Hello and welcome to another instalment of our weekly Chimney Swift recaps! Today, we’re looking at what transpired chimney- and tower-side from August 8th-14th. That week, weather conditions were fair with average temperatures being in the low to mid-twenties. Rainfall was also not an issue, with most reports indicating nil precipitation. By all accounts, conditions were perfect for swift monitoring! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover – especially with many reports coming from our final blitz day on August 12th – so let’s get crackin’:
Carman
Rhonda submitted her findings from monitoring the Carman Memorial Hall the week prior, on August 3rd. Though she monitored for over an hour, she saw only a single entry/exit event at 10:57/10:58 AM – about 20 minutes after she began her watch. Rhonda’s observations are consistent with incubation, and she reported seeing similar activity the week prior, on July 26th. However, being quite late into the breeding season naturally raises some questions about nesting success at this site. Ultimately, Rhonda said it best: “… I am perplexed as to what is actually happening in that chimney. Only one solution: keep on keeping on.” We’re definitely curious to see what the swifts show us in the final few weeks of the season – stay tuned!
On blitz day, August 12th, Program Assistant Gibson was busy… you’ll come to find this as you read on! Not only did he visit multiple sites in Winnipeg, but he also made it out to a Private Residence Priority Site in Carman for a roosting hour watch. It ended up being a quiet evening at the residence, with only a single swift seen flying over Carman United Church, just a short distance away from the dwelling. No swifts interacted with the chimney, so we can’t cross this site off the Priority List.
Dauphin
Ken sent in an update from Dauphin, where a few sites were visited for roosting hour watches on August 12th and13th. At Scott’s Hardware, three swifts were seen in the area, with one entering the chimney to roost. The known roost chimney at Harrison Computer Services had 13 swifts flying overhead, with five entering during the monitoring period. At the Hong Kong Café, frequent entry/exit events – between 5-6 per hour – strongly suggests nesting success at this site, with feeding still underway! Lastly, no swifts were seen at Watson’s Art Centre.
La Broquerie
Frank visited the St. Joachim Church on the evening of our blitz. He watched both the large and small chimneys, where roosting activity was seen at both. A lone swift settled inside the small chimney for the night 15 minutes after sunset, having the whole place to themselves! However, the large chimney was more communal in nature, with five swifts entering to roost between 8:55-9:00 PM. Between both chimneys, the six swifts that Frank saw were all accounted for.
Portage la Prairie
One report came out of Portage la Prairie this week, with Gordon monitoring Trinity United Church on August 8th. During his evening watch, he saw a flurry of roosting activity, with a maximum of 13 birds in the vicinity. Swifts began entering the south chimney at 8:35 PM, and they continued until 9:25 PM. In total, 10 entries and four exits were recorded, with six swifts inside by the time Gordon’s watch concluded. It’s evident that this chimney is being used as a roost in the area – perhaps some of its members include a family with fledged juveniles, or swifts from other sites are now congregating there as they prepare for their migration to South America. In terms of nesting here, the last time we received data from this site was back in mid-June, so there’s no telling what the swifts have been up to since then!
Selkirk
On the evening of August 9th, two teams set out to watch multiple sites at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) campus. Dennis & Patti kept watch of the Infirmary chimney, as well as the Infirmary-attached tower (T03). Brittany was stationed at the Smaller tower (T02). The Infirmary chimney was very active – 15 entries and 10 exits in total! A maximum of six swifts were inside at once. Could this be a family with fledged juveniles that are practicing their aerial skills, or has a pre-migratory roost formed? In a previous recap, Barb did think that a roost has likely formed here. All in all, this chimney has puzzled us all season, challenging our interpretation skills and sometimes leaving us with more questions than answers.
T03 was busy in equal measure, with 12 distinct entry/exit events recorded. However, this activity points more towards the feeding of non-brooded young rather than roosting behaviour. Given that intervals were, on average, just minutes apart – coupled with the fact that just two swifts could be accounted for within the chimney – feeding still appears to still be underway. Fledging could begin at any time, and we’re keen on seeing what the next round of data tells us.
Brittany recorded some action at T02 which indicates that fledglings may be using the tower as a roosting site. Four entries and two exits were made, with a maximum of two swifts within the tower. She also noted some interesting observations about the manner in which they were performed: smooth entries – indicative of confidence – were noted at 8:32 PM, 9:03 PM, and 9:09 PM. However, ‘flappy’, unsmooth exits were also seen at 8:34 PM and 9:04 PM, with activity ending with a backward dive inside the tower at 9:10 PM. Perhaps the young swifts inside are learning to master their entry skills, but their exits could still use some work…
A few evenings later, on August 12th (blitz day), two pairs visited their usual SMHC sites. Fred & Nettie monitored the Taller tower (T01), while Nia & Linda simultaneously watched the Stack Replacement tower (T04) and the Powerhouse/“Yellow Brick” chimney. At T01, two swifts exited right as monitoring commenced at 8:00 PM. A single entry/exit was recorded at 8:43/8:45 PM, and activity ended with both swifts re-entering at 9:05 PM and 9:08 PM, respectively. Previous accounts of T01 have shown that a greater number of swifts have used the tower throughout the summer, rather than the two seen on this evening. Again, this begs the question of what exactly has gone on inside that tower this season. Is the feeding of non-brooded young still underway? Could juveniles have successfully fledged, now returning here to roost? We hope that time will tell!
T04 saw a single exit at 8:48 PM, followed by two entries made at 9:06 PM and 9:14 PM, respectively. In a similar fashion to the other SMHC sites discussed in this recap, T04 also displayed results that differ in comparison to previous data. Activity seems to have slowed down; yet, on August 5th, frequent interactions with the tower suggested that non-brooded juveniles might continue to be tended to. Was this just a quieter evening at the nesting site, with the activity indicative of parents having a final outing prior to bedtime? Or rather, have those juveniles now fledged, perhaps scattering to other sites on campus for flight practice and roosting?
Finally, at the Powerhouse/“Yellow Brick” chimney, the only activity seen was a single entry made at 9:10 PM, just about 20 minutes post-sunset. Simple activity at this chimney seems to be a running theme this season.
St. Adolphe
Barb sent in some very interesting reports from her stomping grounds this week! Let’s hear about the St. A swifts directly from her:
August 9th:
“Here’s the record of events for Sunday August 9 at Club Amical:
Observed ~10:00 AM to 11:00 AM; 20 C; gentle breeze; less than 24% cloud cover; no precipitation.
- 9:59:41 – Entry NE Club
- 10:00:27 – Exit NE Club
- 10:26 – no sightings of PUMA, TRSW, or CHSW beyond the entry/exit events
- 10:26:49 – Entry NE Club
- 10:28:00 – Exit NE Club; rim blip (I’m thinking of you Gerald) to NW then up to NE fast
THEY’RE FEEDING!
- 10:40:59 – Entry NE Club
- 10:41:57 – Exit NE Club
- 10:54:12 – ~4-5 swifts around Caisse, moving quickly to E
- 10:54:56 – n=6 swifts, low, fast around Fire Hall then to W
- 11:00 – end of observations. SE Club site unused; 0 entries, 0 exits. NE Club site had 3 entries and 3 exits with short duration-in intervals indicating that hatching had taken place between Sat. Aug. 8 and today. Of course, they could have hatched after Friday morning’s session when I turned my back 🙂 On Saturday morning, I was over at the Church noting a drone flying nearby; 4 consecutive exits were made from the Church chimney during that morning session.
With the nominal hatching date range of Aug. 8-9, 28-30 days of feeding before fledging will take us to lift-off between Sept. 4 – 7. Remember that hatching day = Day 1 of feeding. Transitioning to feeding non-brooded juveniles could happen between Aug. 13-15, so those will be important monitoring
Dates. The latest known fledging dates for St. A include: Aug. 16, Brodeur Bros., 2010 and Aug. 13 – 16, Tower, 2025. So successful fledging from the NE Club chimney would be record setting!”
August 10th:
“The fun of watching a pair of swifts over time is that you get a chance to fine tune details… this morning, three feeding exchanges were seen between 9:54 – 10:39 AM at the NE Club Amical chimney. There were alternate entry styles apparent. The first and third entries were flare-tilt-drops from a height after a swift approached from the east. The second entry was a vicious low approach from the west just below the level of the rim, so the swift had to rise up slightly above the rim before dropping in quickly.”
August 11th:
“I showed up to watch the swifts this morning but they didn’t appear at the NE Club chimney. Insert loud raspberry noise. Between 10:00-11:00 I did not see a swift at all! Nothing in the SE Club, nadda in the NE Club and none in the air! The strong feeding effort of Sun. and Mon. vaporized on Day 3-4. As per protocol, I’ll check again tomorrow morning for activity (will bring strong coffee to buffer the boredom). Nest failure is indicated.
Qilliaq and I went over to the Church for a quick recce. A sleek dark swift popped out of the Church minutes after we got settled; it flew out with constant wingbeats and joined a low flying bird over the cemetery before both headed west out of
sight. About 10 min. later, a group of 5 swifts was seen briefly to the west and they moved near the RM/Fire Hall before heading west again. And that was that. Times they are a changin’… and mighty darn fast.”
Barb also submitted some datasheets from the blitz day. She found that a pre-migratory group of swifts has formed at the St. Adolphe Church, recording a total of 15 entries and two exits. This chimney is certainly acting as a roost as the swifts prepare for their southbound journey! Interestingly (and logically), Barb noted that it isn’t possible to determine whether these roosting swifts are local fledglings and adults, or whether they’ve arrived from other sites outside of St. Adolphe. At the same time, Rob was monitoring the first-generation tower at the cemetery, where four swifts tucked inside to roost overnight. Of those four swifts, two had exited the church’s chimney in favour of roosting in the tower. Based on the clumsy way that the swifts interacted with the tower, Rob surmised that likely two – but possibly all four – were fledglings. The St. Adolphe sites are great examples of just how quickly the Chimney Swift season comes and goes… and how much those little birds accomplish in only a matter of months!
St. Andrews
Gerald faithfully returned to the active sites in St. Andrews this week, beginning with a roosting hour watch of the north and south chimneys at the Lock and Dam Powerhouse on August 9th. Neither chimney produced any activity whatsoever – a bit of a surprise, as a couple of swifts have been known to roost here. At this stage, it’s not outside the realm of possibilities that they’ve gone elsewhere to join with other birds prior to migration.
The following evening, Gerald monitored the Men’s House and the Furloft at Lower Fort Garry. Very frequent entries and exits prior to roosting hour suggest that a pair of swifts continue to feed their young at the Men’s House. Five distinct entry/exit events were recorded, followed by the pair making their final entries at 9:02/9:03 PM, just a few minutes past sunset. Over at the Furloft, short intervals between entries and exits are indicative of feeding; however, four swifts did roost inside the chimney. A bit of a mystery there.
Then, on August 11th, some worrisome news was shared amongst the MCSI Steering Committee. It was discovered that the swifts’ nest within the Furloft chimney had fallen. The juveniles – four in total – were found to be ~14-18 days old. Steering Committee Chair Tim came to the rescue, acting fast to save the chicks. Himself and Joanne – a fellow Steering Committee member – made the decision to place the juveniles inside of an artificial nest that Rob had constructed. Knowing that the parents may continue to feed their offspring even with the nest having fallen, they chose to prop the artificial nest against the wall within the fireplace. The hope now is that the young swifts will eventually make their way out of the nest, crawl up the wall, and be able to fly out of the chimney. Barb added that they should be clinging to the wall by Day 20-21, so they would be out of the makeshift nest in only a matter of days. Fingers, toes, and feathers crossed that the swifts will persevere.
On August 12th, Gerald returned to Lower Fort Garry to collect swift data on our blitz day and to check out the state of the Furloft swifts after the nest fall event. He monitored both the Men’s House and the Furloft, with a total of nine swifts seen flying around. At the former, his roosting hour watch garnered results that indicate the feeding of non-brooded juveniles – a quick entry/exit exchange at 8:33/8:34 PM, two entries and an exit at 8:51:12/8:51:55 PM, and a final entry at 8:59 PM, to which activity concluded afterwards. The activity displayed by these two swifts is consistent with observations made the week prior, as well.
At the latter, Gerald saw similar behaviour; frequent entry/exit pairings at 8:31/8:33 PM, 8:37/8:40 PM, 8:48/8:51 PM, and 9:03/9:06 PM suggest feeding is still very much underway at the Furloft – a hopeful sign that the chicks are continuing to be fed by their parents. Plus, only two swifts roosted in comparison to the four a few evenings prior. Perhaps the swifts returned to somewhat of a status quo once the babies were placed inside the artificial nest. Whatever the case may be, the pair of swifts decided to call it a night slightly later than their conspecifics at the Men’s House, with their final entries having been made at 9:07 PM and 9:09 PM, respectively. We’re left feeling cautiously optimistic about the future of the Furloft swifts, but only time will tell. And as for the other seven swifts Gerald saw around, we can’t quite say where they might’ve ended up for the evening.
St. Jean Baptiste
A sizable roost has formed over at S-J-B Church! Luc contributed to our blitz with an evening watch of this site, recording a significant amount of swift activity. His monitoring period began exactly at the start of the roosting hour, where he immediately counted 17 swifts flying and vocalizing. The first entry was made at 8:23 PM (just one minute into his watch), and the last at 9:16 PM. Luc counted a total of 25 entries and nine exits, with 24 swifts inside the chimney by the time his monitoring concluded. It appears the St. Jean Baptiste swifts are just about ready to set out for their wintering grounds! Historically, this site has served as a roost chimney rather than for natal purposes; however, the last time we received data from St. Jean Baptiste was in June, so there is a chance that nesting could’ve been attempted here, as well.
Winnipeg
Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood
Two sites in this neighbourhood were monitored on the blitz day, August 12th. First, Graham & Tyler went to see what the swifts were up to at the Canadian Mennonite University. Their roosting hour watch resulted in three swifts spending the night inside the chimney. Over at the Assiniboine Park tower, Jo & Betsy counted a total of 13 swifts nearby, with eight of them roosting within the tower for the evening – the same amount that was observed during their last monitoring session on July 15th. Although there weren’t signs of feeding at either site, it’s great to know that roosting is still actively occurring at this point in the season!
Daniel McIntyre
We now return to recapping Gibson’s busy week of swift monitoring! In the Daniel McIntyre neighbourhood, he monitored two Private Residence sites on August 11th – both being Priority Sites. The first proved to be an exciting watch, with two entries and five exits occurring during the daytime. The intervals at which they occurred were irregular, likely suggesting that juveniles likely are practicing their flight skills! He noted ‘flappy’, feet-first entries were being performed, reinforcing this notion further. How wonderful!
At the second Private Residence site, possible swift activity was observed. The hustle and bustle of rush hour traffic at the location added to the difficulty of picking up on the swifts’ already sneaky behaviours. Gibson recorded a potential entry at 4:25 PM and exit at 4:42 PM, both seen out of his peripheral vision. While he isn’t certain about the presence of swifts, we still appreciate the monitoring efforts!
Then, on blitz day, Cam visited West Textiles – the first time this site was monitored this season. During his roosting hour watch, Cam wrote that he “… briefly saw a fluttering of wings above the chimney rim, but did not see the bird approach. … Could not conclusively ID the species or confidently assert that it went down the chimney, though I don’t have a better guess than a chimney swift!”. Just another example of how stealthy these birds can be!
East Kildonan/Elmwood
We received some somber news from the MMF tower (T9) this week. On August 13th, Brookelynn & Jessica conducted a daytime monitoring session of T9. They observed an entry at 10:09 AM followed by an exit at 10:40 PM. However, prior to this, they witnessed a swift being captured by two Merlins, to its peril. A follow-up email from the MMF revealed that the captured swift was likely one of the juveniles, as only one baby is now being seen on the camera within the tower. That leaves a total of three swifts still occupying this tower: the two parents and the now-lone juvenile. While nature can seem brutal, this is the circle of life. We’ll continue monitoring T9 in the coming weeks to see how the remaining juvenile progresses as the season winds down.
Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry
Gibson visited another set of Private Residence sites in this neighborhood, on August 11th. Unfortunately, neither garnered any evidence of use by the swifts, so they remain on the Priority List.
On August 12th, Gibson contributed to our blitz with daytime watches at three sites: yet another Private Residence (a Priority Site), Rosemount Apartments, and Overlook Apartments. No swifts were heard or seen over at the Private Residence site. At the Rosemount, three swifts flew over the site, but did not interact with the chimney at all. Lastly, Overlook Apartments did have some excitement: two exits (although he likely missed another two) and four entries! He last watched this chimney on July 15th, where he observed likely nesting activity from a pair of swifts. At this point, their juvenile(s) may have fledged, and we may now be seeing them practicing their flying!
North Kildonan
Program Assistant Brooke also visited a Private Residence Priority Site on blitz day. However, she quickly came to realize that the chimney was not being used by swifts this season. She noted that the home was having its siding redone, which was causing a fair amount of commotion that may be disruptive to swifts. Overall, no swifts were seen or heard during her daytime monitoring session.
River Heights/Fort Garry
Gibson visited both the Milan Apartments and a Private Residence in this neighbourhood. The Milan Apartments was a site he’d previously monitored, now hoping to gain an understanding of how the swifts have progressed. His previous watch on June 17th showed that two swifts had made daytime entries, perhaps scoping the chimney out as a potential nesting site. On August 11th, he received no indication of continued use, as no interactions with the chimney were made by any swifts. However, there is still a general presence of swifts in the area, with him spotting a maximum of three flying overhead.
Also on August 11th, Gibson checked out (… you probably guessed it) another Private Residence. He spotted two swifts flying rather far away from the site, but no swifts entered or exited the chimney proper.
St. Boniface
Blair R. conducted a daytime monitoring session of Archibald Storage (large chimney) on August 10th, which didn’t result in any chimney use. He did see two swifts flying overhead three minutes into his watch, but that was the only activity he observed during the monitoring period.
Blair returned the following evening, opting instead for a roosting hour watch. That decision paid off, since the swifts were much more active! He found that two swifts were using the site to roost, and he observed a total of four entries and three exits prior to their final entries at 9:04 PM and 9:11 PM, respectively. Since Blair didn’t catch any signs of daytime use the day before, it appears that the swifts have passed on this chimney for nesting purposes – but still find it comfortable to spend their nights in!
Finally, on blitz day, Blair visited the Marion Hotel. The roosting hour watch resulted in a simple, single entry just three minutes before sunset, at 8:48 PM. It was the only swift he accounted for during the watch. His last watch on July 10th saw two roosting hour entries, so it may be possible that another sneaky swift was around somewhere.
St. James
On August 8th, Breanne watched both chimneys at St. Anne’s Church during the roosting hour. No activity was observed at the uncapped east chimney, but – seemingly out of nowhere – an unexpected entry was made at the part-capped north chimney! The entry came at 9:18 PM, approximately 80 minutes into her session. This entry was quite a surprise after a quiet night, with Breanne literally writing “Where did you come from??” on her datasheet. We echo the sentiment, especially since Brooke’s daytime watch of the site on July 22nd yielded no swifts!
Breanne then set out for Marner Apartments on blitz day, conducting a roosting hour watch of the chimney. She accounted for three swifts in the vicinity but captured no entries or exits. It doesn’t seem like there’s been any action at the chimney all season, since – and in a similar fashion to the church – a daytime watch from Brooke on July 22nd also resulted in no chimney use. Nonetheless, we appreciate Breanne’s efforts and commitment to the swifts!
St. Norbert
Blaire B. got out monitoring on blitz day, with an evening watch at the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation. We’re happy to see from her datasheet that Blaire referred to this evening as one of her busiest monitoring events since starting to volunteer with MCSI! She recorded 11 entries and nine exits made throughout the roosting hour, with a maximum of 3-4 swifts inside the chimney at once. Throughout this season, this chimney has been used as a consistent roosting site. Thus, it seems like the swifts were rather indecisive this evening about exactly when to settle in – the frequent entries/exits point more towards roosting behaviour rather than nesting. Regardless, we’re glad that it was such a fruitful night for Blaire!
… And there we have it! This round of data has really exemplified how different activity begins to look chimney-side, the later into the season it gets. It certainly appears that late-stage feeding, fledging, and pre-migratory roosts are occurring all over the province – and with just a few short weeks before the swifts start departing, we’re keen on seeing how it all plays out! We’d also like to sincerely thank all of our fantastic volunteers who contributed data to our final blitz of the season! Because of your effort, dedication, and generosity, we’ve been able to paint a picture of swift activity throughout the many corners of Manitoba. As of writing this recap, we’ve also surpassed the amount of swift monitoring sessions conducted in the 2025 season… hats off to you for that impressive achievement!
Don’t forget to follow the MCSI social media pages:
Instagram: @mbchimneyswift | Facebook: Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative
– Brooke (Program Assistant)
