Nature London Chimney Swift Monitoring Program – Report #9 July 30, 2024
NOTE: At the bottom of this page is the table of observations for each chimney followed by the table of chimneys by date.
Conditions
The skies cleared and rain ended in time for monitoring to proceed. There was little or no wind, little cloud cover and a moderate 24C temperature at the beginning of the observation period.
Chimney Observations
Chimney Totals
The total occupancy of the 16 chimneys monitored increased from 500 on July 9 to 668 on July 30. We can expect the numbers to climb as the swifts gather prior to migration.
Large Roosts
There there were small increases in the number of swifts at the three large roosts King’s (195), Smith Fruit (161), and Hunt (132).
There were also small roosts at a number of other chimneys, including at some that held none or very few three weeks ago: Elborn (50), Dundas (40), Huron (27), Labatt (17), South Collegiate (17).
According to past records, this is the season of chimney hopping. We are likely to see changes in these numbers when we monitor on August 13.
Nesting Evidence
The clearest evidence of nesting was in the observations at Elborn College. The frequency of the ins and outs suggest that young are being fed. Additional observations on July 18 at Smith Fruit also documented several ins and outs that suggested that two swifts were making very frequent food deliveries. There were no early ins and outs in this week’s observations at Smith indicating that the young have likely fledged. Other chimneys with small numbers of swifts roosting for the night had no early ins and outs. It appears that nesting is nearing an end at the monitored chimneys.
Observations for 07/30. Sunset 08:47. Total in 668
These values are the consensus of the monitors: Temp 24. Wind 1. Precip none. Cloud Cover 3
| CHIMNEY | OBSERVER(S) | NET IN | ENTRIES AND EXITS | OBSERVATIONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colborne | Pat Tripp, Judy Shaw | 0 | Max in air: 25. Busy with traffic. | |
| Dundas | Susan Price and Ros Moorhead | 40 | 8:58 =10 in 8:59= 25 in 9:00 =1 in 9:02= 2 in 9:02 =1 out 9:04= 2 in 9:06 =1 in | Max in air: 24. At 8:12 there were 12 Swifts circling around high in the sky. |
| Elborn College | Ruth Dickau, Elizabeth Pattison | 50 | 8:08 1 8:10 1 out 8:13 1 8:14 1 out 8:22 2 8:23 1 out 8:27 1 8:28 1 out 8:28 1 8:29 1 out 8:30 1 8:31 1 out 8:33 1 8:34 1 out 8:35 1 8:35 1 out 8:41 1 8:41 1 out 8:43 1 8:43 1 out 8:44 1 8:49 2 8:53 5 8:54 2 8:56 6 8:57 8 8:58 1 8:59 6 9:00 2 9:01 2 9:04 7 9:05 3 9:06 1 9:08 2 9:11 1 | Max in air: 25. Number of swifts overhead gradually increased from 2 at 8:00 to 25 at 8:50 or so. Multiple in/outs early in the evening suggest nesting activity. One hawk (redtail?) disturbed the overhead swifts. Eight geese twice flew by just overhead. Mosquitoes out in force later in the evening. |
| FSA North | Barb Yeo & Rick Hayman | 2 | 8:46=1in, 9:18=1in. | Max in air: 20. Generally very quiet. |
| FSA South | Barb Yeo & Rick Hayman | 4 | 8:17=1in, 9:00=1in, 9:08=1in, 9:24=1in. | Max in air: 20. Very quiet. Heard 1 crow calling and 1 cicada call. |
| FSA NE | Stephen Jarrett and Theresa Morrissey | 8 | 8:31=1 in 8:38=1 in 8:40=1 out 8:55=1 in 8:58=1 in 8:59=3 in 9:01=1 in 9:02=1 in | Max in air: 10. A couple of swifts were seen overhead when we arrived at 8:15. By 8:35 we observed from 4 to 10 swifts overhead. After the last swift entered the chimney at 9:02, three swifts continued to circle the NE chimney until about 9:15. We did not see where they went, but assumed that they had chosen FSA North or South for the night. |
| FSA SE | Stephen Jarrett and Theresa Morrissey | 0 | Max in air: 10. See observations under FSA, NE Chimney | |
| Hunt | Caitlin Daley, Mark Daley, Nora Guglielmo, Chris Guglielmo, Yolanda Morby | 132 | 8:19 1 in 8:22 1 in 8:48 1 in 8:54 2 in 8:55 1 in 8:55 1 out 8:56 1 in 9:02 21 in 9:03 73 in 9:04 6 in 9:05 7 in 9:06 3 in 9:07 3 in 9:08 1 in 9:09 4 in 9:10 2 in 9:11 5 in 9:12 1 in | Max in air: 80. We saw a few bats. |
| Huron College | Heidi and Garry Williams | 27 | 8:33=1 in 8:34=1 out 8:47=1 in 8:49=2 in 8:54=3 in 8:55=2 in 8:56= 4 in 8:58=2 in 9:00=1 in 9:01=4 in 9:02=2 in 9:03=4 in 9:04=2 in | Max in air: 6. It was very quiet at Huron College, with summer students having gone home and fall students not yet arrived. |
| ICORR | ||||
| King’s College | Paul Thomas, Karin de Vries | 195 | 8:48 1 in 8:48 1 in 8:49 1 in 8:49 1 in 8:49 1 in 8:55 2 in 8:55 1 in 8:56 1 in 8:57 2 in 8:57 1 in 8:58 2 in 9:00 7 in 9:01 1 in 9:01 12 in 9:02 12 in 9:02 10 in 9:02 3 in 9:03 65 in 9:04 23 in 9:04 5 in 9:04 3 in 9:04 1 in 9:04 1 in 9:05 3 in 9:05 2 in 9:05 2 in 9:05 1 in 9:05 1 in 9:06 4 in 9:06 2 in 9:06 3 in 9:06 1 in 9:07 1 in 9:07 1 in 9:07 1 in 9:08 1 in 9:09 1 in 9:09 1 in 9:09 1 in 9:09 1 in 9:10 1 in 9:10 1 in 9:10 1 in 9:10 1 in 9:11 1 in 9:11 1 in 9:11 1 in 9:11 1 in 9:11 1 in 9:13 1 in 9:14 1 in | Max in air: 50. At times, it was like a tornado of swifts flying around! Very busy just after sunset Other species seen or heard: BLJA, BARS, RTHU, HOSP, MODO, COGR, AMRO, NOCA, DOWO, BCCH, AMGO. Also saw a large flock of about 75 birds high up, in a V formation, heading east. Not CAGO, but it was getting dark, and I didn’t have my bins with me. No sound from them. |
| Kingsway North | Ron Martin, Mary Morris | 10 | 9:01 1in 9:02 7in, 9:02 2out 9:05 1 in 9:10 3in | Max in air: 11. Mosquitos |
| Kingsway South | Ron Martin, Mary Morris | 3 | 9:02 1in, 9:07 2in | Max in air: 11. mosquitos |
| Labatt | Leslie Baker, Shelley Garner | 17 | 8:32 = 1 in 8:32 = 1 out 8:42 = 1 in 8:43 = 1 out 8:49 = 1 in 8:50 = 1 out 8:57 = 2 in 9:01 = 2 in 9:01 = 6 in 9:04 = 1 in 9:05 = 2 in 9:06 = 1 in 9:08 = 3 in 9:20 = 1 in 9:20 = 1 out | Max in air: 13. Most number of swifts seen flying together at one time was 13. Lots of chittering while flying overhead but not when entering. 3 people approached us, one who knew what we were doing as she lives on the street, one who knew we were counting swifts but wanted to know what they looked like as he had never seen one (we showed him online pictures and pointed them out flying overhead), and the other wondering what we were doing. Cardinal, robins, starlings, house sparrows and mourning doves seen, as well as one rabbit. |
| Old North | Lois Ward, Kathy Ludanyi | 2 | 8:58 1 in 9:00 1 in | Max in air: 10. Other species: grackles, mourning doves Several people stopped to ask what we were doing Most swifts that didn’t go into the chimney seemed to be heading in a northerly direction |
| Phoenix | ||||
| Smith Fruit | Sandra Grant | 161 | 8:26=2 in 8:40=9 in 8:41=4 in 8:42=8 in 8:47=4 in 8:48=2 in 8:49=4 in 8:50=13 in 8:51=12 in 8:52=7 in 8:53=8 in 8:54=2 in 8:55=2 in 8:56=3 in 8:58=15 in 8:59=16 in 9:00=7 in 9:01=5 in 9:02=4 in 9:03=2 in 9:04=8 in 9:08=5 in 9:10=8 in 9:11=4 in 9:12=4 in 9:14=3 in | Max in air: 15. None |
| South Collegiate | Susan and Glenn Berry | 17 | 8:11 1 in 8:14 1 in 8:29 1 out 8:41 1 in 8:51 1 in 8:53 1 in 8:54 1 in 8:57 1 in 8:57 2 in 8:58 1 in 8:58 1 in 8:59 1 in 8:59 2 in 9:00 2 in 9:01 1 in 9:02 1 in 9:05 1 out 9:05 1 in | Max in air: 4. Three in flight, chittering from the time of our arrival. Small numbers of chittering birds came and went over the observation time, but never more than four at once. Entries were fast, silent drops. Around sunset, dark clouds moved in behind the chimney. Entries were not visible to the naked eye and could only be seen using binoculars. An adult female Merlin was on the roof closest to us on the deck. It left, returned, and soon started eating something. Then a juvenile joined and pleaded to be fed. Perhaps their nest is on the roof. We also saw two Turkey Vultures perched on the front corner of the school when we arrived, and heard Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, American Goldfinch, and American Crow. |
