LONDON SWIFTWATCH 2006 - REPORT NO. 8 - October 3
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 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. See the table below for recent
results.
Mid-week Weekend 8 Season High
Location Sep 27-28 Sep 30-Oct 3 High (Date)
South Collegiate (Tecumseh/Belgrave) 220 314 540 (Sep 24)
Kingsmill's (Carling, W/Richmond) 189 39 189 (Sep 27)
Ryerson School (Victoria/Waterloo) 20 0 528 (Sep 20)
Smith Fruit (S end of Maitland) 32 9 1260 (Sep 3)
Dorchester Apts (N Richmond) - 11 34 (Sep 4)
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 7 (Sep 23-25) 918 (in 6 chimneys)
Midweek 2 (Sep 27-28) 461 (not all chimneys included)
Weekend 8 (Sep 30-Oct3) 373 (in 4 chimneys)
