 5, and once again saw 2 entries.
Jon monitored one of our priority sites, 91 Albert St, on May 28 and saw no entries or exits. He checked out another priority site, 100 Adelaide St, on June 4 and also saw no entries or exits.
On May 28, Blair monitored Spring Christian Academy at 261 Youville and saw 3 entries around 9:35pm. On June 4, he monitored 864 Marion St and saw 5 entries and 1 exit between 9:01pm and 9:07pm, for a total of 4 swifts in the chimney. On June 5, he monitored 847 Marion St and saw 3 entries. On June 6, he monitored 325 Talbot Ave and saw 1 entry at 9:51pm.
On June 4, Garry monitored 722 Watt St and saw 3 swifts enter between 9:20-9:56pm.
Gwen saw 1 swift enter the Curtis Hotel on June 4, and 4 swifts enter 139 Market Ave on June 5.
On June 5, Cam monitored 555 Lanark St (a priority site) during the daytime and saw one entry at 6:44pm, and an exit at 6:51pm. One more priority site confirmed.
Jen reported an incidental sighting of swifts in the sky around 300 Assiniboine Ave. In the past, swifts have used a few of the chimneys at 303 Assiniboine Ave (Newcastle Apts) and also at 348 Assiniboine (Redboine Apts) so I wonder if swifts are using one or both of these sites again this year.
We will finish off the monitoring updates with some exciting news from Canadian Mennonite University – we have confirmed a new site! On May 26, John watched the large chimney and saw 2 swifts enter. On May 28, Graham watched this chimney and also saw 2 entries. We have suspected this may be a site for a few years now but did not have confirmation until now. Great news!
It’s really great to see so many people involved in monitoring this year. Thank you to each and everyone of you! That’s all our updates for now. Stay tuned for next week’s blog which will dive into our priority site list.
Thanks!
-Marissa
