We’re back with another weekly swift update! It was another wet week across the province, with torrential rain and flooding in much of the western half of Manitoba. Despite this, the Chimney Swifts are carrying on, with lots of suspected nesting activity including sneaky daytime incubation switch offs, and even our first report of swifts feeding brooded young!
Before we get into the exciting updates, I want to remind everyone that the next MCSI Monitoring Blitz is next week on July 15! We’re hoping to get as many chimneys as possible monitored on that day. Check out your regular site or choose a new one from the updated Priority Site list!
St. Adolphe
Following what Barb has dubbed “Monsoon Monday” (referring to the storms on June 29), she was out in St. Adolphe to see how the swifts fared. Here’s her report from July 1:
“Good news. Many sightings of single to small groups of 4-5 swifts were made. The birds were feeding low over tree tops and the cemetery area but pairs were seen doing short V flashes while they hunted for bugs.
The Swift Deities were with me again…I caught sight of an entry at the Church at 10:05:06. An exit followed at 10:05:56. Oh! That’s a quick turnaround interval. Was that an incubation exchange? Another entry to the Church was made at 10:09:42 – a nice slow flare drop close to the rim by a single bird arriving from the east. Hmm, that was about 6 minutes between-visits which usually isn’t associated with the same bird exiting and returning quickly. Was a helper indicated?
At 10:25:58, 2 swifts were feeding together, low around the Rectory. One headed over to the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and dropped in. It was a masterful entry to adjust to gusting wind. The partner continued to feed. Good news = the breeding attempt continues.
At 10:36:20, I caught sight of a swift likely making an exit from the NE Club Amical. The bird was at the short descending arc after leaving the chimney then picked up elevation and headed NNW. That was a gift observation; focal point monitoring will be needed closer to the Club to catch the action at both chimneys.
Back to events at the Church…an entry was made by a single swift approaching from the N at 10:42:35. OK, that was the third entry in 40 min. Definitely something was going on inside that chimney and I think that something was feeding brooded youngsters! From multi-year data collected in St Adolphe, July 1st is the nominal hatching date for pairs of swifts that get on nest building tasks by June 3-4.”
Barb retuned the next day and added the St Adolphe Tower to the list of active sites following Monsoon Monday. She saw one entry into the Tower during her 30 minute session, and noted that the rain has brought lots of bugs for the swifts to feast on. Up to 9 swifts were observed constantly feeding throughout the session.
On July 3, Barb spent 45 minutes watching the two chimneys at Club Amical, observing a classic incubation exchange in both chimneys. Seems like all breeding attempts in St Adolphe are still progressing. We’re looking forward to hearing if any more sites have hatched in the coming days!
Carman
Rhonda was back at the Carman Memorial Hall on June 28 for an afternoon monitoring session. She observed an entry and an exit one minute later – likely an incubation exchange. Nesting is still underway in Carman!
St. Andrews
In St. Andrews, Gerald watched all three sites at Lower Fort Garry during the evening of June 28. It was another week of no entries at the red-shingled building, but nesting appears to be ongoing in both the Furloft and Men’s House chimneys. The Furloft was a busy place, with an entry, an exit and another entry before the start of the roosting hour. During the roosting hour, two swifts left the chimney, then returned just before sunset. Strange that a pair would leave together, but perhaps there was a third swift inside the chimney helping to incubate eggs? Time will tell! At the Men’s House, there was an entry/exit (perhaps an exchange) at the start of the roosting hour, then another entry just before sunset.
At the St Andrews Lock and Dam, Gerald noted no activity at the south chimney on July 2 but had quite a bit of action at the north chimney. Up to 4 swifts flew overhead, and there was an entry/exit at 8:35/8:39 pm and another one at 9:21/9:23 pm. Seems like exchanges to me. Another two entries were recorded into the north chimney just before sunset.
Selkirk
As usual, it was a busy week in Selkirk with the Selkirk Birdwatchers splitting up to cover all the SMHC sites and the Merchants Hotel. On June 30, Winona watched the Merchants Hotel and saw one swift enter the chimney 15 minutes after sunset.
Nia and Linda were at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on July 1 and watched both the Stack Replacement Tower (T4) and the Yellow Brick chimney. At T4, there were frequent entries and exits after sunset, with a total of 5 swifts in the tower at the end of the session. Nia and Linda weren’t sure what’s happening in this tower – could there be multiple nests? Or are the swifts just checking out the chimney before deciding where to roost? We’ll be keeping our eye on this one! At the Yellow Brick chimney, 3 swifts entered the chimney to roost for the night.
July 2 was a busy night at SMHC. Fred and Nettie were stationed at Tower 1 (Taller West Tower) where they saw 3 exits and 2 entries prior to the roosting hour, followed by 2 more entries and an exit during the roosting hour. That left 2 swifts in the chimney by the end of their watch. With the entries and exits spaced 15-20 minutes apart, I’m not entirely sure what those swifts were up to!
Lisa and Monty were at Tower 2 (Smaller East Tower), and had a pre-roosting entry and exit that was likely an incubation switch off, then an exit and two entries during the roosting hour. Two swifts were in the chimney at the end of the session.
At the Infirmary-attached tower (Tower 3), Dennis and Patti had a relatively quiet evening. They observed an exit half an hour before sunset, an entry 7 minutes later, then didn’t see another entry for 45 minutes, when a lone swift entered just after 10 pm. They stuck around for another 10 minutes before calling it a night. Patti also kept an eye on the SMHC Infirmary chimney, where 6 swifts entered to roost for the night.
Winnipeg
St. Vital
Marilyn and Pam watched the chimney on the St Mary’s Rd United Church on the evening of our last MCSI Blitz (June 17). They saw one swift enter the chimney during the roosting hour.
Blair was in St Vital on June 30, watching the Riverside Billiards chimney. Blair recorded a single swift entering the chimney to roost, though he noted that the monitoring session was cut short by heavy rain.
St. Boniface
Blair has been busy checking out chimneys all over St. B. On June 26 he was at Nelson McIntyre Collegiate, recording a single entry during the roosting hour. Blair noted that there was a Merlin in the area during much of the monitoring session, and the brave swift entered even with the Merlin in sight!
The next evening, Blair monitored Euro-Craft Office Furnishings and the Firehall on Marion St. Both sites had entries during the roosting hour: two swifts into Euro-Craft and one into the Firehall.
Blair rounded out his St. Boniface tour with a session at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on July 2. He recorded an exit shortly after he began monitoring, then an entry about 20 minutes later, with one swift spending the night at CCFM.
Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood
Graham completed a daytime monitoring session at CMU on July 2. Shortly into his monitoring session, he observed a single swift enter the chimney at 11:15 AM, followed by a single exit two minutes later. Such a quick entry/exit interval points to an incubation changeover between birds – nesting seems to be well underway, and it will be interesting to see what the swifts show us in the coming weeks!
Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry
On June 30, Program Assistants Brooke and Gibson conducted daytime monitoring sessions in this neighbourhood as part of their ongoing quest to visit Priority Sites throughout the city. Both chimneys at Brink’s and the one at Robertson College were able to be monitored simultaneously, though none produced any activity. That’s not to say that there was a complete absence of swifts, though: three were seen repeatedly passing over the sites. The presence of a bald eagle soaring overhead may have deterred them from venturing too close – it surely agitated other birds in the area! They then visited Newcastle Apts. and in a similar fate, no swifts made use of the chimneys. None at all were seen or heard throughout their monitoring session. Alas, no Priority Sites could be confirmed.
As well, Breanne did an evening watch at the Maryland Foodfare on July 2. She observed consistent aerial activity from four swifts throughout the session, but none decided to make any entries or exits at the site. She continued monitoring for over 20 minutes following the last sign of swifts.
East Kildonan/Elmwood
The final swift update to reaccount comes from Phoenix and Taylor on July 2. The team monitored the MMF Tower during the day but did not observe any entries or exits. However, cameras within the tower do confirm that it’s being used! Perhaps the weather conditions – light rain and cloud cover – influenced the swifts to stay inside.
That’s all for this week’s swift news! Things are looking exciting across the province, and we’ve really been enjoying sharing these updates on a consistent basis. One final reminder about our next Chimney Swift Blitz on July 15th – the more eyes out there, the better!
– Mackenzie (Program Coordinator) & Brooke (Program Assistant)
