Hi Ont birders Last night, August 13th David Gascoigne, John Litchy and myself monitored the Dickson school Chimney Swift roost site in Cambridge. Swift numbers have been building from 66 on August 2nd to 336 on August 12th. Gail Hill and Genie Berger counted 66 on August 2nd. Last nights activity was very different from previous nights as the swifts circled the chimney for a longer period and most only went in close to dusk. It was quite a spectacle to see between 200 to 300 swifts flying in the air at the same time. The majority ( about 75% ) went in over a 3-4 minute period. This made it difficult to count them. Our total was 366. We also had 4 Common Nighthawks. On previous nights they arrived over a 1 hour period and went in the south chimney in small groups which made it easier to count them. Our peak count last year was 326 on August 27th. We did not start monitoring until August 26th last year ( 300 on the 26th ) so it will be interesting to see how the numbers build over the next week and a half. This school is a heritage building and is apparently slated to be condominiums after the next and last school year. Bill Read
Directions: From Highway 24 (Hespeler Road/Water St.) go to Concession Street. Turn west on Concession, cross the bridge, and turn north on Grand Ave. Turn left at the second street on the left, St. Andrews. The school is located at 65 St. Andrews St. Access the parking area (and chimney), by driving past the school, turning left on Fraser St., then left at the first street. This dead ends at the school. Great parking available, bring a lawn chair for comfortable viewing. Arrive about 1.5 hours before dusk to watch the birds circling the building, before they dive into the chimney. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
