Chimney Swift Migration

I captured some video of the Chimney Swift roost at Dickson Public School, 65 St. Andrews St., Cambridge. You can hear one of the neighbours taking orders for coffee. Everyone likes a catered event.

The numbers were pretty impressive; about 300. On the other side of the ledger, the roost that I identified three years ago in Hespeler (Ernie's Roadhouse) is totally inactive this year. I believe the chimney was modified last fall (e.g. capped or a liner installed) making it unsuitable as a roost. This could account for this year's apparent increase in numbers at the Dickson Public School. Migrating birds may be bypassing Hespeler, or birds that bred/fledged in Hespeler might be vacating the area sooner than last year and moving south to join up with the higher concentration of birds in Galt.