Hello everyone, it is Amanda again! As of the time when I am writing this blog, we have gotten a bit more rain at various sites across Manitoba. While Chimney Swift monitoring in the rain is not possible, we know how important this rain is for Chimney Swifts, as well as the rest of nature in Manitoba this year! However, this blog is reporting on what we saw during the last week or so, so keep that in mind while reading.
Before we conduct our tour of various chimneys in Manitoba – I would first like to draw your attention to our newly updated car placard that you can use on your car when Chimney Swift monitoring. Frank has kindly made it available on our Resources and Links page (https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/placard.pdf)
We have reports from Winnipeg, Brandon, Darlingford, Morden, La Broquerie, Portage La Prairie, Lockport, Lower Fort Garry and Selkirk this week.
On July 13th in Winnipeg Ariel watched 690 Rue St Joseph in the St Boniface neighbourhood. She had no entries but up to 11 Swifts circling the building. On the same day, she also visited 80 Lombard Avenue. She did not see any Swifts and noted it was impossible to listen for them as the trains were making a ton of noise! In search of more Swifts, she then tried 54 Adelaide St but unfortunately was once again skunked (zero Swifts)!
Vicky watched the Lanark Tower Apartments in Winnipeg on July 14th for a daytime monitoring session. She saw a total of five Chimney Swifts in the air at once, as well as seeing one quick entry and exit about midway through her monitoring period. While one entry/exit cycle per hour is low, according to the Kyle family (Chimney Swift experts in the United States) it can sustain a nest, so it is possible we have young in this chimney.
On the same day Vicky also watched several apartment buildings in the Osborne area. The first was an apartment building at 118 Scott St. About 30 minutes after she arrived there were four swifts seen in the air. At 7:15 AM one Swift exited the building (for a total of five swifts seen during the monitoring session). However, after that one Swift exited, only the one Swift hung around the chimney area until Vicky’s monitoring session was finished. The next stop on Vicky’s early morning monitoring blitz was 141 River Avenue in Winnipeg. She saw an exit at 8:10 AM and an entry at 8:18 AM, but no other activity. The last site was at 321 Stradbrook Avenue (Fontana Apartments). She saw no Chimney Swifts around this site.
Ariel was also out in Winnipeg on July 14th, this time in the Kildonan area. She watched the chimney on the St John’s Anglican Cathedral. While she did not see any activity at the chimney itself, she did see between two and four Swifts periodically flying past. She was also able to have a chat with the groundkeepers about the Swifts! It is always great when we are able to mix monitoring and outreach opportunities – especially if the Swifts oblige with a nice flyby!
Ariel then tried out a new site at 1637 Main St, the Bleak House. It is a historic house in Winnipeg that has two chimneys. She could tell that the west chimney was capped, but could not tell if the east one was as well. Normally, our go-to in this situation is to look for a chimney (or a small black hole) in satellite imagery or Google Streetview, but unfortunately the images are too blurry and have too many trees to tell. Regardless, there were no Swifts seen during her monitoring session but a site to keep in mind to gather more information on in the future.
In Winnipeg we have a report from Garry Budyk at 722 Watt St on July 18th. Garry mentioned that “I was expecting multiple visits with quick turnarounds per hour, but instead, 2 swifts seem to be spending more time together away from, and together in, the chimney”. He started off with one Swift already in the chimney when he arrived (as evidenced by its exit a couple minutes after his monitoring period started). Then there was another entry 10 minutes later. That Swift exited the chimney after 29 minutes. About half an hour later, those two Swifts approached together with one immediately entering the chimney and a second doing a circle before also entering. Both Swifts remained in the chimney until Garry left, about 12 minutes later. If you recall Garry’s last monitoring period on July 9th, he was seeing our typical twice an hour quick entry and exit pattern. The consensus for the current monitoring period is Swifts feeding non-brooded young (no adult Swift staying with the chicks in the nest) – but also taking a break from the hot weather by hanging out in the chimney!
On July 19th Vicky checked out 526 Walker Avenue in Winnipeg – where there was lots of activity! In a 70-minute daytime monitoring session she had six entries and six exits! During one of the early entries two Chimney Swifts went in. One appeared to stay in the chimney for the duration of the monitoring period, while the other went in and out, almost once every 10 minutes. This certainly looks like the two Swifts are working hard to feed young. Next on July 19th, Vicky took a short walk over to 625 Osborne St to monitor for an hour. No activity here though – even though when she was watching at the Walker Ave Apartments it looked like the swifts were flying in this direction.
Ariel was also out in Winnipeg on July 19th at the Plaza Apartments (71 Kennedy St). She had two possible exits – but was having trouble seeing due to the height of the apartment building and chimney. There were up to 11 Swifts flying over, so she mentioned that she will be trying again soon, and will look for another vantage point.
In Brandon Glennis Lewis, Kathryn Hyndman, and Gillian Richards watched the west chimney on the Orange Block Building on July 14th from 9:12-10:12 PM. They saw two sets of entries/ exits in the hour, before one bird entered the chimney at 9:55 PM.
We have two reports from Paul Goossen to report on. The first is at the Darlingford School Heritage Museum (in Darlingford). Paul monitored this site for just over an hour during the roosting hour. He had one entry and one exit in that time period. Paul also monitored the chimney on Lucky’s Chinese Restaurant in Morden on July 12th for the roosting period. Here there was a lot of action! He saw six entry/ exit cycles in just under an hour!
Frank and Jacquie Machovec were back to watch the two chimneys at the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie on July 14th for a 90-minute monitoring session in the evening. In the small chimney they observed an entry at 8:50 PM, followed two minutes later by an exit. Two Swifts ended the monitoring session in this chimney. The large chimney also had an earlier entry and exit (8:41 PM and 8:55 PM respectively), but ended the night with three Swifts heading down the chimney. There were up to eight Chimney Swifts seen flying in the area but only five Swifts between the two chimneys. So three unaccounted for Swifts were still around somewhere.
Gord Ogilvie watched the south chimney on the Trinity United Church in Portage la Prairie on the night of July 14th. There were up to six Chimney Swifts seen in the air during the evening monitoring period, with two Swifts entering the chimney 12 minutes apart a little after sunset. There were no exits from the chimney.
We had Gerald Machnee monitoring at the southeast building (the Fur Loft) at Lower Fort Garry on July 13th. There was no Chimney Swift action during the “daytime” part of the monitoring period (i.e. prior to a half-hour before sunset). However, there was an exit at 9:02 PM and then an entry approximately 20 minutes later. There were no other Chimney Swifts seen for the last 30 minutes of Gerald’s monitoring period.
Ariel also monitored at the southeast building at Lower Fort Garry, but on July 15th. She had one entry in 90 minutes of monitoring. The many Barn Swallows at the site made monitoring here a bit trickier.
Bonnie Chartier and Tim Verbiwski monitored the two chimneys on the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound in Lockport on July 14th. Their monitoring period included both daytime monitoring (8:00-9:00AM) as well as roosting period monitoring (9:00-10:05 PM). At the south chimney there was one exit at 8:21 PM (so likely a Swift in the chimney before they started monitoring), and one entry at 9:21 PM. At the north chimney there were entries at 8:34, 8:58 and 9:09 PM. These entries were followed by an exit at 9:11 PM and an entry again at 9:22 PM. Perhaps a Swift left for a quick snack before bed?
Ariel stopped by the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound after visiting Lower Fort Garry on July 15th. She had one entry at the north chimney, but only stayed 30 minutes due to the heat!
The last part of our round up follows all of the monitoring that happened in Selkirk at the Mental Health Centre. On July 14th Nia Massey and Linda Adie watched the powerhouse stack replacement tower and the yellow brick chimney for an hour and forty minutes. At the powerhouse stack replacement tower they had no entries or exits, but saw up to six Swifts flying around. The Swifts would periodically pass by starting at 8:48 PM. By the time of their last sighting (10:05 PM) only one Swift was seen overhead.
At the yellow brick chimney Nia and Linda also had the sighting of up to six Swifts flying around (not surprising as both the powerhouse stack replacement tower and the yellow brick chimney are in the same sightline, and not too far from each other). The yellow brick chimney had an exit at 9:40 PM, suggesting that a swift had been in the chimney since the monitoring period started at 8:00 PM. It then had two entries, one at 9:42 PM and one at 9:50 PM.
At the same time Winona Hook and Robert Hempler were watching the new Chimney Swift tower that is attached to the infirmary building (not to be confused with the infirmary building chimney itself). They also saw up to six Swifts flying overhead periodically. They did have one entry at 9:39 PM.
As the infirmary attached tower and the infirmary chimney are very close to each other, Winona and Robert were also watching the infirmary chimney as well. As expected, the number of Swifts seen in the air was the same as for the attached tower (six Swifts). However, there was a bit more action at the chimney, with an entry at 9:38 PM, followed by an exit five minutes later. The last Swift action here for the night was an entry at 9:51 PM.
Gerald covered the east and west artificial Chimney Swift towers, also on July 14th. Similar to the others at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre that night, he saw a maximum of six Swifts passing periodically overhead. There were no entries into the east tower, but one entry in the west tower at 10:05 PM.
Overall, at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on July 14th there were 6 swifts seen in the air and 5 swifts that went down the chimneys/ towers.
This is a map of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre Chimney Swift chimneys and artificial towers. 1 is the west artificial tower (the tallest). 2 is the powerhouse stack replacement tower (former site of the roosting chimney). 3 and 4 are the infirmary artificial tower and infirmary chimney respectively. 5 is the yellow brick chimney and 6 is the east artificial tower. All of the artificial/ replacement towers are free-standing except the infirmary artificial tower which is attached to the building.
Myself, Vicky, Tim Poole, and Barb and Rob Stewart did a daytime monitoring blitz on July 15th at Selkirk Mental Health Centre as well. Taking a page from how the Selkirk Birders set themselves up for Chimney Swift monitoring, we had Barb watching the infirmary chimney and the attached artificial tower at the infirmary building and Rob at the west artificial Chimney Swift tower. Vicky watched the powerhouse stack replacement tower, I watched the yellow brick chimney and Tim watched the east artificial Chimney Swift tower. We all watched for 90 minutes.
Barb had by far the most activity, but only at the infirmary chimney. There were two birds with distinct chimney exit styles entering and exiting the chimney. One would exit down the north face of the chimney at a lower height and turn west, while the other would also come out of the chimney to the north, but would stay higher in the air. In total there were four entry/ exit events in two hours of monitoring. Barb’s summary notes state, “The frequency of entry/ exit events indicates feeding juveniles is taking place. Brooding vs non- brooding cannot be determined definitely, but the current activity at the Main St site in St Adolphe [which Barb watches closely], which is at the non-brooding stage, is comparable to this site.” The brooding stage is when there is still a parent on the nest with the chicks. Once the chicks at around 6-7 days old, they are able to self-regulated their temperature and the adult is no longer needed on the nest during the day, so brooding is not needed. Feeding rates usually go up in the non-brooded stage as the nestlings need more food and both parents are free to forage now that they are not consistently needed at the nest.
While nearby to Barb, Rob had no entries or exits at the west artificial tower. He had 2-3 Swifts flying over the field just west of the tower and had one instance of a Swift flying over the tower, but no daytime activity associated with the tower itself. The west tower is the tallest of the replacement towers build as mitigation when the majority of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre chimneys needed to come down (for safety reasons). It was built to provide a tall tower for roosting, but could also be used for nesting. However, there was no sign of nesting (i.e. no daytime Swift activity) on July 15th.
The tower near to the old powerhouse stack that Vicky was watching, and the yellow brick chimney that I was watching were near to each other. During our monitoring period, neither of us saw any entries or exits, but periodically had 2-3 swifts flying overhead. There was a good-sized flock of pigeons that seemed to be trying their best to be distracting though! After all of our monitoring sessions had concluded and we were debriefing, I saw an entry into the powerhouse stack replacement tower – just by chance! The Swift was still in their as far as we know when we left. Unfortunately, we had not been watching that tower closely at that point.
Tim at the east artificial Chimney Swift tower had a similar experience to Vicky and myself during the monitoring period, with Chimney Swifts periodically flying over, but no entries or exits.
Thank you to everyone who is providing our riveting chimney swift updates and stay tuned for more!
- Amanda
Note: Scroll down for an updated version of last week’s report. (FJM)
