This is the first part of our National Roost Monitoring Program results for May 30th, and what a crazy night of monitoring we had! If you have not sent your report in yet, no worries, we plan to do an update and reminder on Monday, and we will include all the remaining and weekend reports in that.
We start our roundup in a new place for Chimney Swifts. Cory and Scott took a drive out to Pilot Mound to check for swifts. On two occasions in 2018, swifts were noted in town. Here is a snippet of their report:
‘8:00 pm – Scott and I arrived at Pilot Mound. We drove slowly through neighbourhoods with documented chimneys
8:15 pm – spotted one swift flying over Railway Street. We parked and decided to stay for awhile. Within five minutes we saw two swifts flying together and vocalizing. The pair began flying in a tight circle over a chimney at above address
8:30 pm – one bird dropped into chimney feet first. Second bird continued to fly over chimney, some passes were just a few inches over the structure and this bird appeared to begin entry but changed course.
8:55 pm – bird in chimney exited and rejoined the mate. Both birds continued tight circle over the chimney’
This is excellent news, our first ever documented Chimney Swift use of a chimney in Pilot Mound!
Staying in western Manitoba, Glennis checked a new chimney on the New Era School in Brandon. She may have seen a distant pair of swifts, but was unable to confirm this, leaving with a zero in the chimney. Margaret and Millie did though have a very late single entrance at the regular Orange Block site – almost after dark in fact. Dan has also not seen any swifts in Virden, despite his best efforts.
Further north, and Christian has eBirded a swift at the east gate area of Riding Mountain. Intriguing, as this is the area they were traditionally observed nesting in trees.
In Dauphin, Ken, Jan, Pat and Marilyn sent this report:
‘Well, in Dauphin the theatre gets in new movies for Friday so if we have been stalling and still want to see a movie, it’s Thursday or nothing and that’s what the case was for us tonight. Yup, we went to a movie. I had been commenting to Jan that I always thought the heat of the day was around 2:00 to 3:00 PM but noticed the weather channel had us going to be at +30ish come 5:00 PM. When we came out of the theatre and dashed to our vehicles, we started to shiver! It was very overcast with dark clouds, windy and cool, no I’ll call it cold! We had some sort of cold front come through. Despite the weather, the swifts did not let us down however with every chimney having at least 1 go down (roost had 14; nesting one had 2 and nesting 3 had 1) so we had a total of (17) swifts accounted for which is a 3 bird increase over night #3 and the highest count this spring. The temperature was now down to 13C but was to feel like 8C. All swifts went down their respective chimneys between sunset and 10 minutes after with no unaccounted birds.’
Gord reported 11 swifts in the air in Portage la Prairie, and reported from Trinity United Church as follows:
‘2 entries into the south chimney at 21:30 and 2 entries in the north chimney (small north chimney) at 21:52.’
Over to Mike and Michele. This time they avoided the RCMP – but had a good chat with the church caretaker. The report was more straightforward as well this time:
‘Not much activity to report this evening in SFX but one pair of swifts is still in the area, although foraging much further afield than usual. They both entered the chimney to roost for the night.’
Swinging south, Rhonda came up with a bonus, a new site in Carman:
‘Carman had a great night, last night. At one point, there were 12 swifts spotted circling in a group at the Carman Elementary School. That’s up from our previous 4. I did see one swift enter a private house (east of the elementary school) chimney at approximately 9:30 pm… comparatively early. I watched the Town Hall at 10 pm and saw 3 go in but 1 popped back out and never returned.’
12 swifts, one person, Rhonda needs some volunteer help. If you live in the area and would like to help, please let us know and we will pass your details to her.
And in Morden, David reported that:
‘Coffee was replaced by a Slurpee and up to 5 Swifts (and multiple Common Nighthawk) where seen foraging at the same time. “My” chimney had 3 entries and no exits so my next quest is to find where the other 2 birds are roosting/nesting. Morden isn’t that big….how hard could it be….right?’
It took several trips for David to zone in on the one chimney in Morden, for some reason these swifts are elusive!
Over in La Salle, Irene and Scott finally had some swifts to see. We make the total in the air as 5, with one entering each chimney on the church. Here again, we ended up with extra birds, and no known chimneys for them to roost for the night.
In Otterburne, Colleen and Mark had a strange start to the evening. At 8:25, they reported:
‘Couldn’t see the birds! There seemed to be no action.’
The summary then stated:
‘we saw Chimney Swift periodically through the evening. However, they were hard to see and I think they were further south much of the time and quite high up most of the time.’
Eventually they noted entries in all chimneys, accounting for 5 swifts between the chimneys. They also had several unaccounted swifts in the air after the others had gone in for the night.
In Steinbach, Keelie watched on the 29th and 30th. On the 29th she noted 5 swifts in the air, but on the 30th only 3. On each occasion 3 swifts entered the chimney.
David over in La Broquerie had an excellent evening,, with 2 swifts in the small church chimney and 5, possibly 6, in the tall chimney:
‘I think this was the best and most interesting viewing night since I have been doing it.
For most of the evening there were 6, then 7 and then 8 in the air. (Possibly even 9 counted by an ‘inexperienced’ spectator.) There were lots of ins and outs such that I completely lost track as many exited on the far side behind the chimney and dropped out of sight below the roof line. Anyway, 8 is a good number.
But, at about 9.35 I counted 12 in the air and my spectator counted 13. Thirteen certainly did not enter the chimney and I stayed until it was too dark to see, so the extra ones possibly up to 6 must have another roost nearby.’
Into the ‘peg. Marshall sent this report from Fort Garry:
‘I’ve done the Cambridge (on Pembina) (two entries) and the Lord Roberts Leisure Centre (nuthin).’
Kirsten and Doug unfortunately still have no sightings from the Flag Shop on Pembina. This is a regular spot for swifts, and the lack of activity is a bit baffling.
Into Fort Rouge, Barbara and Phil watched two apartments, one on Clarke had no entries, with 6 swifts circling over the area, and one on River had 2 entries and 5 swifts circling.
Leah and Maya watched 915 Corydon and noted 2 entries, strangely both were far apart in terms of time, and very quick.
Jenny watched the possible new Windsor Park sites. There may have been an exit at one stage, but unfortunately the bird came from a strange angle and she was unable to confirm. She will try again though!
Blair revisited the Marion Hotel, the scene of a 3 swift roost a couple of evenings earlier:
‘It seems like the 3 swift I found at this location on May 27, were passing through as there were no entries for this location tonight.’
Blair also checked out another site on Tache earlier this week, again with no success.
Nicole and Cain continue their watch at the Fleetwood in Wolesey. Nicole recounted:
‘I had 2 swifts enter last night at Fleetwood and I had an exit as well!
1 entry 9:05
1 exit 9:10
2 enter at 9:25
4 others seen in the air’
Looks like some nest building is happening at the Fleetwood.
Lynnea and Adam did two sites. They began at the Nordale School in Norwood. 2 swifts entered the chimney for the night early. Brilliant news, another new site in Winnipeg! Not content, they decided to go elsewhere for more swift thrills and visited 303 Assiniboine Downtown. 2 swifts entered the tall nesting chimney. 11 swifts circled overhead looking like they were going to roost for the night, then at 9:38 they flew south. This suggests a possible roost somewhere south of the river.
Exciting news from Lanark Gardens on Corydon. Janice and John managed to observe swifts enter 3 different chimneys! At least 1, possibly 2 have never had confirmed swift observations before:
‘We had success tonight! We were originally watching 2
chimneys but decided to include a third chimney as there seemed to be activity
in that area so we probably missed a bit of data from 465 D. There were about
11 chimney swifts above us flying but the various buildings and trees obscure
the view as they fly overhead. The group of chimney swifts was definitely
flying closer to the Corydon Ave. end of that building complex.
That was a totally enjoyable experience – their calls are so distinct and it
was amazing how they silently drop into the chimneys. Look forward to June 3rd.’
Great to hear!
Down at Assiniboine School, Beth, Bill, Laura and Tim counted 120 swifts, with 55 entering within a few seconds of each other. A single swift also entered the King’s Theatre and two took the plunge into Carillon Towers.
Frank and Jacquie counted a net 4 at the Moorgate on Portage Avenue. We were lucky enough to have 2 pairs of eyes on Silver Heights as this can be seen from the Moorgate spot. Bob and Valerie had the pitchside view. Both sets of observers confirmed daytime activity and a pair of swifts onsite = an active nest site is underway before the June 3 deadline! Laura still had no swifts use the zoo tower, but there are still a few days for someone to decide to make good use of it.
To the south. Blaire had one of ‘those’ evenings:
‘Other than the five-sneeze fit at 9:02 pm my eyes never left the chimney tonight until it was too dark. Saw 3 swifts flying around and near the foundation a couple of times tonight at around 8:45 and then about 8:53 p.m.. But ZERO swifts entered. Not sure what is going on or if I am losing it. I’m still watching but can’t see anything anymore.
There were 4 swifts in town yesterday so I had expected to see something tonight.’
Barb and Rob also had an evening in St Norbert, but Barb sent a longer report with a St Adolphe update, so here it is in it’s full glory:
‘What a difference a couple of days make. A short shoulder season seemed to transition us rapidly between a lingering chilly spring to summer-like conditions. Monday morning was a whiteout with frost on the roof and lawn – a male Scarlet Tanager was grounded on the road in a beam of sunshine trying to warm up. Fast forward to Thursday and the temperature soared to 30 C by mid-afternoon before “cooling” to ~23 C at the end of the roosting hour.
Thursday morning, conditions were perfect for Chimney Swifts in St Adolphe. Local feeding was seen regularly and there were a lot of social interactions – trios racing by, courting “V” displays between pairs, and group discussions heard as swifts moved overhead. The swifts at Main St were in and out of the chimney twice in an hour. Over at the Club Amical, the pair in the SE chimney had 4 entry/exit cycles in an hour; once both swifts flew in and out together. The NE Club chimney was used twice in an hour, similar to the Main St birds, BUT that necessary confirmation of a pair using the site has eluded me…will have to check it out at roosting hour if the daytime “reveal” doesn’t happen soon.
Wednesday, the Church swifts were active in their chimney too.
Wednesday and Thursday, no activity was seen at Brodeur Bros. Last week’s investigations doesn’t seem to have culminated in a breeding pair settling in.
Just a reminder that June 3rd is the all important date for predicting the possibility of a successful breeding attempt. A pair of breeding Chimney Swifts must be nest building at a site by this date to have a chance for completing their parental duties and launching fledglings. It is a very short breeding season in Manitoba for these birds and every successful breeding attempt has started on or before June 3.
Back to the St Norbert Parish Church for NRMP-3 and the night was a pleasant change from Sunday’s frigid conditions. It was absolutely balmy at 26 C, the winds were calm, and the bonus was the heavy perfume of flowering trees. Chimney Swift activity changed altogether. Shortly after set-up, about 8:30 PM, a swift blew out of the chimney. Then a second swift made an exit. A perfect recipe for a nest site = two adults using the chimney during the daytime! Two swifts roosted for the night – 1 swift entered just after the roosting hour began and 1 swift followed 15 minutes later. All the quick action was over before sunset.
Thursday morning at my favourite organic garden centre, I had an engaging chat with Shane who is a new volunteer at the Beer Store on Portage. Here’s a shout out to him with the hopes that swifts were about last night. The world of swifts changes dynamically and the warm weather sure has shifted activities.’
And that is the end of this, er, brief update. We will send a reminder out on Monday for the evening monitoring session, and include, no doubt, a few remaining reports. It really was an excellent night of intrigue and swift fun, and let’s hope for good weather on Monday, and even more of your excellent reports and stories.
— Tim Poole
