End of June Monitoring Recap

Hello!

We’ve reached the end of June, and the swift nesting season is in full swing! Over the past few weeks, most nesting swifts have been incubating. This stage, which last 18-21 days, is characterized by the observation of classic incubation exchanges (an entry followed by an exit within a couple of minutes as the parents switch-off on “keeping the eggs warm” duty). Because this exchange only happens about once per hour, it can make for rather uneventful monitoring sessions. 

As we move into July and further into the nesting season, the young should very soon begin to hatch and the adults will move into feeding behaviour. This is great news for us monitors! This feeding behaviour should bring higher levels of activity as the parents enter and exit more frequently to feed the young. For the first week or so after hatching, the young are what we called “brooded” which means they still need to be kept warm by a parent. During this stage, feeding typically happens 2-3 times per hour. Once the young become “non-brooded” (and hungrier and hungrier), feeding rates will increase to 3-4 times per hour.

Daytime activity at nesting sites will continue to increase throughout the month, so daytime monitoring is a great option at this time of year. Roost hour monitoring also continues to be a great option season-round, as swifts will always roost inside a chimney or tower overnight.

With that, let’s launch into the recap. Thank you for continuing to send in your monitoring reports!

Dominion City

Dave, whose house is a nesting site for swifts, is continuing to keep an eye out for other potential nesting sites in Dominion City. He has spotted up to 6 swifts flying over his house, so there are likely other sites nearby.

Hartney

Katharine monitored the Hart-Cam Museum on June 20 for 40 minutes. She saw 1 entry at 6:54pm and did not see an exit before ending her monitoring session at 7:33pm. She did not see the second swift again. On June 21, she monitored from 7:14pm-10:07pm. This time, she saw 2 swifts flying in the air together. She saw 1 entry at 8:32pm,1 exit at 8:36pm, and then saw both swifts enter around 9:59pm.

Lockport

On June 20, Gerald observed the two chimneys at the St. Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound and did not see any activity. He suspects they may have entered early due to showers in the surrounding area. Gerald returned the next day on June 21, to check for the swifts. He saw 2 swifts enter the north chimney during the roosting hour. There was no activity at the south chimney. 

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored Lower Fort Garry on June 24 from 8:22pm-10:05pm. At the Fur Loft, there was 1 entry at 8:35pm, 2 entries around 9:37pm, and 1 exit at 9:40pm (up to 3 swifts inside the chimney but only 2 inside at the end of the roosting hour). At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry at 8:47pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, and 1 entry at 9:54pm. Interestingly, Gerald also noticed swift action at the chimney on the west side of the Museum building, including 1 exit at 8:34pm. He also saw swifts diving at this chimney, but there didn’t seem to be any entries.  

Morden

Marvin and Evelyn monitored Lucky Chinese Restaurant on June 24, from 9:02pm-9:50pm. They saw 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, followed by 2 entries at 9:42pm. Marvin noted that it’s hard to know for sure if there are 2 or 3 swifts using this chimney.

Portage la Prairie

Gordon and Jana watched the courthouse (formerly the correctional centre) on June 24 during the roosting hour and saw 1 entry into the small north chimney.

Selkirk

The Selkirk Mental Health Centre continues to provide some very eventful monitoring sessions.

On June 24, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney and T03 from 9:09pm-10:22pm. At the Infirmary, there were 2 exits at 9:13pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:46pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, 1 entry at 9:56pm, 7 entries around 10:01pm, 1 exit at 10:03pm, 1 entry/exit at 10:06pm, 1 exit at 10:16pm, and 4 entries around 10:18pm (11 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T03, there was 1 exit at 9:09pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:16pm, 1 exit at 9:35pm, 2 entries at 9:36pm, 2 exits at 9:43pm, 1 exit at 9:50pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:53pm, 1 exit at 9:59pm, 2 entries at 10:00pm, 2 entries around 10:10pm, 1 exit at 10:13pm, 2 entries around 10:13pm, and 1 entry/exit at 10:19pm (6 swifts roosting in the tower).

Cam spent some time at SMHC on the afternoon of June 25. At T03, there was 1 entry followed by 1 exit 8 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At T01, there was 1 exit, followed by 1 entry 5 minutes later, followed by 1 exit 18 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At T04, there was 1 entry 9 minutes into the session, followed by 1 exit 10 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry at the end of the monitoring session. Cam left shortly afterwards so was not able to see if there was an exit, but this was likely part of an incubation exchange as well. At the Infirmary, there were 2 exits right at the start of the session. 10 minutes later, a pair entered and exited within a minute. Tim suspects this pair might be initiating a late nesting attempt.

On June 25, Lisa and Monty monitored T02 from 8:30pm-10:19pm. They saw 1 entry/exit around 8:39pm, 1 exit at 9:05pm, 1 entry at 9:05pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:29pm, 2 entries around 10:04pm, 1 exit at 10:09pm, and 1 entry at 10:13pm (3 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting hour).

On June 26, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 7:50pm-10:17pm. They saw 1 exit at 8:24pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:53pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:55pm, 1 exit at 9:56pm, 2 entries and 1 exit at 10:00pm, 1 entry at 10:03pm and 1 exit at 10:10pm (2 swifts observed using the tower but 1 inside at the end of the roosting hour). Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04 from 8:55pm-10:13pm. At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:45pm, 1 exit at 9:54pm, and 3 entries at 10:04pm (3 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour).  At T04, they saw 5 entries throughout the roosting hour.

It’s very interesting to compare the daytime activity with the roosting hour activity. Most of these sites are showing high levels of evening activity, with pretty typical incubation activity during the daytime. It is a fascinating situation to get to follow!

Souris

On June 20, Katharine watched Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home from 1:36-2:51pm and saw no entries or exits (though there were several swifts in the airspace). Katharine then watched the Hillcrest Museum from 2:55-4:10pm and though she saw up to 6 swifts in the area, she saw no entries or exits.  Katharine watched the former Chocolate Shop (now named Dimitri’s Tavern) from 4:46pm-6:02pm and saw 1 entry at 5:29pm and 1 exit at 5:45pm.  

St. Norbert

Blaire monitored the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation chimney on June 18 and saw no entries or exits. On June 20, she noticed some interesting swift behaviour near the St. Norbert Parish Church chimney. Two swifts were flying up and then approaching the chimney but aborting their entries at the last second. She saw them do this 3 times in a row. Interesting! This site last confirmed use by swifts in 2021.

Stonewall

Tim stopped by 336 Main St (a priority site) on June 25, and caught 1 exit at 10:02am. We can now cross that site off our priority site list. Woohoo!

Winnipeg

Blair monitored the Marion Hotel (393 Marion St) on the morning of June 24 for 1 hour and did not see any activity. On the morning of June 25, Blair monitored the Nordale School (99 Birchdale Ave) for an hour and though a swift flew by, there was no activity at the chimney. On the morning off June 28, Blair checked out a private residence on Ferndale Ave and while he saw 4 swifts flying around to the south of the building, he did not see any entries.

On the morning of June 24, Amy M. monitored the private residence on Canora St in Wolseley (on our priority site list) and saw 2 exits. Another site crossed off our priority list! 

On the morning of June 25, Amy monitored the private residence on Park Boulevard N (priority site). While she did see 6 swifts flying overhead, she did not see any entries or exits. Next, she moved a few blocks over to a private residence on Hosmer Boulevard. The owners at this house have let us know that they believe there are swifts using their chimney, so Amy went and monitored. She did see 1 entry, so we’ve officially got a new site to add to the database! Great news.

Graham and Tyler monitored the CMU chimney on June 25 from 9:00pm-10:11pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:43pm and 1 entry at 9:49pm.

Jennifer reports that she is often near the chimney at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on Provencher and has seen lots of activity, including many entries and exits. Great to hear that this chimney is still very active.

Breanne monitored the Maryland Foodfare chimney on June 28 from 8:50pm-10:20pm and saw no activity. This lack of swift action was unexpected, because she was regularly seeing 2 swifts at this site throughout the month of June. Fingers crossed they entered extra early and are seen again next week!

That’s the end of our monitoring recap. Thanks everyone!

Priority site list (updated June 30):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Thanks!

-Marissa