Hello, and happy Friday!
I hope you are all enjoying the official start of summer. It’s an important week! Yesterday was the summer solstice. Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and tonight is a full moon. The June full moon is often referred to as the Strawberry Moon because of its pink/reddish tones – a beautiful sight indeed, and I am looking forward to seeing it rise!
Thanks to everyone who got out on Wednesday, June 19 to participate in our monitoring blitz! Based on the reports I’ve received so far, at least 25 chimneys were monitored, with the help of at least 37 monitors!
In this week’s blog, we will share results from the blitz as well as the other monitoring that’s gone on in the past few weeks. A lot has happened! A lot has happened! We’ve crossed 5 more sites off our priority list, and we’ve also discovered a new site.Keep reading for details.
St. Adolphe
Let’s start with Barb’s latest report from St. Adolphe. Barb’s reports are always fascinating because of her deep knowledge of swifts and their nesting dynamics. I always learn a lot reading her analyses of what she sees while monitoring – I have included some of her comments in this recap. On June 17, Barb visited the Club Amical from 11:15am to 12:20pm, and saw 1 entry into the SE chimney. On June 18, she returned to Club Amical from 12:20pm to 1:35pm, and saw 1 entry into the SE chimney at 12:54. The NE chimney had no activity for most of the session, but finally Barb saw 1 entry at 1:24pm, and 1 exit at 1:30pm. Barb’s recap of these few visits so far: “Bottom line = I went from gloomy guarded optimism in the blink of an eye…the 6-ish minute duration-in interval at the NE Club could reflect a mid-stage indicator of incubation…[progressive] steps to confirm incubation = 50% attendance; duration-in interval <10 min; then observation of a classic incubation exchange = entry followed by an exit within 1-2 minutes.”
On June 19, Barb watched the Club Amical again from 10:55am to 11:55am. At the NE chimney, she saw 1 entry at 11:11am, and 1 entry at 11:13am, followed by 2 exits at 11:25am. At the SE chimney, there was 1 exit at 11:48am, so that swift was in the chimney for at least 53 minutes before exiting. Once again, here are Barb’s thoughts on what she saw this week: “All in all, the swifts are not tight on eggs, but nest building-egg laying and early days incubation are being reflected in the activity pattern. The activity patterns vary day to day and are all likely to be bogged down a bit with the poor feeding conditions. I’m not needing a heat dome, but some slightly warmer and steadier temp’s would go a long way to support the swifts!”
Selkirk/Lower Fort Garry/Lockport
Now over to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. On June 12, Aynsley swung by the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for a quick morning observation session. During the 20 minutes she was there, she saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney, and 1 exit from T03. That evening, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club did their weekly monitoring. Gerald watched the infirmary chimney and saw 1 entry at 8:42pm, 1 exit at 8:54pm, 2 entries at 9:34pm, and another entry at 10:09pm. That’s 3 swifts in the chimney. He also watched T03 and saw 1 entry at 8:46pm, 2 entries at 9:23pm, 2 exits around 9:32pm, and 2 entries at 9:54pm (3 swifts in chimney). Fred and Nettie watched T01 and saw lots of activity – 1 exit at 7:55pm, and then 6 entries between 9:10pm and 10:10pm. They note that there was another possibly entry at 9:59pm, but they aren’t sure. So that’s a total of 6 swifts confirmed in the chimney, maybe 7! Linda watched T04 and saw 5 entries into the chimney between 9:22pm and 10:06pm. Lots of swifts at the SMHC! Recap of June 12 at end of roosting hour: 3 swifts in infirmary chimney, 3 swifts in T03, 6 swifts in T01, 5 swifts in T04 (yellow brick chimney and T02 were not monitored).
Kevin and Evan did an hour of daytime monitoring at SMHC on June 17. At T04, Kevin saw 1 entry at 2:14pm, and 1 exit at 2:24pm. He saw no activity at the yellow brick chimney. At T01, Evan saw 1 exit at 2:05pm, and 1 entry at 2:11pm. At T03, he saw 1 entry at 2:31pm, 1 exit at 2:39pm, and 1 entry at 2:47pm. That evening, Patti and Dennis watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 9:37pm.
On June 20, Nia and Linda watched the yellow brick chimney and T04. At the yellow brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:14pm, and 1 exit at 9:35pm. At T04, they saw 1 exit at 9:09pm, 1 exit at 9:27pm, 1 entry at 9:37pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 entry at 10:02pm. That’s 3 swifts confirmed in the chimney.
As for the other sites in Selkirk, Gerald watched 367 Main St on June 18 and saw 1 entry. Fred and Nettie watched the Merchant’s Hotel in Selkirk on June 19 and saw 2 entries at 9:03pm, 2 exits at 9:24pm, 1 entry at 9:38pm and 1 entry at 9:57pm, for 2 swifts total.
In Lockport, Gerald monitored St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on June 10. He saw 2 entries into the north chimney.
Now over to Lower Fort Garry. Gerald watched the chimneys at Lower Fort Garry on June 14. He saw 3 swifts enter the Men’s House and 2 swifts enter the Fur Loft during the roosting hour. He also had another interesting sighting – At 9:48pm, 2 swifts began making repeated dives at a chimney on the west side of the Museum building. The diving ended at 10:03pm, and he did not see any swifts actually enter the chimney.
Brandon
On June 1, Louanne watched the Orange Block building and saw no swifts at all. On June 5, Louanne, Glennis and Sandy saw 1 entry at 9:20pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:42pm, 2 exits at 9:45pm. After this set of exits, they did not see the swifts again. On June 12, Louanne, Gwyn, Sandy, Glennis, Gillian and Carson watched the site again and did not see any swifts at all, though they mention that there were a few raindrops throughout, and a storm was rolling in. On June 19, Louanne, Sandy, Glennis, and Gwyn again did no see any swifts at all. This is strange given that this chimney has consistently had swifts for several years now. Louanne mentioned that a building in the vicinity of the Orange Block building burnt down last year – we don’t know if this would have impacted the swift chimneys. Louanne also mentioned that swifts had been heard in other parts of downtown Brandon, so they are still around, but where they are nesting and/or roosting remains a mystery.
St Francois Xavier
Michele watched the Church in St Francois Xavier on June 12 around 1 pm. During the 30 minutes she was there, she did see a swift circle the chimney a couple times and then fly away, but otherwise there was no activity.
Eriksdale
Brent and Shirley watched the chimney at the former church inEriksdale on June 13 and saw no swifts.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste
As part of our blitz, Luc watched the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church on June 19 and saw 5 swifts enter the chimney between 9:44pm and 9:55pm.
Morden
Ron visited the Pembina Hills Art Centre in Morden on the evening of June 18, and the morning of June 19. While he saw 4 swifts flying “tantalizingly close to the chimney”, he did not see any entries. Marvin and Evelyn returned to this site later during the roosting hour of June 19 and at last, the swifts finally cooperated! 2 swifts entered around 9:39pm, followed by another 2 swifts around 9:56pm for a total of 4 swifts confirmed inside the chimney. Woohoo!
A whole bunch of other towns visited by Ron!
Ron has been busy this week monitoring sites around the province. On June 17, he monitored St. Hyacinthe Parish in La Salle (which is a priority site) and saw an exit at 6:24am. Confirmed! That same morning, he also saw 1 exit and 1 entry at a private residence in St Francois Xavier, and 1 exit from the church at 5:26am. Ron also stopped in Carman but did not see any swifts.
On June 20, Ron visited Dominion City and saw 1 swift exit at private residence. He then went to Emerson, and while he saw some suitable chimneys, he did not see any swifts. In Miami, same thing – nice chimneys, but no swifts.
Ron also checked out the Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach. Frank had checked out this site on June 17 and though he saw a lot of construction, he did not see any swifts. Ron had more luck – hesaw 1 exit at 10:36am, and 1 entry a minute later at 10:37pm. He then saw another exit at 10:45am, and 1 entry at 10:48pm. These do seem like classic incubation exchanges, so it seems that nesting is underway despite the heavy construction!
Winnipeg
We’ve got a new site in Winnipeg. On June 11, while on a walk, Cain noticed 2 entries into a private residence on Ruby St, in Wolseley. It is always exciting to get to add a site to the database!
On June 13, Frank visited the Arundel Apartments (780 and 790 Elizabeth Rd), which are both priority sites. He did not see any activity at all for almost the entire session, until 1 single entry into the chimney at 790 Elizabeth Rd at 9:29pm. Sneaky! Blair then visited this site on June 15 to focus on 780 Elizabeth Rd, but he also did not see any swifts around this chimney. On June 19 (blitz night), Blair returned to monitor 790 Elizabeth Rd and had much more luck – he saw 1 entry at 8:34pm, 1 exit at 8:43pm, 1 exit at 8:59pm, 1 entry at 9:31pm, and 1 final entry at 9:32pm (total of 2 swifts confirmed in the chimney).
Blair has also monitored many other sites in the past few weeks.On June 1, Blair watched Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (188 St Mary’s Rd) and saw 2 entries at 9:17pm. On June 8, he checked out Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) which is on our priority site list. He saw 1 entry at 9:05pm, 1 exit at 9:19pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, and 1 entry at 9:36pm. Woohoo, another site crossed off our list! On June 11, Blair watched 865 Tache Ave, and saw no activity. On June 13, he watched the apartment building at 1310 Archibald St, and saw 1 exit at 9:11pm, and 1 entry at 9:20pm followed by 1 entry at 9:23pm. On June 17, he watched the Marion Hotel (393 Marion St) and saw 2 in the air, but no entries/exits.
Donna has also been busy checking out priority sites. On June 14, she watched 465A Lanark St and on June 17, she watched 465D Lanark St. Unfortunately on both evenings, she did not see any swifts. On the night of the blitz, Frank covered this site and other than one low flying swift seen to the north of the chimney at 8:21pm and a possible chittering swift heard around 9:30pm, there was no swift activity.
For the blitz, Donna watched St Paul Apostle Parish, and saw 1 entry at 9:34pm.
Jeff watched 803 Erin St, which is one of our priority sites. He saw 1 entry at 9:12pm, 1 entry at 9:37pm, and 1 entry at 9:59pm, for a total of 3 entries into the chimney! One more priorityconfirmed.
Cam checked out 1025 Grant Ave during the daytime and though there was a helicopter flying near, he did not see any swifts.
Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower during the roosting hour. They briefly heard a couple of swifts when they arrived at 9:10pm, but they did not hear them again and they did not see any entries or exits, which is a little bit strange and unexpected.
Marilyn and Pam monitored the Nordale School and they did not see any swifts.
I briefly checked out the Clarence Court Apartments in South Osborne area late afternoon, and though I did see one swift fly near the chimney, I did not catch any entries or exits. Later that evening, Liam and I checked out the Kings Theatre chimney on Portage Ave. We saw 2 swifts enter 9:40pm. After that point, there were still 4 swifts in the sky above us. We suspect a few of these swifts may have entered the Marner Apartments but we did not have a good view of this chimney.
Aynsley watched the McBeth House. This site has three chimneys, and the middle chimney is on the priority site list this year. Though Aynsley did not see any entries or exits into the middle chimney, she did see 1 entry into the back chimney around 9:57pm.
Updated Priority Site List (June 20):
| Community | Neighbourhood | Address | Site | Observer |
| Eriksdale | – | 16 Railway Ave | St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum | |
| Ron B. | ||||
| Marvin & Evelyn K. | ||||
| Swan River | – | 518 Main St | Commercial building | |
| The Pas | – | 380 Hazelwood Ave | VIA Rail Station | |
| Wasagaming | – | 106 Buffalo Dr | Dragonfly Delights Tea Room | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 100 Adelaide St | Immigrant Centre Building | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 172 Edmonton | Ladywood Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 91 Albert St | The Old Market Autonomous Zone | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Garry | 1022 Pembina Hwy | Cambridge Hotel | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 118 Scott St | Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 141 River Ave | Ludlow Court Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 245 Bell Ave | Children’s Education Funds Inc | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 260 Wentworth Ave | Lady Wentworth Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 272 Cockburn St | King George Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 280 River Ave | Moxam Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 411 Stradbrook Ave | Lancaster Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 526 Walker Ave | Clarence Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 834 Grosvenor Ave | Eugene Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge | 444 River Ave | Augustine United Church | |
| Meredith S. | ||||
| Winnipeg | North Kildonan | 25 Valhalla Dr | Valhalla Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | North Kildonan | 415 Edison Ave | L&B Towers | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 1025 Grant Ave | Grant Arms Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 465A Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 465D Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Cam T. | ||||
| Winnipeg | River Heights | 394 Academy Rd | Uptown Lofts | |
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 780 Elizabeth Rd | Arundel Apartments | |
| Frank M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 99 Birchdale Ave | Nordale School | |
| Blair R. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2285 Portage Ave | Foodfare | |
| Donna M., Eugenia G. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2415 Portage Ave | Essex House (broken pest cage) | |
| Winnipeg | West Broadway | 198 Furby St | Harvard Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | West Broadway | 39 Balmoral St | Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | West End | 318 Home St | Mennonite Church | |
| Jeff H. | ||||
| Winnipeg | West Kildonan | 31 McBeth St | McBeth House (A) middle chimney |
That’s all for this week. Thanks for being here!
-Marissa
