August Adieus: Swift farewells on the horizon
Hello!
Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s already August 18th. Where does the time go?! The summer seems to be going by extra fast this year – many natural cycles seem to be running on an earlier schedule than ‘usual’. Plants are going to seed, and the wasps are making their presence known. The swifts too, seem to be on a ‘swift’ timeline this year. We will see how the swift activity progresses within the next few weeks… They may very soon depart for their annual leave. It’s been interesting to observe how the timing of nesting has varied across sites, throughout the season. Last week, some sites were still feeding young, while other sites had already fledged. This week, some sites are still busy with the presence of fledged young, adults, and helpers, while at other sites, the family units seem to have already dispersed. It’s all a good reminder to take notice of the swifts while they are still here, along with the rest of summer’s fleeting treasures.
Anyhow, the swifts aren’t gone yet – keep sending in those monitoring reports! While things are calming down, it’s still helpful to know what is going on at the swift sites in this final phase of the season.
Now, onto our monitoring update.
In St. Adolphe, Barb was at the Church on the evening of August 13th. At 7:33pm, she saw 1 lone swift approach and circle the chimney, drop, and then veer away, a few times. The swift finally entered the chimney at 7:34pm, slowly and quietly. Barb suggested this may be a migrant. Over an hour later around 8:41pm, a swift exited the chimney, heading east. Here are a few of Barb’s notes: “The Church appeared to be used as a rest stop for over an hour; no local feeding was seen; 2 CHSW accounted for. The small roost (seen July 23rd; comprising the Church family group, helper(s), and other locals/from aways) has now dispersed. The birds are feeding out of the St A airspace during the day now”. Barb also notes that last year, the young at the Church fledged on August 11st, while the young at SE Club Amical and Main St fledged on August 13th. In Barb’s words once again, “It goes to show how variable weather and food supply, thus breeding stages, are year to year”!
In Brandon, the north chimney on the Orange Block building provided some exciting viewing for Louanne, Glennis and Sandy. On August 9th between 8:00pm and 9:29pm, they observed 12 entries and 11 exits by 2 swifts, often entering and exiting at the same time. At the end of the roosting hour, there were 2 swifts confirmed inside the chimney. On August 16th, Glennis, Gwynn, Gillian and Louanne returned to watch the chimney once again. There was lots of action, beginning with a “shaky” entry at 8:13pm, and another entry at 8:22pm. There was 1 exit at 8:25pm, 1 entry at 8:35pm, 1 exit at 8:47pm, 2 entries at 9:00pm (2 swifts “tumbled in one right after the other”), and 1 more entry at 9:05pm. In total, there were 4 swifts confirmed in the chimney. The observers note that the swifts seemed to be a mixture of fledglings and adult birds, based on how they were flying around, and entering/exiting the chimney. Great result after a slow start to the season.
Gerald was at Lower Fort Garry on August 12th, and the swifts did not disappoint here either! At the Men’s House, there 2 entries at 8:09pm, 1 exit at 8:17pm, 2 entries at 8:24pm, 2 entries at 8:29pm, 1 exit at 8:31pm, 2 entries at 8:44pm, 1 exit at 8:45pm, 1 exit at 8:53pm, and 3 entries between 8:57pm and 9:02pm. All this action came out to 7 swifts in the chimney at once, most likely representing a group of fledglings! At the Fur Loft, between 8pm and 9:15pm, there were a whopping 28 entries and 25 exits, with 4 swifts in the chimney by the end of the roosting hour, supporting fledglings at this site. Barb said it well – Gerald may need some neck support after ‘all that amazing whiplash activity’!
Over at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC), things have calmed down compared to the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks. On August 10th, Veronica and Cam did some daytime monitoring of the SMHC sites. At T1 and T3, there were swifts spotted in the sky but no entries or exits into the towers. Over at T4, there were no swifts observed at all. On August 14th, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club monitored the SMHC sites during the roosting hour – Thank you to Linda, Nia, Robert, and Gerald! At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry at 8:49pm. At the Infirmary chimney, there were 2 entries at 8:05pm followed by 2 more entries at 8:55pm, for a total of 4 in the chimney by the end of the roosting hour. At T01, there was 1 entry at 8:54pm and another entry at 9:10pm. At T03, there was 1 entry at 8:10pm, followed by another 2 possible entries at 8:50pm. At T04, there was 1 entry at 9:10pm.
On August 9th, Winona watched the Merchant’s Hotel and did not see any activity. On August 14th, Winona watched the Apartments at 367 Main St in Selkirk, and saw 2 entries around 8:56pm. Over at the Lockport bridge, Fred, Nettie, Doug and Tim saw no activity on August 14th during a roosting hour monitoring session.
In Winnipeg, Aynsley monitored Valhalla Gardens on the evening of August 14th and did not see any swift activity.
Priority Site List Update
Time is running out, but here’s the list of priority sites that have yet to be confirmed:
| Settlement | Neighbourhood | Location | Site | Observer |
| Capped. | ||||
| Morden | 352 Stephen St | Pembina Hills Art Centre | ||
| Gerald Machnee | ||||
| The Pas | . | 380 Hazelwood Ave | VIA Rail Station | |
| Wasagaming | 106 Buffalo Dr | |||
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 222 York Ave | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 803 Erin St | Elan Designs and Upholstery | |
| Tim Poole | ||||
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 520 William Ave | Living Gospel Church (west chimney) | |
| Tim Poole | ||||
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 100 Adelaide St | Immigrant Centre Building | |
| Tim Poole | ||||
| Winnipeg | Daniel McIntyre | 91 Albert St | The Old Market Autonomous Zone | |
| Tim Poole | ||||
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 411 Stradbrook Ave | Lancaster Apartment | |
| Aynsley Woods | ||||
| Marissa Berard | ||||
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 272 Cockburn St N | King George Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 118 Scott St | Apartment | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 280 River Ave | Moxam Court | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 245 Bell Ave | Children’s Education Funds Inc | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 834 Grosvenor Ave | Eugene Apartments | |
| Winnipeg | Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry | 444 River Ave | Augustine United Church | |
| Jon Benson | ||||
| Winnipeg | North Kildonan | 25 Valhalla Dr | Valhalla Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 465A Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Winnipeg | River Heights/Fort Garry | 465D Lanark St | Lanark Gardens | |
| Aynsley Woods | ||||
| Aynsley Woods | ||||
| Blair Reid Frank Machovec | ||||
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Frank Machovec | ||||
| Blair Reid | ||||
| Winnipeg | St Boniface | 99 Birchdale Ave | Nordale School | |
| Amanda Shave | ||||
| Amanda Shave | ||||
| Amanda Shave | ||||
| Winnipeg | St James | 2415 Portage Ave | Essex House, pest cage | |
| Winnipeg | St Vital | 531 St Mary’s Rd | Riverside Billiards |
Once again, we truly could not do any of this without our incredibly volunteers. It is heartwarming to still be receiving exciting and enthusiastic reports, in August. Thank you! You can reach us at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com – always happy to answer questions, and chat about swifts.
Enjoy the weekend!
-Marissa
