AUGUST 24: Going, Going…have your Chimney Swifts gone?
Could this really be the end?
Today’s blog offers a friendly reminder to head out to the chimney sides tonight, a quick summary of recent trends at nest and roost sites, and several info bits on interesting bird research and reconnaissance.
Today is a Wednesday MCSI Swift Watch Day and you may note a big change at your roost or nest site. Maybe you will see no Chimney Swifts. Sigh. Remember, those valid zero counts – the zip, Nada, nothing to see here folks’ moments – are as important to harvest at the end of the season as they are at the beginning. Departure and arrival dates are all based on seeing no swifts.
Our Manitoba Chimney Swifts are in transition. Most nest sites are now unused during the day after fledglings burst out. However, a few late starting breeders are still feeding non-brooded young (e.g., the Men’s House at Lower Fort Garry where fledging is being tracked by Gerald and Jo). Some roost sites have dramatically dwindled in numbers (e.g., first noted by the Dauphin monitoring crew of Ken, Jan, Pat & Marilyn). I am chasing the St Adolphe flock to find a pre-migratory roost. Many other people in many other locations are continuing the swift quest missions. Thanks for all your efforts!
There is much to do to wrap up the season and it’s not always fun monitoring. Seeing nothing at the season’s end is bittersweet. You don’t want the birds to be caught short if bugs disappear before the last fledglings emerge and after other Chimney Swifts move further south. BUT there is always the pleasure of seeing a swift just one more time…
Moving along to birdy news from afar, there have been interesting issues reported in the media:
Even our urban adapted Chimney Swifts have tolerance limits to noise. We have found that the birds are sensitive to loud, random “jackhammering” noises and will avoid using their nest sites during times of noisy nearby construction.
Our Manitoba Chimney Swifts are on the move but not in the numbers that would create “roost rings” (in our dreams!).
Tim has flown over some intriguing information about tracking movements of tagged Chimney Swifts:
MOTUS is an automated radio telemetry tech now being established across North America and established by Birds Canada. Put simply, a network of receiving towers has been set up across the continent (including about 14 in MB) and these receive signals from a radio transmitter deployed on a bird which records the approximate location (usually within 20-30 km of the tower). It does not give fine-scale habitat info but it does tell us where birds migrate. More info at https://motus.org/about/
A receiving tower was recently established at the Ellice-Archie Community Pasture in early July – the feds are monitoring Bank Swallows and grassland SAR. It turns out that a CHSW tag was pinged at the MOTUS Tower on Ellice-Archie on July 24th. I guess there’s always a chance there’s a tech mishap but the following is potentially fascinating. The tag was deployed on a swift in Beloeil, QC, near Montreal, on May 19th. The last detection in QC was at another receiver near Montreal on June 11th. The bird was not detected again until it turned up in western MB on July 24th! It was only pinged once here and then it disappeared again before being detected at a tower south of Tampa on August 11th. This is all publicly available info so thought you would all be interested in hearing about the amazing swift journey.
That’s a wrap for this week. Send your monitoring reports along as we track the final phase of the 2022 season! Things will likely wrap up at most sites by August 31-September 7 (unless our keen-eyed Selkirk Birders spy swifts later in the season again this year).
AUGUST 17: WINGS ARE BEING SPREAD…UP, UP, AND AWAY!
This is a very short blog to cover some important ground and airspace…here are the three news items for today:
First, we are flying a BIG shoutout of appreciation to Ariel who finishes her work term with MCSI today! Ariel has been with us for two summer seasons and ably assisted in a variety of work that is essential to keeping our programs running so smoothly. Thanks, Ariel, for being part of our team!
Second, our Manitoba Chimney Swifts have hit an inflection point for end of season activity. Big changes have been observed. Roost sites have reduced numbers e.g., in Dauphin, other more southerly nest sites have emptied post-fledging, and the late fledging sites e.g., SE Club Amical site which had fledglings launch on Sat. Aug. 13th, were unused during the day today (some roosting activity may continue for a short time yet). So, we are on the home stretch for the ’22 Chimney Swift season.
Third, it’s Wednesday and that means it’s an MCSI Swift Watch Day. Enjoy some of the last encounters with our birds before migration takes place. Keep your monitoring observations flying in and we’ll be sure to let you know when those birds fly out of our Manitoba skies!
This blog entry will cover data recorded from July 22nd till the present, covering a little under 3 weeks of monitoring data.
In Winnipeg, Jacquie and Frank Machovec monitored the site at Transcona Collegiate on July 28th. They saw multiple entries and exits consistent with 3 swifts using the chimney. On August 1st, Garry Budyk watched 722 Watt street during the day and saw 3 entries and 2 exits. He wrote that he thought there are most likely two birds in this chimney. On August 3rd, Blair Reed watched the chimney at Springs Christian Academy both during roosting hour and during the day. In the daytime, he observed3 entries and 2 exits, but admits he may have missed a third exit. In the evening he observed 7 entries and 5 exits, leaving 2 in the chimney at the end of the night.
Patricia Start monitored the chimney at the Watson Arts Centre in Dauphin on both July 29th ad July 30th. On the 29th, she saw 1 entrance and 5 exits, writing in her email that she may have missed additional entries. On the 30th, she spotted one exit and three entries. After moving to a breezier spot to get away from the heat, she saw 2 more exits. On August 6th, Pat monitored the Hong Kong café and saw entries and three exits.
In Brandon, the North Chimney at 1203 Princess was monitored by Sandy Homineck, Louanne Reid Glennis Lewis and Gillian and Gwynn Richards. They monitored on July 27th and August 3rd. On the 27th, 10 entries and exits were observed during the evening with 2 birds in the chimney at the end of the night. On August 3rd, 12 entries and 9 exits were observed, with 2 confirmed and possibly a 3rd swift in the chimney.
In Selkirk, Aditya Gandhi was at the Selkirk mental health centre on August 2nd and 3rd to watch the courtyard tower and the tall tower during the day. The tall tower had 5 entries and 5 exits. With 1 exit coming after another after only a single entry, indicating 2 birds were using the chimney. At the courtyard tower, Aditya observed 2 entries and 2 exits. Nia Massey and Linda Adie covered some chimneys at the Mental Health centre on July 28th. Linda watched the powerhouse tower and saw 1 entry. Nia’s chimney quite a bit busier, with 12 entries and 8 exits over the course of the monitoring period. The night ended with 4 swifts in the chimney. On August 3rd, Nia, Linda and Gerald were all back for more monitoring, along with Robert Hempler and Winona Hook. With many volunteers present, most of the chimneys and towers on the site were monitored that day. Gerald watched the courtyard chimney, which had 8 entries and 6 exits, leaving 2 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roost. Nia and Linda watched both the yellow brick chimney and the stack replacement tower. The yellow brick chimney had 11 entries and 6 exits, with 5 remaining. The replacement tower had 3 entries and 1 exit, leaving 2 in the tower. In the same evening, Robert and Winona watched the infirmary chimney and observed only 2 entries, most likely going in for the evening. Robert Winona and Gerald also had eyes on the “tall tower”. They observed 5 entries and 4 exits, one after another over the period of an hour. 1 remained in the chimney at the end o the monitoring period.
On July 29th at Lower Fort Garry, Gerald Machnee watched the new chimney on the Men’s House and observed 3 entries and two exits during at 85-minute monitoring period. At roosting hour, there was 1 swift in the chimney. More recently, on August 3rd, Tim Poole visited Lower Fort Garry and watched the new site at the Men’s House. He saw 4 entries and 4 exits in 1 hour, indicating that the swifts were feeding their young. Then, on August 5th, Gerald Machnee watched the chimney once again and had more activity with 6 entries and 5 exits in the evening.
Thanks to everyone for their continued dedication to monitoring!
“There’s Something Happening Here…What It Is Ain’t Exactly Clear” … (WITH APOLOGIES TO BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD)
Plus, “If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another” … A.K.A. “A New Playbook Script” (WITH FURTHER APOLOGIES TO GILDA RADNER AND ROSEANNE ROSEANNADANA)
And thankfully, Installments from “The Zone of Which We Are Sure” … (WITH NO APOLOGIES AT ALL!)
What does it all mean?
Since our last update, posted on July 29th, we’ve had a frenetic phase with our feathered friends. This blog shares a few snippets of what’s gone on. Ariel will follow soon with a more detailed account of all your monitoring activities. There seem to have been three themes playing out – two of which intertwine “Huh?” and “What ARE those birds doing now?” moments. Some lovely reports, of Chimney Swifts playing by the book, have also flown in.
In the land of torment, one of our dedicated monitors played “chase the best chimney viewing location”. Three observation sessions made from different vantage points were valiantly made in order to catch both entries and exits. The swifts were cagey and kept shifting exit trajectories. Here’s an excerpt of what our monitor mused:
I went Friday afternoon about 1 o’clock and sat across the street to see what I could see. I swear those birds know the colour of my car and know where I am and are messing with my mind. Because this time they exited towards the parking lot away from me. On Wednesday they exited away from me towards the street…I could see the exits quite clearly because without the evergreen tree in front of them – they exited up and out. The problem this time was I missed most of the entrances. I saw five exits and one entrance. So, I decided to go today (Saturday) and I started out by sitting in the parking lot. Once again, the birds exit away from me through the evergreen tree. I managed to spot one exit and three entrances while I was sitting in the parking lot. It was getting very hot so I either had to go home or move and I decided to move across the street, where there was a nice breeze so it was a little more tolerable…I sat there for about 20 minutes once again the birds decided to exit away from me into the parking lot and I did see two exits but no entries in that time.
Clearly, we need an answer to the question du jour “How DO the swifts do that?”.
Continuing with the theme, some St Adolphe swifts seem to have read the same Torment Your Observer-101 playbook. Two adults routinely leave the SE Club Amical chimney by pouring down the far side of the chimney and then ascending on a difficult to see trajectory away from me. They are the most challenging of all the flock to track (that is a very sanitized description).
It is a humbling experience to learn that Chimney Swifts will do what Chimney Swifts do despite our best efforts. What is a recipe for successful viewing one day, may not be the best approach another day. Keep your flexibility high and adjust your viewing location as the swifts adapt to daily conditions e.g., wind. Also, sun glare may be an issue in one spot more than another at different times of the day.
In an entry for the “What’s Happening Here?” chapter, the two fledglings from the NE Club Amical nest site oozed their way into the Church chimney last week (interestingly, it was the same day the more northerly swifts were tormenting their observer). They approached low and close together, almost beak to tail feather, and dropped in right at the rim. This is a new one for me to report – in previous years, fledglings have taken a rest stop in sites that were unused during the current season or in a site that had a failed nesting attempt much earlier in the season. To have fledglings make a pit stop in a non-natal site that had juveniles in the nest was a first. No harm done – the Church young are still on track to fledge in a couple of days.
In an uplifting report that was certainly not a first, Garry monitored his Watt St site and noted the cadence of activity had shifted. The entry and exit tally plus behaviour observations indicated that fledglings were launched! This site has housed several successful breeding attempts over the many years Garry has devoted to chimney side observations.
In other good news, the Selkirk Mental Health Centre chimneys and towers have been well monitored of late. The dedicated Selkirk Birders ~ Gerald, Nia, Linda, Robert, Donna, and Winona ~ plus Tim and his summer students, Aditya and Aynsley, have put in many observation hours. We are pleased to have fledglings at two nest sites…another breeding pair is still very active and we hope to welcome fledglings from that third site soon.
The last bonus round offering for you today combines good news and a reminder that MCSI staff can be valuable first responders to Chimney Swifts in distress. A call came into the Chimney SwiftRescue Line, 204-803-1523, that a nest had slipped – after a duck dropped through the chimney! Amanda flew out to reposition the Chimney Swift juveniles inside the chimney before plugging the escape route (yes, the duck was removed first). Great work Amanda! The next morning, Ariel observed the site and confirmed that the breeding adults were in attendance. Thanks, Ariel, for following up with that important monitoring!
We have a hot link on the home page of the MCSI website which takes you to the CHIMNEY SWIFT RESCUE FACT SHEET
Different action is taken for nestlings and adults. Chimney Swift parents are the BEST caregivers for their young. So, MCSI makes every attempt to reposition fallen nestlings in their natal chimney for continued rearing by their parents. Chimney Swift rehabilitation is extremely challenging. As humans are not as efficient as avian parents, juvenile development lags in captivity. By the time a Manitoba rehab nestling could be released to the wild, the season has typically ended and no Chimney Swifts remain in the province. That is a huge problem for successful migration.
MCSI will rescue adults who have escaped the chimney shaft and are trapped inside buildings. Remember those start of season reminders to close the dampers and seal escape routes? Adults are attracted to light sources and we want to protect them from leaving the chimney through “unauthorized” portals.
Being a Wednesday, today is a day to head out to the chimney sides ~ daytime or roosting hour ~ and observe Chimney Swifts. Feeding is still underway at several sites, fledglings are becoming seasoned fast fliers and are part of the increased head count at other natal sites, and soon we will see some premigratory groupings form at roost sites. The days are noticeably shorter and the morning air has been crisp. The last few weeks of the season are ahead of us. Keep in touch and let us know what your swifts are doing!
This is a brief news flash: reports of probable and confirmed fledglings have just landed! Other positive updates from our monitors indicate that more first-time fliers should be welcomed soon…
The Yellow Brick Chimney at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) was being used actively Thursday night (July 28th). It is likely that 3 fledglings were tallied in the final roost count of 5 Chimney Swifts. Nia tracked all the fast feathered action. Linda kept her eyes glued to the nearby T4 tower and recorded a valuable datapoint = 1 roosting entry. We’ll talk about what the swifts in those other SMHC towers are doing – later, when we figure it out ourselves!
This morning (July 29th) at Club Amical in St Adolphe, 3 consecutive exits indicated that at least 1 fledgling from the NE chimney was airborne on Day 29 (right on time!). All the exit paths took the swifts away from me and no wing margins could be seen. However, behaviour observations two lots north, at the Church, indicated that 2 fledglings were flying around together. They were just over the Japanese Maple hedges and roof of the Rectory – flap, flap, flap-glide, flap, flap, flap-glide – moving slowly around without any aerial stunts.
Maybe other fledglings have been sighted during your recent monitoring sessions. Send your datasheets and notes along and we’ll be happy to share the good news!
This week, there have been other reports of very active feeding elsewhere. This includes three of the Dauphin sites which Ken, Jan, Pat & Marilyn monitor. Winona also saw feeding exchanges, before the final roosting entries, at the Merchant’s Hotel in Selkirk on Wed. night (July 27th). We hope all these sites remain active and the youngsters launch soon.
The next round of fledging in St Adolphe is due Aug. 11-15, with 3 sites staggered at one day intervals. The young are still in the nest, so I check the sites often and particularly after intense rain storms which may cause nest slippage (yes, another 1¾” poured in again this week). So far so good!
The breeding pair at the Men’s House, west chimney, were both accounted for on Tuesday morning when Rob and I flew in for a monitoring session. The activity pattern suggested incubation was still underway though…here’s hoping that those eggs hatch sooner than later.
The record for the latest known successful fledging in Manitoba belongs to the pair of Chimney Swifts using the T4 tower at SMHC last year. First-time fliers launched from that newly constructed tower ~Sept. 5-9th ( https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/chimney-swift-towers/ ).
It will be interesting to see how our Chimney Swifts fare in August…
This week’s blog will be a catch-up, and briefly summarize the goings on at sites monitored by volunteers after July 6. In Winnipeg, Saint John’s Cathedral saw activity with one swift entry, observed by Lynnea Parker. In East Kildonan, Garry Budyk observed 2 entrances and 2 exits at 712-Watt Street during morning monitoring, with swifts at this site demonstrating classic brooding behaviour. 2 sites that were observed during this blog period had no activity and are possibly not being used this year. These sites were 2415 Portage Avenue and 935 Main Street.
Out at Lower Fort Garry, a new swift site had 1 entry and exit. This was observed by Gerald Machnee during a daytime monitoring closer to sunset.
At Saint Joachim Church in La Broquerie, Frank and Jacquie Machovec observed swifts circling both chimneys at roosting hour and eventually witnessed 3 entries into the small chimney and 1 exit and 2 entries to the large chimney.
In Dauphin, Ken and Jan Wainwright watched the Hong Kong Café chimney and saw 1 swift exiting and entering the chimney quickly. Later, after sunset, they saw 1 more swift enter, meaning on was off foraging and the other was likely sitting on a nest.
That’s it for this weeks blog, thanks to all who continue to monitor Chimney sites!
COMINGS AND GOINGS FROM HERE, THERE, & THE ARCHIVES
This week’s blog starts with a summary of recent St Adolphe nest site activity. To provide a long-range geographical comparison, we’ll look at a news flash from London, ON, which also includes roost site intel. A terrific video by Glenn shows just how challenging monitoring at large roost sites can be. The video provides an opportunity to go down memory lane via a re-post of a link to an old blog about counting Chimney Swifts in a photograph.
I also have a couple of other resource links to share. One link is for an info-rich reference book written by Paul and Georgean Kyle. There is another old blog you can head to for a refresher about moulting. Recognizing moulting in adults is one of the key elements in distinguishing an adult vs a fledgling. The flight behaviour of newly launched fledglings is the other important characteristic to identify Chimney Swifts taking their auspicious first flights. As some fledging dates are approaching, let’s review the past week and look ahead to the exciting developments that will come next week…
Friday, July 15th was one of those days with developments on both ends of the happiness continuum. Sadly, when I showed up to monitor the Brodeur Bros./Daycare site, the swifts were no-shows. Thursday, there had been no activity over the chimney and I didn’t manage to catch sight of any entries/exits as I cast an eye about during monitoring sessions elsewhere in town. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, a similar lack of activity confirmed that a nest failure had taken place. The Brodeur Bros./Daycare site has an accessible cleanout. In September, after the Chimney Swifts have migrated south, I will be able to look at debris to see if the nest has fallen etc.
Elsewhere in town on Friday, the breeding pairs at the SE Club Amical and Main St nest sites continued to incubate eggs. The NE Club Amical pair were busy feeding non-brooded young on Day 15. All was well.
The happiest development noted on Friday was the hatching of eggs at the Church chimney! So, three different stages of nesting and one apparent nest site failure were evident on one day. That was a wide range of variation in nest site activity.
Within two days of Friday, eggs hatched out at the remaining nest sites. On Saturday, the SE Club Amical pair were feeding young – quite vigorously for Day 1 at a rate of 3 X hour. It was an exceptionally good day generally for local feeding. On Sunday mid-day, the snoop squad did repeat peer ‘n’ veer flyovers of the Main St chimney. In the evening, the homeowner noticed “crazy flying – the birds just kept swooping low over the roof and chimney”. All that action translated into a 2 X hour entry/exit cycle on Monday morning, which confirmed my suspicion that eggs had hatched.
As a recap, hatching day = Day 1 of feeding; the young are brooded for 6-7 days; and the non-brooded young fledge or take their first flight outside the chimney on Day 28-30. The NE Club Amical eggs hatched on July 1, so those young will fledge July 28-30; the eggs at the Church site hatched on July 15, which makes for a fledging date range of August 11-13; the SE Club Amical hatchlings appeared on July 16 and they will fledge August 12-14; and the Main St young emerged on July 17 which makes liftoff outside the chimney between August 13-15. Do you remember that the magic date for the latest known fledging in St Adolphe is August 16th? This year, all of the breeding Chimney Swifts are coming in just under the wire. Let’s hope conditions and the food supply remain favourable for those juveniles to reach liftoff.
That segues nicely to the Rainmageddon event which hit Manitoba on the day I started to draft this blog. Tuesday July 19th started with torrential rain and horrendous electrical activity and high winds in many areas of the province. Storms continued in the evening. It is important to check nest sites in the aftermath of such deluges. Continued daytime activity indicates that no nest slippage has occurred and the parents have foraged successfully despite the weather – energy budgets have to be maintained in those voracious youngsters.
There is one last noteworthy developmental milestone to mention. At Day 20-21, the juveniles transfer from the bowl of the nest to the interior wall of the chimney. Wing flapping begins in earnest to strengthen flight muscles. Practice flights up and down the shaft of the chimney take place. All this activity prepares the young swift for its debut flight outside the chimney on Day 28-30. As of this blog’s posting, the NE Club Amical juveniles should be making that transfer.
Now some very interesting observations have flown in from Winnie Wake who, along with Dave & Sandy & Glenn, spearheads the amazing London, ON, Chimney Swift Monitoring Program. Winnie summarizes things best in her July 12th report:
Another hot, humid, rainless week preceded the Jul 12 counts. The combined tally of 489 was up slightly from Jul 5 (467) …This might be a fluctuation related to inherent imprecision in counting. Or it may reflect movement of swifts among roosts and/or from nest chimneys to roosts. Most swifts continue to be located at four roosts – Huron (151), Hunt’s (127), Phoenix (117) and King’s (64). All except Hunt’s increased in size. Smith Fruit hosted a mini-roost of 13, and 6 chimneys held from 1 to 6 swifts. Very troubling is that 7 of 18 chimneys reported 0 swifts in for the night. It is unprecedented for so many chimneys to be empty this early in the season. The question is why. Possibilities are that swifts in some chimneys retired earlier or later than our monitoring hour, or spent the night elsewhere and will be back next week. Regardless, reduced evening attendance at nest chimneys and intermittent overnight use are not promising signs for successful fledging of young. A more plausible explanation is swifts are abandoning chimneys after nest failure (perhaps due to weather negatively affecting food supply). Early in the season, reports from most sites showed at least some behaviour indicating a possible nesting attempt. During the week or two prior to Jul 12, monitors reported negative or ambiguous nesting evidence at many chimneys. This came at a time when frequency of entries and exits should have been increasing as nests hatched and young needed to be fed.
The situation at a nest site can change on a dime. One day young are being fed and the next day the site may be abandoned. That toggle of site use is important to remember when evaluating data from opportunistic monitoring sessions. Current lack of activity at a site does not necessarily mean a site has been unused previously during the season. However, an indication of daytime activity at a nest site – especially if young are being fed – does reflect a lot of previous site use to get to that stage! This is part of the challenge in documenting chimneys as critical habitat.
Not to leave you roost site monitors out, Winnie also provided a link to a great video posted by Glenn. It was from his July 12th monitoring session at Hunt’s (a century-old former flour mill); the footage was shot from the ground towards the building top which is six storeys tall. Glenn offered: While at Hunts Warehouse this week, Susan and I saw almost half of the swifts enter in less than one minute. This was not exactly “fireworks”, but “rush hour”. Note: 127 birds came in to roost that night!
While nest site monitors are happy to get their “2 in for the night”, monitors counting roosting birds face a very different challenge…Rob wraps it up in an understated comment – “It’s hard, isn’t it?”. I easily dissolve into a puddle of excitement and find counting roosting swifts rather overwhelming. Many folks use a video camera or take footage with a phone etc. to review counts and tally a final number of roosting birds.
While single photos of Chimney Swifts swirling around a roost can’t capture the total number of roosting birds, they can document what the set-up to the final roosting entries looks like. Years ago, Rob & I were gifted a lovely photo taken at a Kingston, ON, roost site. Rob developed a challenge for folks wanting to try to count Chimney Swifts in the air. Go back down memory lane to our July 27, 2014 blog to see how you fare: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/counting-chimney-swifts-on-the-wing/
If all this swift activity has piqued your curiosity, head to this link Frank has installed on the MCSI Resource & Link page: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/resources-and-links/ Then, go down to the section on “Some Books about Chimney Swifts” to find a hot link for the bible on Chimney Swifts written by Paul and Georgean Kyle:
The Kyle’s natural history book covers the historical investigations of breeding swifts using artificial towers (in the US), various flight behaviours, vocalizations, and descriptions of breeding activities etc. The book is enriched with drawings and photographs.
Now for a recent and important observation. On a beautiful sunny day last week, with just the perfect backlighting of low and slow-flying Chimney Swifts overhead at the Church, I saw the first moulting adult of the season.
Moulting does not render Chimney Swifts incapable of flight – they must continue to be airborne to harvest insects from the air column. Yet another trip back in time will land you at the July 15, 2015 blog which details plumage replacement. Some stunning photos by Dave Lavigne give you a terrific visual of what adult trailing wing margins look like during the different phases of the moult. https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/july-update-field-identification-of-adult-chimney-swifts-in-the-summer-range/
It is important to get a handle on how adults fly generally and how their wing margins change with moulting. Next week we will welcome some new fliers to the Manitoba airspace as fledglings start popping out of nest sites. As there are fundamental differences between adult and fledgling flight behaviour and wing margins, here’s a segment from the 2015 blog to explain it:
“For monitors in Manitoba, moult characteristics become an important way to distinguish fledglings from adults. Most fledging takes place toward the end of July and into the first week of August, and it is useful to identify juveniles to help estimate nesting success. The flight of newly fledged chimney swifts is characterized by: flying at low altitudes, rapid wing beats for slow air speed, large banking turns, and, occasionally, difficult entries to chimneys (yes, they do miss the opening and tumble down the outside face!). However, within several days post-fledging, young swifts are proficient fliers and they are not easy to distinguish from adults based on flight competency alone. So how do you distinguish juveniles vs. adults? The best way is to look for evidence of moulting on the trailing wing margins. Juveniles will have intact margins while adults will have discontinuities and gaps due to worn and missing feathers.”
Now, the range of estimated fledging dates in St Adolphe is very protracted this year ~ the estimates range from July 28-30 (NE Club Amical) to August 11-13 (Church), August 12-14 (SE Club Amical), and August 13-15 (Main St). The clump of 3 mid-August dates for possible fledging is the biggest and latest since monitoring began in 2007. How do you think your nest sites fit into this range of estimated fledging dates?
That’s a wrap for this week. Keep your monitoring sheets flying in and Ariel, our summer student, will sort through them and enter your all-important observations into our database. Thanks for helping us help our Chimney Swifts through our various MCSI conservation efforts!
— Barb Stewart, for the other MCSI Steering Committee members: Christian Artuso (Co-Chair), Tim Poole (Co-Chair), Frank Machovec (Webmaster), Lewis Cocks (Founding Father of MCSI), Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Ken DeSmet, Jack Dubois, Nicole Firlotte, Rob Stewart, Joanne Tuckwell, and Ashleigh Westphal
Just a friendly reminder that another wonderful Wednesday MCSI Swift Watch Day has arrived. After your monitoring sessions at nest and/or roost sites, fly those monitoring reports over to us. Next week, Ariel will provide an update on all the action you have observed.
Today, I have an omnibus blog for you. The past week was full of swift action and activities to share…
Amanda was flying in high gear on our behalf during her last full week as our Coordinator. Thanks for all of your continued hard work Amanda!
Early in the week, a new plaque for the original 2008-built artificial tower in St Adolphe was delivered; installation of the plaque will take place later in the month. New signage will also be installed at the old Portage La Prairie artificial tower. These new habitat stewardship plaques update our significant achievement = MCSI has developed a successful made-for-Manitoba artificial tower! You can visit the Assiniboine Park Zoo to see all the swift action at the new tower and/or check out the MCSI website at: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/chimney-swift-towers/
Amanda and the new plaque
At week’s end, Amanda released MCSI’s latest monitoring info-sheet. The two-sided sheet provides the basic W5 approach to monitoring Chimney Swifts in our province. It also describes the various MCSI programs and how volunteer monitors fit into those different activities. Our fast-flying webmaster, Frank Machovec, has created a link to the document in the Resources and Links section of our website. Head to: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/factsheet_volunteer.pdf
In other news, two new sites have been identified! Tim, The Swift Magnet Man, saw aerial activity in Dauphin during the day that led him to St Paul’s Anglican Church in the evening. Entries to a lovely chimney were seen! St Paul’s, in addition to the other sites in Dauphin, will be monitored by the keen eyes of Ken, Jan, Pat & Marilyn. In The Pas, many days of sleuthing led Joel to locate a new nest site at the Frontier Apartments. Well done! Those new sites are great additions to our site inventory database. We know there are more Manitoba sites of interest that need locating, so keep your eyes to the sky (it’s one of the activities mentioned in the new volunteer monitoring sheet!).
Continued monitoring of old faithful sites has been done by many monitors…as promised, we’ll hear about it in Ariel’s update next week.
It is enjoyable to monitor single sites as an event on its own. But a different layer of opportunity comes with the ability to compare and contrast activity between sites. That evaluation of absolute vs relative activity is really useful to get an idea of seasonal trends and geographic variation in phenology (dates of nesting stages) etc.
The Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) complex now boasts 4 new artificial towers in addition to 2 old masonry chimneys on brick buildings. With that cluster of chimneys, it is interesting to compare the SMHC Chimney Swift’s breeding activity to that seen in the 5 St Adolphe nest sites situated along the main road (a 6th site in a private home, ~1 km away, is tracked less intensively). We will cross-reference activity more as the season goes along. When earnest feeding is apparent at more sites, it will be easier to look at some time lines for fledging to see how harmonized the Selkirk and St Adolphe birds are in their breeding efforts.
We know that the St Adolphe swifts currently are lagging behind last years’ time line for hatching. In 2021, hatching took place on July 3rd (Brodeur Bros./Daycare), July 5th (Church), July 6th (NE Club Amical) and July 7th (SE Club Amical; Main St.).
This year in St Adolphe, only one site had hatched by July 10th. The NE Club Amical breeding pair started feeding their hatchlings on July 1st which was earlier than any of the 2021 hatch dates.
I have re-evaluated the activity in the SE Club Amical site after the helper left for the Church site last Wednesday, July 6th (the helper only made a very brief appearance there). Once the cadence of the breeding pair was reestablished at the SE Club Amical chimney, it appeared that incubation was taking place – still good news, but not the stage of nesting that the activity pattern of 3 adults portrayed. You have to go with what the swifts show you and be prepared to come up with an alternate explanation.
Another highlight of the past monitoring week included the transition to feeding non-brooded young at the NE Club Amical site. Here’s what that data looked like on Day 8 of feeding (which conveniently was July 8th) when I watched the rim for 90 min. starting at 10:43 AM: entry at 10:49:43; exit at 10:50:13; entry at 11:06:21; exit at 11:07:07; entry at 11:27:06; exit at 11:27:35; entry at 11:43:46; exit at 11:45:16; entry 12:06:26; exit at 12:07:02. The feeding rate was 3-4 X hour.
By comparison, here’s what the SE Club Amical breeding pair did during that same time on July 8th: entry at 11:12:08; exit at 11:13:21.
The behaviour of flying Chimney Swifts can telegraph important out-of-sight developments inside the chimney. A group of 8-9 swifts was busy racing around the Brodeur Bros./Daycare area on the afternoon of Monday, July 11th. Repeatedly, a string of ~3-4 birds or single swifts approached the rim – some dropped down low then banked off, others sped in before veering off on the same plane, and some birds flew low in a straight path and moved their heads as they passed over the rim. This behaviour was investigative in nature – curiosity driven – and it sure seemed to telegraph “something” was going on…monitoring on Tuesday, July 12th revealed what that “something” was. Eggs have hatched!
While Monday’s entry/exit activity rate at Brodeur Bros./Daycare was 1 X hour, Tuesday’s activity rate was higher. For a 90 min. session between 10:37 AM and 12:07 PM, I saw these events: entry at 10:40:00; exit at 10:40:34; entry at 11:12:12 (between-visit interval = 31 min.); exit at 11:13:07; entry at 12:08:57 (between-visit interval = 56 min.); exit at 12:09:45. Note that the time between-visits stretched out towards noon…it was getting hotter and muggier. But if you look at two blocks of 60 minutes (10:37-11:37; 11:07-12:07) the rate of activity was = 2 X hour for each of the blocks. I’m happy declaring that hatching took place between July 11-12th at this site.
Be vigilant !
Now it’s time to wish you all the best for a successful swift quest today. We look forward to hearing about your experiences!
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!
Last week you probably read Barb’s excellent blog, and didn’t miss my update! If you didn’t read last week’s blog check it out as Barb walks us through the Chimney Swift behaviour during incubation, hatching, brooded young and non-brooded young stages, as well as the timing Chimney Swifts need to follow this year to successfully fledge their young.
First we will start with our reports from outside of Winnipeg (Souris, Melita, Lyleton, Pierson, Stonewall, Lower Fort Garry, Brandon, La Broquerie, Selkirk, Southport and Dauphin.
I was off in southwestern Manitoba doing grassland bird surveys (wearing my other hat as the Manitoba IBA program coordinator), but also checking out southwestern Manitoba for Chimney Swifts! On June 27th my first stop was back in Souris to see if I could find evidence of birds using the Lagasse and Chocolate Shop chimneys in town, as previously Ariel and I saw activity around these chimneys, but no confirmed use. My first stop was the Lagasse chimney for an afternoon monitoring session. I only had to hang out for five minutes before a swift scooted out the back of the chimney. About 30 minutes later a swift entered the chimney again and stayed in the chimney for the rest of the session.
The next stop was just a few buildings down at the Chocolate Shop. I wasn’t sure if I would see much as a big thunderstorm was passing just south of the town, and we know that swifts often take cover during poor weather. Despite a brief rainstorm, the swifts didn’t seem phased with up to seven zipping around during the monitoring session. They often flew quite low to the chimney. 25 minutes into the session a Chimney Swift slipped out of the back of the chimney again (why is it never the front of the chimney where I have a nice view?). I did not see any swifts enter the chimney again, but did see two swifts approach the chimney like they were either attempting to enter, or like they were looking down inside the chimney.
Katharine Schulz was also in Souris on June 17th. She watched the Whistling Donkey Pub in Melita from 11:55 AM to 12:40 PM. She had three swifts go down the chimney at 12:14 PM and then three to four swifts exit 10-20 minutes later. Last year we though that this chimney might either both a roosting and nesting chimney and/or have a “helper” swift. It looks that either of those scenarios might be the case again this year. Without a monitor nearby to watch the swifts more frequently, we are left with our educated guesses based on behaviour to determine what is happening here.
On June 28th I did a blitz of chimneys in the town of Melita. I started out in the late afternoon for a 30-minute watch of the Legion Hall chimney. About 15 minutes into my watch, I had one swift drop down into the chimney completely silently. 10 minutes later the swift exited the chimney just as quietly. Quite sneaky!
Next, I walked across town to the Melita Hospital. Here I was treated to the extra confusion of up to four Purple Martins also flying around the site. Luckily, they have a different sounding call, and a different body shape from the Chimney Swifts. Most of the activity around the site was the Purple Martins at first. 35 minutes into the session I had three swifts, then four swifts, and then two swifts circle low around the chimney from the west and then head off again. Two minutes later I had one swift go down the chimney, with a second swift “escorting” the first to the chimney edge before flying off. 10 minutes later the swift exited the chimney and I ended my session.
After a break for supper and some relaxation I headed back out for an evening monitoring session at the Antler River Museum. In the past this site has sometimes been a roost site and sometimes a nest site, so I thought evening monitoring could capture either site use. From 9:03 – 9:40 PM I only saw one swift high in the air, but at 9:41 PM one swift exited out the back of the chimney. After that I saw 1-2 swifts high in the air for the remainder of the evening until both went down the chimney (10-20 minutes after sunset). Seems like they may be nesting here this year based on behaviour.
I also spent some time in both Lyleton and Pierson on June 29th to watch for Chimney Swifts. Both towns have a “candidate chimney” – a chimney that looks promising for swifts. Two years we spotted swifts in both towns as well, but all was quiet this year.
Tim Poole stopped by Stonewall on June 27th to grab a coffee after completing a morning breeding bird survey. Just a minute after he arrived one swift dove down the chimney (after a couple of tries) while a second swift hung around the area. Six minutes later the second swift entered the chimney as well, with both swifts exiting at the same time 20 minutes later.
Gerald Machnee watched the Fur Loft chimney at Lower Fort Garry in the evenings on June 1st, 9th, 16th and 30th. On June 1st two swifts were spotted flying south and one Chimney Swift was seen flying on June 30th, but other than that only swallows were spotted. This chimney successfully fledged young last year, but does not appear to be in use this year.
Gerald was also watching the chimney on the building next to the bell tower at Lower Fort Garry. This chimney has been used by swifts once in the past, but not for the last three years. Gerald watched this chimney on the evenings of June 1st, 4th, 9th and 30th. On June 1st two swifts were noted flying south (same two as from the Fur Loft monitoring session), on June 4th one swift entered the chimney at 9:45 PM, and on June 30th a swift was in the air but not in the chimney. Similar to the Fur Loft, there were no other sightings.
Karla Guyn and Jim Devries were at Lower Fort Garry for an event on June 25th, and had the definition of an incidental sighting when two swifts entered west chimney on the Men’s House. If you remember from two weeks ago, the swifts are using a new chimney at the Fort this year. Karla and Jim saw two swifts fly over the area for the next hour. The following video was captured by Karla and Jim at Lower Fort Garry.
Video courtesy of Karla Guyn and Jim Devries
Joanne Tuckwell was back at Lower Fort Garry to watch the west chimney on the Men’s House on June 27th for a 90 minute morning session. She had pretty constant action with up to three swifts in the air and three sets of entries/exits in the chimney. After finishing at the Men’s House Joanne moved over to watch the Fur Loft chimney and the chimney near the bell tower. She had no activity there, but could still see swifts in the air nearer to the Men’s House chimney.
Gerald was back at the Men’s House chimney again on June 30th for the evening and had two entries at 8:47 PM, and one more swift that was last seen at 9:25 PM, which did not enter a chimney that Gerald could see.
Joanne was back at the Men’s House chimney again on the morning of July 5th. She had three sets of entries and exits in an 80-minute period. Going off of the amount of time spent in the chimney, as well as the time between entries and exits seems like there could be young in the chimney!
On June 29th Louanne Reid, Glennis Lewis and Gwyn Richards watched the north chimney on the Orange Block building. Previously one swift has been going down this chimney, with a second swift in the area (but not using the chimney). However, this time the second swift did go down the chimney! Last year this site was a pretty textbook nesting site, but this year we are not able to tell from behaviour what is happening here yet.
On June 30th Frank and Jacquie Machovec took a jaunt down to the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie to visit the site they monitored during the NRMP nights in the spring. They had no action in the small chimney for the evening. The larger chimney had one swift exit at 8:58 PM and go back down the chimney again one minute later. Two other chimney swifts were seen in the air at 9:24 PM, which is a bit of a head scratcher as there are no other known chimneys in the area. Something to watch for!
Next we have a big update for the month of June for our sites in Selkirk. We will start at 367 Main St. Winona Hook did three evening monitoring session there on June 8th, June 16th and June 28th seeing two entries each time. Winona also did two monitoring sessions at the St Merchants Hotel on June 22nd and June 30th, where she also had a pair of entries both times.
Now we will move over to the various Selkirk Mental Health Centre Chimneys. The Yellow Brick chimney was watched on June 6th, 13th, 22nd and 28th with quite a few different observations by Winona, Nia Massey and Linda Adie. In the first monitoring session there were two swifts using the chimney, which switched to three swifts on June 13th. No swifts entered the chimney on June 22nd, while one swift entered on June 28th to go down for the night. Tim Poole watched the Yellow Brick chimney during the morning of June 30th and had no chimney use. There were two entries recorded again on July 5th, still looking like the swifts were only using the chimney for roosting at night.
Variable observations were also seen by Winona, Linda and Nia for the Stack Replacement Tower. The first evening monitoring period on June 6th had two entries, followed by no entries on June 13th, two entries again on June 22nd, one entry in the evening of June 28th. Tim monitored the Stack Replacement Tower on the morning of June 30th and had one entry and one exit. Linda and Nia were back on the evening of July 5th and observed two entries again for the night.
The Infirmary chimney had quite a bit of activity happening during the morning of June 27th when Robert and Donna Hempler were monitoring. There were three sets of entries and exits during the half hour, behaviour that may be indicative of nest building or egg laying. Three days later Aynsley also watched the site for 30 minutes in the morning but saw no entries or exits. As incubation exchanges tend to happen once an hour, there may have been a swift incubating inside the chimney, but more monitoring is needed to catch an incubation exchange confirm if this is the case. Robert and Donna had two entries for the night on July 5th as well.
The East Tower was monitored on June 28th by Winona, where she saw one entry at 9:20 PM. Two days later Aynsley was back at the east tower during the day and saw one entry at 10:10 AM and an entry almost an hour later. Perhaps the swifts are working towards nesting here as well? However, to mix it up there was no use of the chimney recorded by Gerald on the evening of July 5th. Similar to the Infirmary chimney, more monitoring is needed before making conclusions.
The West Tower at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre was monitored on the morning of June 30th by Tim Poole. A maximum of six swifts were seen overhead, but Tim noted that none of the swifts appeared interested by the tower. Contrary to what Tim observed, on the evening of July 5th Robert and Donna had a quick turn around entry and exit at 9:00 PM, followed by one swift down the chimney for the night at 9:45 PM.
I’d be incline to say based on behaviour that the Yellow Brick chimney and the Towers are being used periodically as roosting chimneys – swifts playing their version of musical chairs! However, there have been sightings of daytime entries and exits in several towers. Strictly roosting swifts don’t tend to use the towers during the day in good weather, so that does point to possible nesting attempts being underway. More monitoring is needed before conclusions can be drawn.
Gord Oglivie checked out the chimney on the Mynarski building in Southport on June 29th. Last year two swifts were seen at this site, but Gord had no luck spotting them this year.
Last but not least, we have an update from Dauphin from the evening of June 29th. Pat Start monitored the Hong Kong chimney with the observation, “…one [swift] down, second one down, one out, final one returns to go down. This would be about the third check with thee same rotation, so likely on eggs”. Ken Wainwright watched the roost chimney and had 8 entries with no exits. It sounds like the Dauphin crew are keeping their fingers crossed for Chimney Swift behaviour in the next week or so that might indicate feeding of brooded young.
As well Tim Poole caught swifts entering a new site in Dauphin – at the St Paul’s Anglican Church. In Tim’s words, “I went for a walk towards the roost [roosting chimney] and spotted three swifts in the air. Heading back around 9:30, two swifts oared over my head towards the church. Running back, I just about had enough time to watch the first swift circle the adjacent building and then circle over the chimney and drop in. Around 30 seconds later the second now dropped in”.
Next, we take a quick trip as the Chimney Swift flies over into Winnipeg.
First we have Breanne Reinfort’s last two official MCSI evening monitoring sessions at Maryland Foodfare. She monitored the chimney despite moderate wind and occasional rain showers to come up with one swift down the chimney relatively early (8:49 PM, sunset at 9:39 PM), likely due to the weather. Three other swifts were seen in the air, but did not go down the chimney. Breanne had better weather on the evening of June 22nd. She had one exit at 8:39 PM as she was setting up for her session. This was followed by a swift down the chimney at 9:00 PM and another at 9:38 PM, and two other swifts seen in the air. The earlier exit suggests that nest building/ egg laying may have been taking place at this site.
Blair Reid got skunked (no swifts) during his evening monitoring session on June 22nd at 865 Tache Avenue, and his daytime monitoring session on June 25th at 690 St Joseph.
Gary Franzmann and Marj Kendall were out at 1295 Pembina Highway on June 22nd. They had a brief period of action at 9:51 PM when a Chimney Swift flew by three times in as many minutes, but ultimately flew off to roost elsewhere for the night.
Aynsley Woods was been busy hitting up several Chimney Swift sites at the end of June. On the morning of June 21st Aynsley and Alyson Jessett watched Chief Peguis Junior High. A maximum of two swifts were seen at the site multiple times, each time flying quite low. However, no entries or exits were seen.
They also watched the Radmon House Apartments with no swifts seen. However, Aynsley was back at Radmon House on June 24th at 1:32 PM where two swifts entered the chimney just a couple minutes after her session started, and then subsequently left the chimney 5-10 minutes later.
On June 21st Aynsley watched the Curtis Hotel for a daytime session, but had zero swifts. She was back on June 24th during the day and this time captured a swift exiting from the chimney and entering again 13 minutes later, with three swifts seen in the air. This session and her session at Radmon House are great examples of why doing multiple monitoring sessions at the same spot can be important!
Aynsley then moved over to the Linlee Apartments where a total of two swifts were seen in the air, but no activity was recorded at the chimney (Aynsley went back on June 29th with the same results). Aynsley’s last stop of the day was at LB Towers Apartments, where she saw three swifts in the air, but no activity at the chimney.
From Randy Mooi we have two reports for the Children’s House on Pacific Avenue downtown. The morning of June 23rd there was not a swift to be seen in the sky, despite beautiful weather. On June 28th Randy watched in the morning once again and this time heard one swift.
Gwen Armbuster was back watching the Chimney Swifts at 139 Market Avenue from her patio on June 29th. She noted “When I arrived at 8:00 PM I observed and heard one Chimney Swift flying in huge circles directly overhead. Within a few minutes I observed a pair that flew together in perfect synchronization. After about 20 minutes another pair joined the mix and then another single… When I left at 9:00 PM there was still one pair and one single. I did not observe any swift enter or exit the chimney, as I have in previous weeks”. Sunset on June 29th was at 9:41 PM, so it is possible that none of the swifts had gone down for the evening at the period when Gwen was monitoring this time.
Ron Bazin did a quick stop in at his MCSI night stomping grounds at Archibald Storage in St Boniface on the morning of July 4th. He got a great surprise of a textbook incubation exchange, “Not long after I arrived a Chimney Swift flew straight into the chimney (10:56 am) and within 30-45 seconds a Chimney Swift exited the chimney. Looks like incubation is under way!” Ron was now intrigued and went back for a longer monitoring session during the afternoon of July 5th. This time he saw three sets of entries and exits in his 90 minutes with very quick turn around times – more evidence for incubation! The quick turn arounds would be the individuals switching out who is sitting on the nest.
Myself and Jon Benson monitored the Grant Wilton Apartments on the evening of July 5th. At the same time Jon was interviewing me about Chimney Swifts and the MCSI for his program on the University of Winnipeg’s radio station CKUW-FM (95.9 MHz). We will update everyone once we know when it will come out – probably in August. On the Chimney Swift front, it was pretty quiet. We had one flyby of two swifts from the north, but no action related to our chimney.
Good bye and Good Luck!
On a sadder note, this is my last full week as the Coordinator of the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative. I will still be around as a part-time Coordinator until the position is filled (so keep sending in those datasheets!), and you will hopefully see my name mentioned as a volunteer after that! I have really enjoyed my time here – largely due to all of you great volunteers and of course, the antics of the Chimney Swifts! Thank you!
