Blitz Reminder, Strange Groupings, Moulting Swifts & More
This year is proving to be an interesting one. Some nests have failed, some swifts are still incubating, and some swifts are feeding young. This past Friday, Barb spotted a group of 18 swifts in St Adolphe, which is the largest group of swifts she’s seen there this year. This increased count is highly unusual for this time of year, given that most sites are still in the incubation or feeding stages. Where did these swifts come from? We would typically expect to see this type of influx of new swifts further into August, as the nesting season wanes and the swifts disperse and form pre-migratory groupings. Barb wonders if this is an early dispersing group of swifts that have joined up with St Adolphe flock – strange times.
Quick reminder that our next monitoring blitz is tomorrow, Wednesday July 16! Daytime or roosting hour monitoring are both helpful. This is a great opportunity to check out what is going on at your “usual” site, or to check out a different site. You can pick a site from our priority site list, or any other site from our database. The full site list can be found in our summary database, at the following link: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/2024_2021_database.pdf
The consistent smoke has been a challenge for volunteers and for swifts alike. As always, health and safety are the number one priority. There is never an obligation to monitor – please stay within your comfort levels and stay inside if you are concerned about the air quality.
As you monitor over the next few weeks, you may notice some interesting looking Chimney Swifts. At this time of year, adult Chimney Swifts go through an annual moulting process, during which they replace their worn and damaged feathers. Some birds, like the Canada Goose, moult all their flight feathers in one go, rendering them incapable of flight for several weeks. Chimney Swifts can’t do that, because they are aerial insectivores and need to be able to fly to catch their flying insect prey. Instead, their moult is gradual. This longer moulting process allows them to fly throughout the entire moulting period.
Last week, Barb noticed that some low-flying Chimney Swifts were showing moult characteristics – “discontinuities in the trailing wing margins”. In other words, some noticeable gaps in the feather lengths on the bottom of the wing (as pictured in the photo by Dave Lavigne below).
These moult characteristics are a very helpful tool for telling adult swifts and fledglings apart. Young swifts born this summer will not have any gaps in their wing margins, as all their feathers brand new and they aren’t replacing any.
For more information on Chimney Swift moulting, you can check out this blog post from 2015 written by Barb: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/july-update-field-identification-of-adult-chimney-swifts-in-the-summer-range/
Alright, let’s get into the monitoring recap!
Carman
Rhonda has been keeping an eye on the swifts in Carman. She’s been periodically checking the private residence on 2nd Street, as well as the Memorial hall. She hasn’t seen any activity at the private residence on 2nd Street, but as of July 7th the nesting pair at the Memorial Hall were incubating.
A few more notes from Rhonda: “The swifts are silent with none of the familiar exit chatter as they are in heavy predator territory with both a neighborhood merlin and a molting and very habitual low flying crow on regular patrol who looks like they are keeping a close eye on the chimney at the memorial hall.”
Darlingford
Marvin and Evelyn were driving past Darlingford and took the opportunity to make a quick stop at the Darlingford School Heritage Museum to look for swifts. They watched from 3:39pm-3:59pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 3:46pm. Great to know there is a nesting attempt ongoing at this site this year.
Lockport
Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on July 13 from 8:25pm-10:05pm. At the south chimney, he saw 1 entry at 9:49pm followed by 1 exit at 9:52pm. At the north chimney, he saw 1 entry at 8:48pm, 1 entry at 9:30pm, 1 exit at 9:31pm, and 1 entry at 9:52pm (he believes this last entry may have been by the same swift that exited the south chimney at 9:52pm).
Lower Fort Garry
On July 9, Gerald monitored the LFG sites from 8:40pm-10:05pm. There was no activity at the Museum building. There was 1 entry into the Furloft at 9:20pm. At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry/exit around 8:48pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:06pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:23pm, and 1 entry at 9:33pm.
Morden
Marvin and Evelyn watched Lucky Chinese Restaurant (321 Stephen St) on July 9 from 8:53pm-9:58pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 exit at 9:19pm, at exit at 9:26pm, 1 entry at 9:30pm, and 1 entry at 9:41pm. Marvin notes that the the birds entering the chimney came from the northwest and the approaches were low, so the entries were tough to see and were obscured by trees and buildings. The exits are much easier to spot, because the exiting swifts tend to fly southwest, over the observation point. Marvin is fairly certain there are only 2 swifts at this site and suspects they missed an entry between the 3 exits.
Selkirk
Cam and Amy monitored the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) sites during the daytime on July 10. Amy watched T02 from 11:00am-11:45am, and saw 2 entries around 11:02am, 2 exits around 11:04am, 1 entry at 11:07am, 1 exit at 11:10am, and 1 entry/exit at 11:15am. Seems like this site is now showing feeding behaviour, indicating that the eggs have hatched! Amy watched T03 from 10:13am-10:58am and saw 1 exit at 10:41am (likely still at incubation stage).
Cam watched T01 from 10:13am-10:58am, and while there were swifts diving at the tower, he saw no entries or exits. Cam watched T04 and the Yellow Brick chimney from 11:01am-11:46am. At T04, he saw 1 entry/exit at 11:09am, and 1 entry at 11:12am. At the Yellow Brick chimney, there were no entries or exits. Cam notes that at both these sites as well, swifts were slowly diving at the chimney and veering off at the last second. Seems like there was an incubation exchange at T04, but hard to say what is happening at the other two sites.
On July 9, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney and T03 from 9:00pm-10:08pm. At the Infirmary, they saw 2 entries around 9:13pm, 3 entries from 9:34pm-9:38pm, 2 exits at 9:40pm, and 7 entries from 9:42pm-9:51pm (10 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T03, they saw 1 entry at 9:13pm, 1 exit at 9:27pm, 3 entries from 9:40pm-9:48pm, and 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:49pm (3 swifts roosting in the tower).
Lisa and Monty watched T02 from 8:57pm-10:07pm and saw lots of activity. They saw 1 exit at 9:00pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 2 entries at 9:06pm, 2 exits at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:10pm, 1 entry at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:26pm, 1 exit at 9:31pm, 1 entry at 9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 3 entries at 9:39pm, 1 exit and 1 entry at 9:40pm, 2 exits at 9:41pm, and 4 entries from 9:46pm-9:58pm (7 swifts roosting in the tower).
On July 10, Nia watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 9:02pm-10:05pm and saw 1 entry at 9:55pm. Fred and Nettie watched T01 from 8:00pm-10:10pm and saw 1 entry at 8:40pm, 1 exit at 9:10pm and 1 entry at 9:11pm.
On July 12, Linda watched T04 from 9:03pm-10:09pm and saw no entries or exits.
St. Adolphe
Many updates to share from Barb regarding the St Adolphe swifts. As of July 7, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys remained active (despite ongoing loud construction near at the Bear Store across the road). Both sites showed no indication of hatching or feeding yet.
Barb visited the Church on July 8. Here’s her report: “Church was quite quiet – it was 10C overnight and noticeably chilly this morning and I was in ST A by 9 AM. By 10 AM the feeding action picked up by a group of 8 individuals around the cemetery/rectory/Church area. No entries/exits surprised me over the 35 min observation period but the group of snoops did make repeated flyovers of the rim.” While there, she also saw an exit at Brodeur Bros./Daycare, confirming that this site is still active.
On July 9, Barb saw 1 exit from the Church as she arrived but did not see any other activity for the next 45 minutes – she fears that there has been a nest failure at this site. Barb also noticed the “Snoop Group” (a group of curious swifts that have a tendency to check out chimneys by approaching the chimney and veering away at the last second) diving at the Club Amical SE chimney.
On July 10, Barb stopped by the Club Amical chimneys for a quick 15 minute monitoring session. She didn’t catch any entries or exits, but she did see a single bird dive towards the NE chimney and veer off, twice.
On July 11, Barb spent 30 minutes at the Club Amical. The air was smoky and she did not see any swift activity. She also noted that there were no swallows or martins in the area. She did see a couple of swifts in the distance as she was leaving the Club Amical to head to the Church. She spent 15 minutes at the Church and did see a group of 18 swifts on a few occasions, foraging in the area. There were no entries or exits at the Church. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, this group of 18 swifts is the biggest group of swifts she’s seen in St. Adolphe so far this season and was surprising to see so early in the season!
Barb returned over the weekend to investigate further. The NE Club Amical site remained active, with feeding activity on Sunday. She didn’t see any activity at the SE Club Amical site on Sunday but did see activity on Monday (likely still incubating).
Winnipeg
John monitored the CMU chimney on July 3 from 9:44am-10:53am, and saw 1 exit at 9:58am. Paul monitored this chimney on July 13 from 7:27pm-8:57pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 7:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:12pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:34pm, and 1 entry/exit at 8:54pm. Lots of entry/exits within the 90 minute observation period. Judging by this high feeding rate, the swifts are likely feeding non-brooded young.
Tim dropped by a few priority sites on the evening of July 8. He spent some time at King George Court (272 Cockburn St) and at Lanark Gardens (465 Lanark St). Unfortunately he did not see any entries or exits at either site. He did note that he observed a low-flying swift around the Lanark Gardens courtyard so it likely did exit one of the chimneys on site. Hard to watch the many chimneys on site at once!
Frank checked out the Home Street Mennonite Church (318 Home St) on July 9 during the roosting hour. He saw 1 exit at 8:21pm, 1 exit at 8:51pm, and 1 entry at 9:53pm. We can now cross that site off the priority site list, woohoo!
On July 5, Blair monitored Kaljieb Electrics (690 Joseph St) from 1:45pm-2:30pm and saw 1 entry/exit at around 2:20pm. Blair then monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) from 2:46pm-3:31pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:56pm. On July 6, Blair monitored Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (188 St Mary’s Rd) from 1:55pm-3:10pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:04pm. Seems that incubation was ongoing at all three sites at the time of monitoring.
On July 10, Blair monitored the St. Boniface Fire Hall (864 Marion St) from 5:07pm-6:07pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 5:42pm, and 1 entry/exit around 6:04pm. These 2 exchanges within an hour support that the swifts here are now feeding brooded young.
On July 11, Blair monitored Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) from 11:37am-12:38pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 11:55am. Looks like incubation is still ongoing at this site.
Amy M. spent an hour monitoring at the St Norbert Parish Church (80 St Pierre St) on the morning of July 11, and did not see any activity.
On July 14, Amy monitored the Kildonan United Church (187 Kilbride Ave) from 3:30pm-4:15pm and saw 1 entry at 3:42pm and 1 entry at 3:50pm. This site was on our priority site list, so we can now cross it off our list.
Priority site list (updated July 15):
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 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
Blitz night was a bust. Too cool and not much insects or birds to be seen or heard. I watched the Memorial Hall for an hour from 7 PM to 8 PM. No activity. The next night, Thursday, July 18th was a better evening with an entry at 7:48 PM and an exit at 7:51 PM.
Cheery-o!
Rhonda Smith
Carman