Blitz Reminder, Late Nesters, and More!
A quick reminder that our final monitoring blitz is tomorrow, August 19th! Please reach out if you would like some suggestions for sites to monitor. You can also check out our priority site list (included at the end of this blog) or browse through our 2024 summary database and pick a site from there:
https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/2024_2021_database.pdf
At this point, many sites have now fledged while some sites are still feeding young.
There continues to be very exciting and unexpected developments at the Tower in St. Adolphe. Originally, we thought the never-before-seen use of the Tower could be attributed to curious, non-breeding swifts. However, after multiple momentous monitoring sessions this week, it seems that the Tower is hosting a very late nesting attempt AND has become a roost site for non-breeding swifts!!! This is unprecedented. The full rundown of the St. Adolphe Tower happenings can be found in the St. A recap below.
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Carman
Rhonda has been regularly monitoring the Carman Memorial Hall. On August 5, she watched from 8:38pm-9:45pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 8:42pm, and 1 entry at 8:56pm. On August 6, she watched from 6:10pm-7:10pm and saw 2 entries followed by 2 exits at 6:12pm, 1 entry at 6:34pm, 1 exit at 6:42pm, 1 entry at 6:54pm, 1 exit at 7:00pm, 1 entry at 7:02pm, and 1 exit at 7:08pm. On August 9, she monitored from 3:00pm-4:18pm and saw 2 entries around 3:10pm, 1 exit at 3:13pm, 1 exit at 3:33pm, 1 entry at 3:44pm, 1 entry at 4:04pm, 1 exit at 4:05pm and 1 exit at 4:13pm.
Lockport
On August 15, Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound from 8:12pm-9:20pm. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:40pm and 1 entry at 8:56pm at the South chimney.
Portage la Prairie
On August 11, Jana monitored the United Church (15 Tupper St. S) from 8:33pm-9:18pm. Throughout the monitoring session, she saw 7 swifts enter the South chimney.
Jana and Gordon checked out a few sites on the evening of August 13. They started out at the former Correctional Centre (329 Duke Ave) from 8:25pm-9:05pm and saw no activity at all. Jana then moved go the United Church and was joined shortly after by Gordon. They saw 9 entries into the South chimney.
Selkirk
T01: Cam watched T01 from 9:46am-10:46am on August 11 and saw 1 entry at 9:46am, 1 entry/exit at 10:06am, and 1 entry/exit around 10:31am. Fred and Nettie watched T01 from 7:20pm-9:20pm on August 13 and saw 1 entry at 9:05pm.
T02: On August 15, Dennis and Patti watched T02 from 7:56pm-9:15pm. They saw 1 entry at 8:59pm and 1 exit at 9:10pm.
T03: Dennis and Patti watched T03 from 8:18pm-9:21pm on August 13 and saw no activity.
T04: Cam watched T02 from 10:52am-11:52am on August 11 and saw no entries or exits. Nia and Linda watched T04 on August 11 from 8:19pm-9:26pm and saw 2 entries at 9:21pm.
Yellow Brick chimney: On August 11, Cam monitored this site from 10:52am-11:52am and saw 1 exit at 11:10am. He mentions there may have been a few more exits but only 1 was confirmed.On August 13,Nia and Linda watched the chimney from 8:19pm-9:26pm and saw 4 entries.
Infirmary chimney: On August 13, Dennis and Patti watched this chimney from 8:18pm-9:21pm.They saw 1 entry at 8:31pm, 2 exits at 8:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:42pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:43pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:52pm, 15 entries between 8:59pm-9:14pm, and 1 exit at 9:20pm. That’s up to 15 swifts inside the chimney and 14 swifts inside at the end of the roosting hour. Seems like feeding is ongoing at this site, on top of hosting many roosting swifts!
St. Adolphe
There is LOTS to report on here. Before we launch into the very exciting developments at the Tower, we’ll do a quick recap of the other St. A sites. The SE Club Amical swifts officially fledged on August 11! Woohoo. On August 13, Barb caught 2 of the SE Club Amical fledglings exit the NE Club Amical chimney, so they are doing a bit of exploring. On August 13, there was no daytime entries/exits at the Brodeur Bros./Daycare site and the Main St site. The Main St chimney hasn’t been regularly monitored this season, so accessing the clean-out in the fall will reveal whether the nesting attempt at this site was successful or not.
Now let’s get into the extra exciting stuff – the Church and the Tower! These sites can now be monitored from the same vantage point, thanks to some precise tree trimming by Rob and Barb.
On August 12, Lewis and Frank took a trip down to St. Adolphe to monitor the Church and the Tower. Lewis was stationed at the Church while Frank was stationed at the Tower, and they monitored their respective sites from 7:45pm-9:20pm. At the Church, Lewis saw 10 entries which took place between 8:42pm-9:11pm. At the Tower, Frank saw 2 entries around 7:55pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:12pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:17pm, 1 entry at 8:31pm, 1 entry at 8:40pm, 2 entries at 8:55pm followed by 2 exits at 8:57pm, and 2 final entries around 9:04pm. That’s 6 swifts inside the tower! It’s also worth noting that there were 3 swifts using the tower during “daytime” hours (earlier than 30 minutes before sunset) – this is very interesting!
There were lots of eyes on the Tower the next morning (August 13). Barb arrived around 10:08am, and Frank and Jacquie arrived around 10:30am. They switched off on monitoring duties. Between the three of them, the tower was monitored from about 10:08am-12:20pm. There was 1 entry at 10:09am followed by 1 exit at 10:10am seen by Barb, and 1 exit at 11:12am seen by Frank and Jacquie.
On August 14, Barb monitored the Tower from 9:15am-10:15am. She saw 3 consecutive exits around 9:17am, 1 entry at 9:30am, 1 entry/exit around 9:36am, 1 entry/exit at 9:53am, 1 entry at 9:55am, 1 exit at 9:58am, 1 entry at 10:04am and 1 entry at 10:13am. Importantly, Barb noticed one of the swift collecting twigs, a.k.a. nest building behaviour!
On August 16, Tim and Linnea monitored the Church and the Tower from 8:00pm-9:14pm. At the Church, there were 3 entries between 8:54pm-9:01pm. At the Tower, there was 1 entry/exit around 8:09pm, 1 entry at 8:28pm, 1 entry at 8:38pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:48pm, and 3 entries between 8:54pm-9:03pm (5 swifts inside the tower at the end of the roosting hour). Tim notes that there were 15 swifts flying overhead at 8:40pm while 2 swifts were inside the tower, so there were at least 17 swifts in the area.
Daytime use continued August 17, when Barb checked out the Tower during the afternoon and saw 2 swifts enter followed by 1 exit several minutes later.
So, what is going on here??? Well, the Tower seems to have become a site of interest for breeding swifts AND non-breeding, roosting swifts. The consistent daytime activity by 3 swifts (likely a breeding pair + a helper) combined with the twig collecting observed by Barb strongly suggests that a very very late season nesting attempt is underway here… Barb theorizes that “the interest in The Tower by a breeding oriented pair may have been the draw for others from the “from away” group to join in for roosting”. We won’t know for sure what is going on inside that Tower until we access the clean-out later in the fall. Until then, we will have to patiently wait while we continue to take our best guesses!
Winnipeg
John watched the Moorgate Apartments (2187 Portage Ave) from 8:12pm-9:26pm on August 10. He saw up to 8 swifts flying within 50 metres of the chimney throughout the session, and saw 2 swifts enter around 9:02pm. John mentioned that he lost sight of the chimney between 8:50pm-9:00pm while he spoke with a resident from the building, so it is possible there were other entries that were missed.
On August 10, Blair monitored Fernwood Apartments (314 St Anne’s Rd) from 8:19pm-9:12pm and saw no swift activity. On August 13, Blair monitored Niakwa Park Plaza (1310 Archibald St) from 8:24pm-9:20pm and saw 5 entries between 8:39pm-9:04pm. Blair suspects these were 2 adults and 1-3 fledglings. On August 14, Blair monitored Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) from 1:04pm-2:04pm and saw no swift activity. Later that day, he monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) from 8:08pm-9:18pm and saw 5 entries between 8:39pm-9:04pm. Blair suspects these were 2 adults and 3 fledglings, based on the variety in entry styles.
Amy and Matt monitored the St. Avila School (633 Patricia Ave) on the morning of August 12. They saw 8 swifts flying overhead but did not see any entries or exits.
Breanne monitored River Manor Apartments (424 River Ave) from 7:51pm-9:31pm on August 13, and saw groups of swifts flying in the area but did not see any entries into the chimney.
Alyssa monitored the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) chimney on August 13 from 8:19pm-9:19pm and saw 2 entries at 8:21pm followed by 1 exit at 8:26pm.
Thanks everyone!
Priority site list (updated August 18):
| Community | Neighbourhood | Address | Site name | Observer |
| Carman | – | 2nd St | Private residence | |
| Pat S. | ||||
| 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 | |
| demolished | ||||
| Luc B. | ||||
| 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 (both chimneys) | Brink’s Canada | |
| Marissa B. & Amy M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 100 Adelaide Street | Immigrant Centre Building | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 91 Albert Street | The Old Market Autonomous Zone | |
| Amy M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Garry | 1022 Pembina Highway | Cambridge Hotel – Tower | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Uptown Lofts | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | Dorchester Ave | Private residence | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | Kylemore Ave | Private residence | |
| Marilyn B. & Pam L. | ||||
| Frank M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 865 Tache Ave. | Civic Roofing | |
| Amy M. | ||||
| Amy M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2415 Portage Avenue | Essex House, pest cage | |
| Frank M. | ||||
| Frank M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | West Broadway | 39 Balmoral Street | Apartment | |
| Frank M. | ||||
| Amy M. | ||||
| Winnipeg | West Kildonan | 31 McBeth St | McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre) | |
| Winnipeg | West Kildonan | 31 McBeth St | McBeth House (C) South chimney (right) |
Cheers,
Marissa
