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Hi Jim and all,
As far as documenting where Chimney Swifts nest, I've been
meaning for ages to report that Chimney Swifts no longer appear to be
nesting in the big stone chimneys of the buildings at the University
of King's College in Halifax. A couple of pairs have nested there
for years, but the last year in which I saw them was 2006. I always
knew when they were around because I would hear and see them in the
daytime over the campus and surrounding area. I spent an evening or
two watching for them in earlier years, but in 2007 and 2008 I
watched for several nights and saw none. I have not seen any
Chimney Swifts over peninsular Halifax so far this year at
all. There has been some repair work on the King's chimneys in
recent years, but while a couple have been capped, six or seven are
still open, including the two that were most recently used by the
Chimney Swifts.
Since negative information is also information, I thought
I'd pass this on.
Cheers,
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
At 05:12 PM 21/07/2009, Jim Wolford wrote:
>James, I never got your original July 10 note, because I was
>unsubscribed at the time, but thankfully Andy's post also had your
>interesting notes as well. Yes, please do send me those e-mails and
>photos you got of swifts nesting in 3 different barns. My only
>experience with a barn nesting site was at East Dalhousie in a
>hayloft with a large window for flying in and out.
>
>Good for you in putting in the chimney swifts info' and request for
>public info' about possible sites for both roosting and nesting
>swifts, in your newspaper column. I'm glad you got the feedback,
>and so quickly, too. Can you also send me a copy of what you wrote
>for the Bridgewater newspaper? I think it's a great idea widely let
>the public know that we are desperately wanting to learn about
>nesting (and roosting) habitats for swifts not just in Nova Scotia,
>but from Newfoundland all the way westward to Saskatchewan.
>
> People need to know about these really unique birds and how
> ENDANGERED they have become over the past 40 years or more of
> severe decline. Even in Wolfville, where we have had ongoing known
> interest in the species since the 1970s or earlier, we know almost
> nothing about how many local nesters there are and where they are.
>
>People who have swifts nesting in their chimneys become aware of
>them for two major reasons: a bit of litter that appears from time
>to time in fireplaces (twigs, eggshells, fallen swift
>babies/nestlings/fledglings), and the loud buzzing noises that the
>youngsters produce often when they think a parent is nearby with
>food to deliver (the same sort of noises that nestling woodpeckers
>make in their cavities). The litter and noise can turn off
>home-owners and cause them to stop these occurrences by capping
>their chimneys in various ways that keep the swifts out.
>
>I have just had a meeting with Karen Potter, who is working for
>Environment Canada in Dartmouth on species at risk and has collected
>a lot of information on what various provinces are doing to help the
>recovery of chimney swifts, e.g. Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, New
>Brunswick. Below I have included a recent news item from Ontario,
>via Bird Studies Canada, as an example.
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