Members of the Naturalists’ Club watching the circulating swifts, waiting for them to enter the chimney at the old Armouries.
A small, but enthusiastic, group meet yearly to monitor the chimney swifts as they enter chimneys in the spring – to roost or maybe to mate or maybe to nest.
On May 10, 2016 we watched the chimney at the Opera House, and no swifts.
On May 14, 2017 we observed 45 swifts. Maybe the date was a better date.
On June 5, 2018 we saw 7 swifts. They circled but did not enter the Opera House chimney.
Since the Opera House chimney no longer suits them, we moved our location.
Muriel Sinclair and Kay Prince and Leanore had been searching, and found birds entering the chimney at the old Armouries ( which had been a traditional site ).
On May 28, 2019 we watched 31 birds fly into this chimney, with the main number entering at 9:10.
This was satisfying, but sad to think of the times when there were many more birds -we had seen 225 enter the chimney at the Post Office before it was capped.
If anyone sees any swifts entering chimneys at other sites, Leanore would really like to hear from you. 705 326-5261.
Thanks to Leanore for organizing this outing.
Addendum
Carolyn Paccagnella reports:We met Marcia and her daughter at Lions Oval tonight (May 30). We saw 31 swifts enter a chimney – 29 in the large chimney at the Armoury and 2(!) in the neighbour’s small chimney.
Denis saw about 8-10 others decide to go elsewhere and flew dead east towards the lake, and didn’t return.
Sharon Hancock reports:
Saturday night ( June 1)
Ron and I saw 55 swifts enter the large Armoury’s chimney.
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| Entering the chimney | A flying bird pooped on a watcher |
| Photos by Denis Paccagnella and Howard Black |
