Oh what a night! Our third Chimney Swift National Roost Monitoring Program evening seemed to create a bewildering sense of confusion and baffling swift behaviour. These birds really like to play with our assumptions, and Thursday, they really played!
The ‘large’ roost in Dauphin is one of MCSI’s most well monitored sites. Ken and Jan have been excellent volunteers, always willing, and always diligent, producing a fine long-term dataset at one single site. As mentioned before, this roost is always consistent, they hardly ever have additional birds in the air, and so the situation they faced on Thursday was puzzling to say the least. They described the situation as follows (emphasis is theirs):
‘Well, we started out wondering if we would be going out due to a rainy forecast but then the major clouds moved off to the east so we went to watch the roost. We had a geocaching event organized for this night and there were 5 cache-ers that joined us to watch.
As soon as we arrived at 8:40 there were 3-4 swifts flying about. Come 9:08 and there were 11 seen overhead, chittering back and forth. About 9:49 there was a light sprinkle of rain and 1 swift was observed to come from the backside of the chimney and go down (we always seem to have a leader by it’s self). Well, we waited, it rained more, it got darker, we waited and finally we called it with only 1 swift in the chimney and 10 missing! We all figure there has to be another chimney they are using so we will have to start expanding our search once the weather gets better.’
Here is another report from Ken on June 1st:
‘Well, after going out for supper Jan and I decided to check around for other possible chimneys the swifts might be using, we didn’t get far! About a block away, in the rain, we spotted swifts flying overhead by a building with a small and large chimney. We stopped in a parking lot to observe and then moved to another lot where we could see both this and the “old” chimney. No sooner did we get parked than 2 swifts went down the short but larger chimney on our Watson Arts Centre, 104 – 1st Avenue NW. We were surprised at this due to the lack of height of this chimney. The chimney is 4.5 bricks square.
As we continued to watch, over the next hour we observed various sizes of swift flocks flying in the area. Just before 8:00 PM we started seeing swifts go down the “old” chimney and by 8:14 we had counted 18 down the “old” chimney with 2 flying out of sight. This would have been about a ½ hour before the roosting hour during which time we actually would have seen NO swifts!’
So there we have it, the swifts are using the traditional roost chimney, or maybe not, or maybe there are other chimneys to be found. What did that chap Rumsfeld say about known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns? I for one am looking forward to the next chapter in this saga later today!
Keelie, a new volunteer for 2018, has been doing a fantastic job at the Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach. This is her report from the evening:
‘There were 3 swifts that went into the Bethesda chimney at 9:10 pm. I saw 4 others fly southeast of Bethesda around 9:20-9:30 ish and they did not return. I stayed until about 10 pm. So I guess their place is somewhere in that area. Wonder where they went. So there was a total of 7 swifts this time. Weird. Seems like there’s always more each time!’
So we require a search in Steinbach for 1, possibly 2 chimneys. I feel a road trip coming!
Likewise, another new volunteer, David, is trying to locate where swifts might be roosting in Morden. The assumption has always been that the Pembina Arts Centre looked the most likely candidate. Well, assumptions and swifts NEVER go hand in hand. Over to David:
‘For the 3rd time, no swifts were observed entering the chimneys at the Morden clock tower. A group of 5 swifts was very active in the area, they were seen and heard almost continuously during the count period, gradually shifting from west to east as the evening wore on. The rain didn’t seem to affect them in the least.
It would seem my mission needs to shift from watching the clock tower to trying to find the roost they are using! I’ve already identified a chimney a block further east that will be my starting point, it is the building beside the CIBC bank. Wish me luck!’
Good luck David!
Fortunately, Otterburne swifts are always easy to predict. That’s right is it not? Over the Frank and Jacquie:
‘Another strange night of viewing at Providence College.
Shortly after our arrival, we spotted four CHSW high over the campus. So, we have at least 4 CHSW present.
Before 21:00, three CHSW entered chimneys, but we observed three CHSW overhead at 21:18 after these three entries. I don’t believe we missed any exits this time, and we never saw the three 21:18 birds return to campus. The right hand chimney (which had two CHSW last time) had no entries!
Unless we missed some entries/exits, we may have had six CHSW in the vicinity, three of whom did not return to the campus in the roost hour.’
A pattern appears to be developing here. Fortunately, this time David in La Broquerie had an easier evening:
‘It was a good thing I put on a couple of extra layers before leaving home and even then I had to get out my emergency rain jacket and emergency blanket to keep warm. It was chilly out there!
Anyway I arrived early as you suggested (at 8.30) and could see 7 birds at various times flying around. They really are the most agile birds I have seen.
With 2 birds going in and one coming out, then 3 going in and 2 coming out it was all a bit tricky keeping track of how many were actually in, but if my reckoning is correct, for the night there were 3 birds in the small chimney and 4 in the large one.’
Phew, swifts behaving themselves for once!
John continues to watch the 303 Assiniboine big roost, and was rewarded with two larger roosts, of 55 and 10 birds. Asked to compare the behaviour of the Assiniboine Avenue with the Assiniboine School roosts, John followed up with these observations:
‘Comparing 303 Assiniboine to Assiniboine School the pattern of entry is much the same. The birds fly over the building for anywhere from 30 second to 20 minutes before a few enter then in the next few second 20-40 enter in 4-5 seconds.
The school was interesting because the swifts flew over the area for about 20 minutes, increasing in number in that 20 minutes, before entering the chimney. It made me wonder if this was a social activity, because it’s not likely they were feeding there for that long. The area over the school is more open than 303 Assiniboine which might make the birds more likely to congregate there than at 303. But then they might be flying around in a large group that I can’t see because of the trees and buildings around 303.
The last time I monitored 303, Thursday the 31st, a group of between 40 -60 flew over the building for 30 second or more about 20 minutes before the group came back to enter the roost. And a few minutes before that 2 swifts flew around the building for a few seconds.
The shifting dynamic of the two chimneys at 303 is something I wonder about. The first NRMP night I believe 3 entered chimney A, then the second night only one, on the third eleven in and one out, leaving ten.
It will be interesting to see how many swifts come to 303 in the next few days and weeks. Will it be a nesting site, how many nests in one chimney, will both will be used?’
This roost is challenging the supremacy of Assiniboine School……but not yet. Kathy reported as follows from this area:
‘At the school chimney we counted 93 entering, between 9:28 and 9:42. Of that number one large group went in rapidly at 9:37 pm; Don and I thought 50 was about right. Beth said she counted 43 but knew she missed some. In the rest of the count it was easy to be exact: the total of those going in by one, two, four up to seven was 43. The Kings Theatre chimney had one enter at 9:00 pm and one at 9:25 pm. Adolf and I saw those go in. Adolf saw activity around the apartment chimney, but none that he was sure went in. Jake was at the apartment down Portage, and saw some swifts in the air but none entered that chimney.’
Further west, and Valerie and Bob watched the Silver Heights Apartment, reporting:
‘We assume there is a pair using the chimney and maybe nesting, even though not much activity? We saw no other swifts flying around in the area which was very surprising, as in the past we have always seen a few swifts flying overhead occasionally.’
Tim was at the Moorgate which is several hundred metres east of Silver Heights, and attached to the same general apartment complex. Tim responded to Valerie and Bob as follows:
‘I had 6 roosting birds, and saw 2 diving as if they were entering a house behind. My highest total of swifts was 23, but this makes sense as the birds seemed to hang around an area to the east and south, and directly above the Moorgate chimney. I only noted a single pair in the direction of the Silver Heights chimney.’
Back to Valerie:
‘That is really strange, as the Moorgate and the Silver Heights Apartments are so close together. And also, they are both near the river and across the river from Assiniboine Park/Zoo, so potentially a good area for insects! However, we are glad to hear that the Moorgate chimney is being used, and that you saw a lot of swifts. I wonder what is so good about east and south of the Moorgate. In previous years we had usually seen a lot of swifts flying around in the area of the Silver Heights Apartments.’
To finish off on Winnipeg reports, Sabina watched the zoo artificial tower and saw no swifts (fingers crossed for this evening). Lynnea saw a single early-to-bed swift enter the chimney at St Johns Ravenscourt. East Kildonan threw up a few furrowed brows. Pat and Dave continue to watch the Gordon King Memorial Church but to no avail, not even a swift was in sight. Rudolf, watching his three chimneys a few blocks further north of the church, noted up to 8 swifts in the air, but none in any of these traditional sites. We currently only account for 2 swifts in East Kildonan (thanks Garry), so where are these other swifts roosting? We might also need to put a search out for swifts in St Vital and St Boniface – we currently have no sightings at all in 2018 (please someone correct me, I want to be corrected). Jessica, continues to see no swifts at her usual spot on Springs Christian Academy in St Boniface. In Osborne Village, Patricia recorded 2 entries on 424 River.
Selkirk is our next stop. The large stack in Selkirk will always be a reliable place for double-figure entries of swifts. It was probably a surprise then for Bonnie and Gerald when they only counted 4 entries, a small number for this chimney. Carol and Sharon watched 2 swifts enter the yellow brick chimney, and Robert and Donna similarly counted 2 in the Infirmary chimney. Ray and Sybil also had 2 swifts entering the Merchant’s. The first bird was noted at Lower Fort Garry entering the southeast corner chimney by Nia and Linda. Gerald also noted a swift entering the large stack at 11:48am on June 2nd, a sensible swift on a cold day!
Margaret and Millie still have their pair. Interestingly, they exited the chimney almost 50 minutes after monitoring began, and re-entered 10 minutes later. A strange occurrence!
Barb and Rob were back at La Salle, and back with an interesting report! Here goes:
‘We went to La Salle super early hoping to catch some nest building behaviour. Not only did that NOT happen, but the swifts being the birds they are, taught us more about cold evening and partner dynamics! The head count was 3 – as has been the case so far this season. Also, as on the previous night, a pair was seen tightly together with a third bird nearby feeding at some distance; there were a couple of close group flights but not racing trio flights.
It was cold, windy, and very overcast. As we wondered who would get the dog to sit on them to warm up, a lone swift entered the WEST chimney at 8:38 PM. A minute later, the pair came over the church and one swift did a drop/feint on the west chimney before the two flew off. It was 15 minutes before seeing the pair again – they came toward the church then 1 dropped into the EAST chimney at 8:55 PM and at 8:56 PM the other dropped into the WEST chimney. So we had no nest building behaviour, we had 3 roosting entries all in the daytime, and the pair split themselves between the two sites. A tiff perhaps? A need for a time out? With such a cold night, you would think that a little extra huddling warmth would be useful. There is always a reason to watch another time to try to figure out these amazing birds!’
Cam and Diann also have a few mysterious birds in Lac du Bonnet. Diann kicks off her email as follows:
‘Some interesting results from LdB. On May 30 Cam went to LdB to observe a couple of potential roost chimneys, but saw no swifts. There are a few more potential sites in LdB and as there were 2, possibly 3 swifts unaccounted for on the 31st….’
The good news is that they had 2 swifts enter the Casey’s Inn for the first time in a few years, the bad news was that no swifts entered the bakery, which is their usual haunt. Even more unusual was the fact that 2 or 3 swifts were unaccounted for. But the previous evening, those swifts were not recorded at a couple of potential sites. They’re playing with you guys out there!
South to St-Jean-Baptiste, and this marathon session almost ends! Luc was unable to make the NRMP evening but followed a day later, noting a pair enter the chimney before 9pm, and a third swift flying around after the event. He returned to check the new site on June 2nd, and reported as follows:
‘I spent some time at the school tonight to see the swifts. I was quite surprised to see 9 swifts flying around the chimney. They seemed to have come out from the south, stuck around for a while, chittering, then kept moving north. The local swifts were around but never went in. I left when it was too dark to see anything.’
The datasheet mentioned that 2 swifts came close to the chimney and left at 9:47, pretty late, and they went elsewhere (we assume the church). BUT where did the 9 swifts go at that late hour?
Mike and Michele in St Francois Xavier finish off our report with a Sunday evening to the church. In total, 3 swifts entered the chimney, hopefully a breeding pair and a helper!
And that finishes our report.
Well almost! We have a couple of pieces of business to wrap up. Firstly, we have at least one person interested in helping out in Neepawa, but the more people looking, the more chance we have of pinning these swifts down. The second is of another confirmed new site, and another very likely new site. The confirmed site was a private house on Furby in Winnipeg, observed by the ever-alert Marshall on Friday evening. The second is an apartment building with a large chimney on Corydon, right on Confusion Corner. On Sunday evening, Tim noticed up to half a dozen swifts here, including a number of swifts swooping directly at the chimney but not entering. A very early morning meant that he did not wait to confirm, but this will be followed up and hopefully confirmed very soon.
There we have it, the season is really active, we have a wonderful group of committed volunteers collecting some incredibly valuable data – even if at times it leaves everyone scratching their heads.
Onwards to this evening and the final NRMP monitoring night. Let’s hope for some more fascinating observations. Sunset is different at every location, but as ever, if possible please get to your location 1 hour before sunset.
Good luck, and we look forward to sharing your stories and experiences later this week!
— Tim Poole
