LONDON SWIFTWATCH 2006 - REPORT NO. 9 - October 10 - Final 2006 Report
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 until swifts disappear for the
season, participants count the number of swifts entering the chimneys at
dusk, preferably on Sunday evenings and, in the latter part of the season,
in the middle of the week as well.
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.
Numbers have been dropping in the past week and, by the Saturday, Sunday and
Monday of Thanksgiving weekend, only one chimney, South Collegiate, remained
active as a roost site. Numbers there, however, remained steady over those
three days (191, 217 and 205 respectively). These swifts evidently departed
on Tuesday, October 10, for no swifts were seen or heard at South Collegiate
that evening.
This marks the official end of swift monitoring in London for the 2006
season. We thank you for your interest and e-mails over the last weeks. If
anyone is interested in establishing a similar program in other areas of
Ontario next year, we would be happy to share with you the general protocol
for swift monitoring that we have developed. Simply e-mail us with your
request.
LONDON SWIFTWATCH 2006 RECENT RESULTS
Mid-week Weekend 9 Oct Season High
Location Oct 4-5 Oct 7-9 10 High (Date)
South Collegiate (Tecumseh/Belgrave) 310 217 0 540 (Sep 24)
Kingsmill's (Carling, W/Richmond) 0 189 (Sep 27)
Smith Fruit (S end of Maitland) 6* 1260 (Sep 3)
Dorchester Apts (N Richmond) 16** 34 (Sep 4)
* 0 swifts at Smith Fruit on Oct 6
** 1 swift at Dorchester Apts on Oct 6
London SwiftWatch Totals:
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 (in 4 - not all chimneys counted)
Weekend 7 (Sep 23-25) 918 (in 6 chimneys)
Midweek 2 (Sep 27-28) 461 (in 4 - not all chimneys counted)
Weekend 8 (Sep 30-Oct3) 373 (in 4 chimneys)
Midweek 3 (Oct 4-5) 332 (in 3 - not all chimneys counted)
Weekend 9 (Oct 7-9) 217 (in 1 chimney)
October 10, 2006 - All known Chimney Swift roosts abandoned.
Hugh Casbourn
London ON
