Start of July Recap: The hatchlings are here!
Happy July!
Based on your monitoring observations from the first week of July, it seems that many sites are still incubating. However, we’ve officially got hatchlings at the Church in St. Adolphe! Barb estimates that the eggs hatched sometime between the afternoon of July 2 and the morning of July 3, based on the noticeable increase in entries/exits at this site on July 3 compared to July 1 (more details in the monitoring recap below). This is great news! We expect that more sites will start showing these increased rates of activity any day now.
Just a reminder that our next monitoring blitz is on Wednesday, July 16.
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out! The best way to reach me is by email at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com.
Thanks for being here! Time for the monitoring recap.
Hartney
The swifts in Hartney and their irregular activity has continued to lead Katharine on a true rollercoaster this year. When she last monitored the Hart-Cam Museum on June 21, 2 swifts entered to roost for the night. On July 1, Katharine monitored the Museum from 6:33pm-10:33pm. 4 hours – wow! That might be a new record for longest monitoring session. Unfortunately, there was zero sign of the swifts.
The next day, whilst sitting on her friend’s patio in Hartney, she happened to notice a Chimney Swift in the sky. The lone swift was flying in proximity to a group of Barn Swallows before flying southward, solo. She decided to return to the Hart-Cam museum that evening, to see if this swift might make an appearance to roost. She watched from 9:07pm-10:40pm. This time, she did see a swift flying in the airspace above the chimney.
From Katharine: “I almost wondered if this could be a different swift than one of the original 2 that I had watched on the previous trips. It would forage and then fly relatively close to the chimney as if it was thinking to enter and then would pass over. Finally, at 9:31 pm, it hovered over the chimney and began to descend, but then aborted and flew off again at the last second. It then made a number of aborted attempts to enter the chimney. At 9:36 pm, it made a final aborted attempt, but within a few seconds returned and entered the chimney. There was no further activity and no exits were observed. If it was one of the original two swifts, why was it acting so hesitant to enter the chimney?”
It’s hard to know exactly what is going on at this site, but it feels safe to say that there is not currently an ongoing nesting attempt. This site will be an interesting one to follow. Thank you Katharine, for your diligent monitoring efforts!
La Broquerie
Frank made the trip out to La Broquerie on July to monitor the St Joachim Church from 8:30pm-10:10pm. He observed a few trio fly-overs starting at 8:35pm, and a group of six swifts flying over at 9:14pm. He saw 3 entries into the small chimney at 9:21pm, and 1 entry into the large chimney at 9:36pm. Two swifts remained unaccounted for at the end of the roosting hour. The two church chimneys are the only two known Chimney Swifts sites in La Broquerie. Where did these other two swifts go to roost?! It’s possible that they entered very late. Or perhaps, there is another undiscovered site nearby!
Lower Fort Garry
Gerald monitored the LFG sites on June 30, with the assistance of his trusty video camera.
At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry at 8:59pm and 1 entry at 9:58pm. At the Fur Loft, there was 1 entry at 8:26pm, 1 exit at 8:36pm, 1 entry at 8:40pm, 1 exit at 9:15pm, and 1 entry at 9:36pm. At the Museum, there was 1 entry at 8:57pm and 1 entry at 9:54pm. Gerald noted that there were still a few swifts flying around at 10:05pm and he is unsure where they went. Interesting observations!
Portage la Prairie
On July 4, Jana monitored the United Church from 9:21pm-10:11pm. At the south chimney, she saw 1 exit at 9:36pm, and 2 entries around 10:00pm. She did see up to 12 swifts in the sky throughout the monitoring session.
Selkirk
On July 2, Dennis and Pattie watched T03 and the Infirmary chimney from 8:53pm-10:15pm.
At T03, they saw 2 entries at 9:37pm, 2 exits at 9:47pm, 2 entries at 9:54pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:55pm, 1 entry at 9:58pm, 1 exit at 10:04pm, and 3 entries at 10:12pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower). At the Infirmary chimney, they saw 2 exits at 8:58pm, 1 entry at 9:22pm, 1 entry at 9:29pm, 2 exits around 9:33pm, and 7 entries between 9:47pm-10:12pm (7 swifts roosting in the chimney).
On July 3, Nia and Linda monitored the Yellow Brick chimney and T04 from 9:09pm-10:10pm. At the T04, they saw 1 entry at 9:32pm, and 3 exits from 9:40pm-9:51pm (up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once, but none at the end of the roosting hour). At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 exit at 9:42pm, and 4 entries from 9:49pm-9:56pm.
St. Adolphe
Barb continues to keep a close eye on the St Adolphe sites. On July 2, Barb monitored the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys from 9:50am-10:35am. At the NE chimney, she saw 1 swift enter the chimney at 9:50am, followed by another entry 30 seconds later. 2 minutes later, she saw 1 of the swifts exit. She then saw 1 entry at 10:34am. Barb’s notes: “Based on two in the air and >50% of the obs. period with an attending adult, the NE pair are likely incubating”. At the SE chimney, she saw 1 exit at 10:30am (meaning that the site was attended for at least 40 minutes). Like the NE chimney, this site also had >50% of the observation period with an attending adult which supports incubation (assuming that there is still a second swift present at this site – its whereabouts during this monitoring session remain a mystery).
When Barb monitored the Church on July 1, the swifts were still showing activity consistent with incubation. Barb returned to the Church on July 3 and watched from 8:45am-9:45am. She saw 3 entries and 3 exits within one hour, along with a few “drop and veers” (a fast approach but no entry). This is a noticeable increase in activity compared to July 1, which strongly supports that there are officially hatchlings at the Church! She also suspects there may be a helper on site with the breeding pair.
The Pas
Joel has noticed Chimney Swifts in a few areas around The Pas. On June 12 he saw 3 swifts near the Lathlin/Settee junctions. On June 15, he noticed a Chimney Swift at Grace Lake, flying with various swallow species. On June 28, he noticed 2 swifts over the VIA Rail/Bignell area. On July 2, he saw 3 swifts overhead near the Lorraine Apartments (which has been used as a nesting sites for the last few years).
Wasagaming
Pam monitored 106 Buffalo Drive in Wasagaming on June 30 during the roosting hour and did not see any swifts.
Winnipeg
Graham watched the CMU chimney on June 30 from 9:10pm-10:10pm, and saw 3 entries between 9:42pm-9:54pm. Graham also noted that before these entries, there were a few “fake outs” where a swift approached the chimney and then veered away, not entering.
Garry monitored 722 Watt St on July 4 from 7:31am-8:32am. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:21am. Looks like incubation is ongoing at this site.
Thanks everyone! Here is the updated priority site list:
Priority site list (updated July 7):
| 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 | Brink’s Canada | |
| Winnipeg | City Centre | 222 York Ave | 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 | Academy Uptown Lanes | |
| 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 | |
| Winnipeg | West End | 318 Home St | Mennonite Church | |
| Winnipeg | West Kildonan | 187 Kilbride Avenue | Kildonan United Church | |
| 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
