Monitoring Recap: July Blitz Results & More
Thank you so much to all of you who have monitored over the past week! We’ve received many reports from the monitoring blitz on July 16 as well as the days surrounding the blitz. Your reports are so valuable and provide really great insight into the current status of sites across the province. Most nesting swifts have now transitioned to feeding non-brooded young, characterized by more frequent feeding exchanges (usually 3-4 times per hour). Some swifts seem to still be incubating – hopefully these eggs hatch ASAP!
The high levels of activity at this point in the nesting season mean it’s a fantastic time to monitor and check for site use. The blitz dates act as a push to see what’s going on chimney-side at different times throughout the season, but we strongly encourage you to monitor whenever works for you, as often as you’d like! The more data the better (and anything helps).
There is lots to share, so let’s get into the monitoring recap.
Dauphin
On July 17, Pat noticed an entry/exit at St Paul’s Anglican Church – this site was on our priority site list, so we can now cross it off. Nice!
Ken reports that there is also some use ongoing at the Malcolm Block (213 Main St N), the old Scott’s Hardware building (120 Main St N), and the Hong Kong Café (123 Main St S). They have not observed activity at the Watson Art Centre(104 1st Ave N).
Lower Fort Garry
Gerald monitored the LFG sites on July 17 from 8:30pm-9:55pm. At the Furloft, he saw 1 entry/exit at 8:36pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:35pm, and 1 entry at 9:44pm. The Men’s House was very active, with 1 exit at 8:31pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:34pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:46pm, 1 entry at 8:49pm, 1 entry at 9:00pm, 2 exits at 9:01pm, 1 entry at 9:12pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:22pm, 1 exit at 9:29pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:36pm, and 2 entries around 9:40pm. Looks like the swifts at the Men’s House have now moved to feeding non-brooded young.
Morden
Marvin and Evelyn monitored Lucky’s Restaurant on July 16 from 8:34pm-9:14pm and saw 2 entries at 8:39pm, 1 exit at 8:41pm, 1 entry at 8:41pm, 2 exits at 8:42pm, 1 entry at 8:55pm, 1 exit at 8:56pm, 1 entry at 8:56pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 1 exit at 9:08pm, 1 exit at 9:09pm, and 1 entry/exit at 9:12pm.
Portage la Prairie
Gordon monitored the United Church on July 17 from 8:55pm-9:50pm and saw lots of activity at the South chimney. There was 1 entry at 8:57pm, 1 exit at 9:08pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:09pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:20pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, and 2 entries around 9:36pm. Looks like the swifts are feeding young at this site.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Luc monitored the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church on July 16 from 8:59pm-9:59pm. He saw 3 entries between 9:45pm-9:50pm.
Selkirk
On the day of the blitz, Amy H. and Cam of the Manitoba Wildlife Branch conducted daytime monitoring of all six Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) sites. That same evening, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club also monitored all six SMHC sites. This combination of daytime and roost hour data is so valuable for figuring out what is going on at these sites and makes for interesting comparisons in daytime vs roost activity. I’ll go through the observations one site at a time.
T01: Cam monitored T01 from 10:34am-11:34am and saw 1 entry/exit at 10:56am, and 1 entry at 11:15am. That evening, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 8:00pm-10:10pm. They saw 2 exits at 8:35pm, 1 entry at 8:51pm, 1 exit at 9:04pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, and 3 entries from 9:45pm-9:55pm. Seems like feeding is underway at this site.
T02: Amy monitored T02 from 11:38am-12:38am and saw 1 entry/exit around 11:44am, 1 entry/exit around 12:02pm, 2 entries at 12:15pm, and 2 exits around 12:16pm. That evening, Gerald monitored from 8:30pm-10:10pm. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:39pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:50pm, 1 entry at 8:53pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:00pm, 1entry/exit at 9:02pm, 2 entries at 9:05pm followed by 1 exit at 9:07pm and 1 exit at 9:15pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:21pm, 1 exit at 9:38pm, and 3 entries between 9:45pm-9:51pm (3 swifts roosting in the chimney). It seems that feeding of non-brooded young is underway, with a possible “helper” swift assisting the nesting pair.
T03: Amy H. monitored T03 from 10:35am-11:13am and saw no activity. That evening, Dennis and Pattie watched T03 from 8:50pm-10:01pm and saw 3 entries between 9:34pm-9:51pm. Judging by the lack of daytime activity at this site, it is likely the nesting attempt at this site has failed.
T04: Cam monitored T04 from11:39am-12:39pm. He saw 2 entries at 11:51am, 1 exit at 11:51am, and 1 exit at 12:00pm. That evening, Gerald monitored T04 from 8:30pm-10:10pm and saw 1 entry at 9:43pm. Hard to say what is happening at this site!
Yellow Brick chimney: Cam monitored the Yellow Brick chimney from 11:39am-12:39pm and saw no entries or exits. Cam noted that several times during the monitoring session, there were swifts swooping down towards the chimney but veering off at the last second. That evening, Nia monitored the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:45pm-10:05pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 9:05pm, and 4 entries between 9:50pm-9:52pm. This site is another confusing one – there is some daytime activity, but it is inconsistent so it’s hard to say for sure if this nest has failed or if there is some type of attempt ongoing.
Infirmary chimney: Amy monitored the Infirmary chimney from 10:35am-11:13am and saw no activity. That evening, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney from 8:50pm-10:01pm and saw 1 exit at 9:06pm and 9 entries between 9:11pm-9:55pm. Another tough one – it seems that this chimney is mainly being used as a roost site, though the “daytime” exit at 9:06pm could indicate a late nesting attempt.
It will be fascinating to continue to follow these sites throughout the rest of the summer and see what happens.
St. Adolphe
There are five sites in St A that are regularly tracked by Barb every year (SE Club Amical, NE Club Amical, Brodeur Bros/Daycare, the Church, and a house on Main St). This year, Barb has been prioritizing the Club Amical and Church chimneys for monitoring. This is because the Club Amical chimneys and the Church don’t have accessible chimney clean-out traps, so Barb must rely on monitoring to know if there are nesting attempts at these sites and if they are successful. The Brodeur Bros/Daycare and the Main St sites, on the other hand, have chimney clean-out traps that can be accessed in the fall and that provide information on any nesting attempts that occurred.
On the day of the blitz (July 16) and throughout the following four days, she spent some time at all five sites to get a sense of what was going on, including squeezing in some short observation sessions at Brodeur Bros and Main St. Here’s a recap of what she saw at each site. e
Club Amical SE: On July 16, this site was feeding Day 2 brooded young and likely has a helper on site. On July 17, Barb caught 1 exchange within 30 minutes of monitoring. On July 18, there were 2 exchanges within 35 minutes. On July 19, she caught 1 exchange as soon as she arrived, confirming the site as still active. On July 20, she saw 1 exit on arrival and an entry 2 minutes later. She suspects that the short between-visit interval could be due to a helper on site and/or a transition to feeding non-brooded young.
NE Club Amical: On July 15, there was no activity during an hour of monitoring. On July 16, there was no activity during a 45-minute session, suggesting day 2 of a nest failure. On July 17, there was once again no entry/exits which confirmed that this nest has failed.
Church: The Church nest failed earlier this month. Interestingly, on July 20, Barb caught sight of a swift exiting the Church chimney with her peripheral vision. Within 30 seconds, she saw a total of 6 swifts exit the chimney… Who are these swifts, and what are they doing? Very strange, but not totally unfamiliar….
In Barb’s words: “There seems to be a replay from the CHSW playbook – a year to the day! Cast your thoughts back to exactly 1 year ago when a swarm of swifts started using the Church chimney as a premigratory roost before the Church nestlings had fledged (End Of July Update July 2024; https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/2024/07/)”
Brodeur Bros/Daycare: On July 16, Barb squeezed in a 15 minute session at this site and didn’t see any entry/exits within that period. On July 17, she spent 30 minutes here and again didn’t see any activity. On July 18, she did another 15 minute session with no activity seen. On July 19, she finally caught an exit upon arrival, confirming that this site is indeed active!
Main St: On July 16, Barb spent 30 minutes watching this site and didn’t see any activity. On July 18, she caught 1 entry/exit during a 15 minute observation period, confirming that this site is active – woohoo!
Winnipeg
Alyssa and Sophia watched the CMU chimney on July 10 from 8:30pm-10:10pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:10pm, 1 exit at 9:17pm, 1 entry at 9:28pm, and 1 entry at 9:43pm. John watched the CMU chimney on July 16 from 9:15am-10:25am and saw 1 entry at 9:25am, 1 entry/exit around 9:42am, 1 entry/exit around 10:05am, and 1 entry/exit around 10:25am. Looks this site is continuing to feed non-brooded young.
Garry monitored 712 Watt St on July 15 from 10:43am-11:48am, and saw 1 entry/exit at 11:13am, 1 entry at 11:39am, and 1 entry/exit at 11:46am. Looks like this site is now into the feeding stage.
On the morning of July 15, Amy M. monitored a private residence on Ruby St for 75 minutes and did not see any entries or exits. She then moved to a private residence on Canora St on saw 2 entries and 1 exit.
On the morning of the blitz, Amy M. and I checked out multiple priority sites in Winnipeg. We started at 71 Kennedy St and caught 1 entry/exit around 9:30am (woohoo – priority site confirmed). We then moved to Balmoral St, where we spent about 45 minutes monitoring a private residence but did not see any activity. We also briefly monitored the apartment building at 39 Balmoral St but did not see any activity while we were there. We then monitored the two priority site chimneys at 222 York Ave. We did not see any activity at these chimneys, though we did see a swift flying low in the very nearby vicinity which we presume exited from the chimney at 180 Main St.
On July 14, Blair monitored 1310 Archibald St from 12:56pm-1:51pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 1:11pm, 1 exit at 1:14pm, and 1 entry/exit around 1:42pm. Blair then monitored 790 Elizabeth Rd from 1:56pm-2:59pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:03pm.
On the day of the blitz (July 16), Blair monitored 314 St Anne’s Rd from 1:23pm-2:23pm. He saw 1 entry at 1:35pm, 1 exit at 1:41pm, 1 entry/exit around 1:52pm, 1 entry/exit around 2:00pm, 1 entry/exit around 2:13pm. These 4 entry/exit cycles within 1 hour support that the swifts are feeding non-brooded young at this site.
Frank decided to check out 865 Tache Ave (one of our priority sites) on the evening of the blitz. He watched from 8:30pm-10:05pm but did not see any swift activity (and no swifts heard or seen in the vicinity).
Rudolf monitored the Radmon House Apartments (1010 Brazier St) on July 16 from 6:23pm-7:23pm. He saw 1 exit at 6:38pm, 1 entry at 6:48pm, 1 exit at 6:51pm, 1 exit at 7:00pm, and 1 entry at 7:08pm. He did not see any activity at the Curtis Gordon Hotel or at 1030 Brazier St.
Priority site list (updated July 21):
| 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 | |
| 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
