LONDON SWIFTWATCH 2006 - REPORT NO. 7 - September 27
McIlwraith Field Naturalists of London have been monitoring chimneys in
London that are known to be or have been roosting sites for Chimney Swifts,
Chaetura pelagica. This project, now in its third year, was organized as a
response to the province-wide decline in swift numbers identified by
Breeding Bird Atlas data. From mid-August through September, participants
count the number of swifts entering the chimneys at dusk, preferably on
Sunday evenings.
Numbers peaked around September 2-4 at 2465 swifts in 10 chimneys. A second,
but smaller peak (1238) was noted on the midweek count of Sep 20-21 when
only the four largest roosts were counted. See the table below for recent
results.
Weekend 7 Mid-week Weekend 7
Location Sep 24-25 Sep 20-21 Sep 16-18
South Collegiate (Tecumseh/Belgrave) 540 410 340
Kingsmill's (Carling, W/Richmond) 186 180 126
Ryerson School (Victoria/Waterloo) 107 528 323
Smith Fruit (S end of Maitland) 72 120 119
Dorchester Apts (N Richmond) 12 - 21
388 Dundas 1 - -
Emco (Nightingale & Dundas) 0 - 14
Truck Driving School (Horton/Wellington) - - 2
Riverside Drive greenhouses - - 1
SwiftWatch Summary:
Weekend 1 (Aug 12-14) 261 (in 14 chimneys)
Weekend 2 (Aug 19-21) 495 (in 9 chimneys)
Weekend 3 (Aug 26-28) 1096 (in 8 chimneys)
Weekend 4 (Sep 2-4) 2465 (in 10 chimneys)
Weekend 5 (Sep 9-11) 1460 (in 9 chimneys)
Weekend 6 (Sep 16-18) 946 (in 8 chimneys)
Midweek 1 (Sep 20-21) 1238 (not all chimneys included)
Weekend 6 (Sep 23-25) 918 (in 6 chimneys)
