The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative is pleased to support the National Roost Monitoring Program which is organized by biologists with the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada), Quebec region. We have an update for Night No. 1 – Wed. May 20, 2015.
The backstory: In early May, sunny, warm weather enticed spring migrants which were reported in low numbers – Ken had the first sightings of 2 chsw in Dauphin on Sunday, May 3; the following night, May 4, Frank and Jacquie saw 2 in Otterburne; then, Luc reported the return of swifts in Otterburne on May 5. Then migration stalled out as a cooling trend occurred…
The May long weekend: looooong it was, with challenging rain, sleet, and snow
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Temperatures plummeted below average during the day and
frost was widespread one night. What a challenge for aerial insectivores!
Wed. May 20th – the bottom line: a beautiful night after a sundrenched day. Monitors reported chimney swifts in many areas of the province – migrant swifts a
rrived in Manitoba and dispersed throughout Manitoba. The tally –
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Tim in Fort Rouge (Winnipeg) had an entry in the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre chimney and ~5 other birds were seen on the wing; Quinn was positioned elsewhere in the neighbourhood and did not see any swifts.
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David, Adolf, and Kathy in St. James (Winnipeg) saw 2 enter the Carillon and a glorious 55 roosted at Assiniboine School (up from 13 seen by Christian on Monday, May 18)
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Valerie and Bob, also in St. James, reported 2 in at New Silver Heights Apt
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Christian, at another St. James site, recorded 2 chimney swifts entering a Hampton St. church chimney
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In the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg, 6 swifts were on the wing – Stephan, Meagan, and Colin saw 1 entry; Nicole and Cain saw 0 at another site; Marhsall saw 0 at a third site; unfortunately, a fourth site was found to be capped this spring
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PL and Rob had 0 sightings at Chancellor’s Hall, U of M campus in Fort Richmond (Winnipeg)
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Ken and Jan in Dauphin saw their roost numbers increase to 9; one of the swifts had trouble lining itself up on the opening but after several unsuccessful attempts, where it overshot the opening, the swift dropped in = a sign of a migrant who was unfamiliar with the site
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Diann and Cam in Lac Du Bonnet discovered A NEW SITE where 1 swift entered
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Gord in Portage noted 4 swifts were in the downtown area but they did not go into the chimney at Red River College – Victoria school.
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Rhonda and Matt in Carman reported 1 entry at the Elementary School and although one swift was flying about the Memorial Hall, no entries were seen.
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Frank and Jacquie checked out Otterburne on May 21 and had 5 swifts over Providence College – 1 roosted in the large chimney and 5 roosted in the skinny chimney.
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In St. Adolphe, 2 swifts entered each of the Main St., Church, and SE Club Amical chimneys (2 other sites were unoccupied) and 2 swifts were unaccounted for.
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The Selkirk Squad reported 21 roosting swifts in the tall stack (a traditional roost) but no entries at 3 other sites; some monitors did not see any swifts.
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David in La Broquerie had no sightings of swifts.
The trend: many monitors did not have sightings; many known nest sites were unoccupied; at known roost sites, there were increasing numbers of migrants; many swifts were in the air beyond curfew (at the end of the roosting hour).
What we can expect for Sunday, May 24: with the continued warm weather, insect populations should increase to provide some nourishing food as the swifts continue to move into Manitoba. Expect to see more sightings and higher counts on Sunday as migrants settle into their sites.
Happy swifting everyone!