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Been trying to chime in here but frankly up to my eyeballs with other birds
right now. Will do a thorough response to this on the weekend but my take
home message...and I'm sure familiar to anyone who deals with the
media....I can't control what they print and many facts dredged up come
from Dr.Google...not necessarily from my mouth.
These birds had zero chance of survival here in ns as they were about 3
weeks from fledging into an active colony and the chance of there still
being a good sized colony here plus them getting enough practice flight
before migration was also zip. They are hand fed every 30 min from dawn to
dusk...like with tweezers..and I didn't want to risk having nowhere to
release 3 endangered birds after all of that effort. For refer, we
successfully teased raised and released swifts last year and released them
on Aug 15, Truro swifts were gone, ng swifts were miniscule and we had to
take them to Middleton.
The centre we moved this year's swifts to in Quebec are experienced with
swifts and are within driving distance of several colonies that remain well
into mid sept. They also have paid staff that can easily feed these birds
up to 16 hrs per day. I am a 100% volunteer with one summer student, who
finished her placement yesterday.
I am planning on a follow-up letter to the editor on basic swift natural
history , including the fact that nesting birds should not be disturbed/
99% of the time don't need assistance and moving them is against the law
(I said all of this to reporters but I can't control their editor) and
hoping this incident will bring about some much needed swift awareness. As
far as people moving/disturbing swifts or nests, that is reportable to Can
Wildlife Sevice enforcement, and yes I report this activity as well as
actively discourage people from interfering.
Just happy I got all of the pieces together to move these birds asap. Would
have been much harder to move them once they were flighted.
In case anyone is wondering about carbon footprint for this maneuver..the
pilot was heading to Montreal anyway :)
Helene
Helene Van Doninck DVM
Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
Hilden Nova Scotia
www.cwrc.net
helene.birdvet@gmail.com
902-893-0253
On Aug 14, 2014 11:48 PM, "Ken McKenna" <kenmcken@eastlink.ca> wrote:
>
> Ken McKenna
> Box 218 Stellarton NS
> B0K 1S0
> 902 752-7644
> Hi James
> I am sure Helene will chime in on this, but the birds found were displaced
> from a chimney nest and delivered sans parents to a New Glasgow vet clinic
> and had quite a ways to go before being released. Helene likes to release
> at a known roost in the evening as the other birds in the area are going in
> and thus the young ones will be guided by others as to when and where to go
> in migration. This gets less reliable after mid August. as birds going to
> roosts declines to nil. In New Glasgow tonight I had 9 birds so soon all
> will be gone from this area and it will be awhile before the Quebec bound
> rescued swifts will be released. I know there are still swifts on or near
> nests. I am unsure why swifts disappear from the roosts before nesting
> season is done. One of life's little mysteries?? It sure has been proven
> in spades this year that many swiftlings are around in August. For the last
> number of years, I have seen very few swifts in Pictou Co. after
> mid-August.
> cheers
> Ken
>
> PS It also could be possible there are other birds already in the chimney
> before I arrived tonite, but I think that is less likely.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> *From:* James Churchill <jameslchurchill@gmail.com>
> *To:* naturens <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
> *Sent:* Thursday, August 14, 2014 12:25 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] Swift nests
>
> hi folks,
>
> Just some thoughts re: the Herald and New Glasgow articles on the
> re-habbed 'Swiftlings'. Local experts please chi(r)p in and correct any
> misinformation.
>
> Are NS Chimney Swifts 'gone from the province by mid August'?
> - the breeding period for Swifts in the Maritimes is May-Sept (via BSC)
> - there are currently still active nests in the province (some known and
> many unknown)
> - although counts at the major roosts suggest that drops in numbers seem
> to occur throughout August, in many years birds are sticking around until
> early September (late nesters like this?)
> - in "All the Birds of Nova Scotia" Ian states, "most leave by
> mid-September"
>
> Neither the Herald nor New Glasgow article mentions that Chimney Swift
> young discovered in August do not necessarily need our help if found. Just
> suggesting it would be unfortunate for the meme to be promoted that August
> Swiftlings are unusual and need to be helped if found. ('rescuing' is a
> different discussion!)
>
> (to clarify, I'm not arguing that these New Glasgow Swifts should not have
> been helped in some way by Cobequid; just that Swifts are likely not gone
> from NS by mid-August, and August Swiftlings are perhaps not unusual. In
> the spirit of discussion, happy to hear arguments otherwise that bring us
> closest to the true story for NS).
>
> cheers,
> James.
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 9:36 AM, David & Alison Webster <
> dwebster@glinx.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear All, Aug 14, 2014
>> I notice in yesterday's Chron. Hrld. article (Swifts perk up after
>> Cobequid centre care) that "The swifts usually leave the small nest
>> attached to the inside of a chimney at dawn..." which lays the groundwork
>> for a host of further explanations such as-- but sometimes remove it then
>> if the early market for false bird's nest soup is trending upward. -- and
>> arrange to have it removed later in the day when it is not so darn dark in
>> there. -- and sometimes just leave it there and move on; provided they
>> can find some safe place where they can abandon the kids.
>>
>>
>> Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> James Churchill
> Kentville, Nova Scotia
> jameslchurchill@gmail.com
> (902) 681-2374 <%28902%29%20681-2374>
>
>
>
>
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<p dir=3D"ltr">Been trying to chime in here but frankly up to my eyeballs w=
ith other birds right now. Will do a thorough response to this on the weeke=
nd but my take home message...and I'm sure familiar to anyone who deals=
with the media....I can't control what they print and many facts dredg=
ed up come from Dr.Google...not necessarily from my mouth.</p>
<p dir=3D"ltr">These birds had zero chance of survival here in ns as they w=
ere about 3 week