mbchimneyswift – Page 3 – Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

Swifts at the Assiniboine School

The following video clip (5 sceonds) was made at the Assiniboine School in Winnipeg on the evening of May 28, 2016.

Thanks to Luke Roffey for taking the video on his smartphone.

This just in…

NRMP-3 RESULTS, “IN-BETWEEN THE NRMP NIGHTS” REPORTS, AND HOME STRETCH REMINDER FOR NRMP-4,MONDAY, JUNE 6, 2016

As we head towards the FINAL NIGHT for the 2016 National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) session on MONDAY, JUNE 6, we have an update of the NRMP-3 results and reports of Chimney Swifts monitoring done before, and in-between, the NRMP nights. Here is what happened:

A. Prior to the start of NRMP, Marshall made an important discovery of 2 swifts entering 378 Academy on May 24; this chimney had a flip-flopping open/closed/open-but-modified status. The swifts confirm the chimney is open for 2016.

B. Between NRMP-1 (May 25) and NRMP-2 (May 29):

David saw a mid-morning entry into Assiniboine School on May 28. One other Chimney Swift was flying about the rim. It appears that a breeding pair was scouting out the location.

C. More NRMP-2 (May 29) reports winged in:

David, Adolf, Anna, Beth, Wolfgang, Irene, Luke, John, Kim counted 114+ Chimney Swifts entering the roost at Assiniboine School. It was very difficult to enumerate large clumps of swifts, even with video assistance.

David, Adolf also noted 2 entries at the Carillon site and 2 entries (plus a possible exit) and King’s Theatre. The St. James area is well monitored by an ever-growing group of volunteers. I understand the suggestion of a dessert bar may entice more recruits for Monday…

D. Between NRMP-2 (May 29) and NRMP-3 (June 2):

Marshall documented 2 roosting hour entries at Lanark Gardens in River Heights on May 31.

Cal was on a recon mission in Brandon on June 1. He found 7 swifts in the area near 13th St and Louise Ave on June 1. Active sites in that area need to be identified.

E. NRMP-3 (June 2) Results:

1. A “teachable moment” played out in Dauphin. Ken & Jan were ready for the standard protocol but they wisely adjusted their monitoring session based on the real scenario which played out. Sunset was 9:47 PM, so the end of monitoring was to be 10:17 PM. For most of the evening, there were no swifts to be seen. At the crack of curfew, “there was chittering overhead and birds flying everywhere, over the chimney, down the chimney, past the chimney, flying overhead, disappearing and reappearing. In the end we stopped as we could not see anymore if the bird went down or past.” Ken & Jan noted the first entry = 10:22 PM and ended their counts at 10:30 PM – 13 minutes beyond the standard session – after ~38 swifts entered for the night.

If there is an interesting event, document everything you see and watch the event through to completion. We can “filter” the data afterwards as necessary. It is impossible to recreate datasets from memory and special moments deserve to be described as accurately as possible.

2. It was also quiet in St. Adolphe through the evening. Occasionally a group size of 5 appeared. The final headcount in town was 5 swifts, a decrease of 1 from NRMP-2. The partitioning between sites was:

Kathy and Rob at Club Amical: SE Club = 0; NE Club = 2 but there was no activity prior to the roosting entries;

Jacquie at Brodeur Bros. saw entries/exits, but had no roosting swifts;

Lewis, Frank, and Ken at the Church: 2 swifts roosted and, again, there was no activity prior to the roosting entries;

Barb at Main St. had 1 swift arrive a minute before curfew and it was likely the Brodeur Bros. swift that exited just prior to the end of the viewing session.

The priority of the swifts was feeding. After two days of cold, rainy weather, nest building was a lower priority. The start of the breeding season has been challenging as June 4 is the “line in the sand” date for a breeding pair to start a nesting attempt with a chance to succeed (based on 9 years of tracking 5 nest sites in St. Adolphe).

3. Gerald, in Selkirk, seized the moment to spread the word about the wings in the local chimneys…”a set of movie trailers parked by the Infirmary Chimney in preparation for filming Friday. I briefed the security guard on what we were doing. He knew about Barn Swallows but not about swifts. So I told him to look for cigars with wings around9:00 PM…At the end after 10:00 PM I checked with the guard and he was thrilled to have seen them flying around…” Maybe there is some Hollywood star looking upward for swifts dropping downward. That was a great outreach opportunity to take advantage of Gerald!

As for the headcounts in town:

Winona watched the Merchants chimney where 3 swifts roosted;
Gerald and Carol had 2 early entries at the Infirmary;

Gerald and Carol then saw 2 entries at the 241 Manitoba site;
Carol, Gerald, Robert, Dorothy & James viewed the Yellow Brick chimney where there was 1 early entry followed by 2 late entries;
Carol, Gerald, Robert, Dorothy & James had a final roosting count of 24; most swifts were very late arriving and 1 was on the wing when observations ended.
The total in town for the night was 35 = 2 more than NRMP-1 and 5 more than NRMP-2.

4. David in La Broquerie also had 2 swifts arrive at the crack of curfew; a group of 3 had been observed and 1 mayhave slipped into chimney with a stealthy entrance.

5. We were fortunate to have the Burrowing Owl folks do a blitz in Melita. Three sites were covered by Alex, Jessica, and Aidan and all were occupied. A pair used the Historical Society Museum chimney; a single swift was present at the Legion; and a pair also entered the Health Centre. Details to follow…

6. Tim and Gillian did a similar blitz in Souris – details are pending but active sites were observed.

7. Derek, who has been in River Heights at a potential new site, spent 2 hours of monitoring (thanks for the extra effort!), had 0 entries, but Chimney Swifts were tantalizingly close a block north. Tracking continues…

8. John, at a new William St. site, had 4 entries, many sightings, and a bonus round with a Common Nighthawk. Congratulations John on adding a new active site to our database!

9. Marshall got skunked at the Christ the King Church in St. Vital; 0 swifts were seen.

10. Two Lac Du Bonnet sites were monitored by Cam and Diann. They noted 3 swifts in the air but only 2 roosted at the Physiotherapy site. Theirs adds to the many reports off unaccounted for Chimney Swifts in air at the end of a monitoring session.

11. Out west in Brandon, Margaret and Millie saw 2 roosting entries. Similar to Frank, Lewis, and Ken at the St. Adolphe Church, the Brandon site is down to a pair of swifts compared to the NRMP-2 count of 3.

F. Lastly, here are the reports for sightings made after NRMP-3 (June 2):

A special shout-out goes out to Jacquie and Frank who undertook a recon mission to Clearwater on June 3. They spent 3 hours monitoring the Harvest Moon site and saw no swifts. They also did some outreach work and talked with locals about historical observations. Thanks so much for taking on this rural trek!

Also on June 3, in the early morning, Liis heard and saw up to 3 Chimney Swifts at two different locations in Old St. Boniface. Mid-morning, the characteristic chittering of swifts alerted Liis, who was now in Norwood around Horace St. and Kenny Ave.; 3 birds eventually were spotted between Horace and Marion St.

MCSI always appreciates reports of opportunistic sightings as it helps us track new habitat!

Al & Barb went to watch the Assiniboine School roost on the evening of June 4 – they watched 109 Chimney Swifts enter between 10:00 – 10:10 PM. Again, some swifts entered past the “1/2 after sunset” curfew (sunset was ~ 9:31 in Winnipeg).

THANKS everyone for participating in the national initiative! All the best for the NRMP season finale on Monday, June 6th. Here are a few things to think about as you stare at the chimney rim:

HAS ANYBODY BEEN SMACKING MOSQUITOES? The abundance of this yummy food item seems very low so far this year.

DO YOU HAVE CHIMNEY SWIFTS FLYING AROUND AFTER THE END OF THE OBSERVATION PERIOD? Sometimes we cannot account for all the birds seen in the air before darkness shrouds the chimney tops.

ARE YOUR SWIFTS ENTERING EARLY OR LATE IN THE OBSERVATION PERIOD? Cold and rain can affect the behaviour of your swifts. If the birds are hungry, feeding may be a higher priority than nest building for example. Later in the summer, heat waves coupled with strong winds can also limit “aerial plankton” = the insects in the air which the swifts feed on; this may influence the feeding rates of young at nest sites.

DO YOU WANT A CHIMNEY SWIFT FIX AFTER THE NRMP FINISHES? If so, we would love to have you continue tracking the abundance/dispersal of swifts from roost sites and monitoring the breeding success at nest sites. Any opportunistic observations and monitoring session results you are able to provide will help us protect habitat and understand the biology of Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. We have accomplished and learned a lot but need to achieve more!

–Barb Stewart

SK, in between, and NRMP-2 updates

3393081897_e859d2eb40 Our update starts with a special shoutout to Gord and Louise who made a special recon trip to Estevan, SK. Gord is an experienced monitor who can spot swifts, hear swifts, and pick out potential sites with ease. After the 4.5 hour trip from Portage La Prairie, 5 Chimney Swifts obliged with an appearance over Main St., Estevan. The birds were flying quite low for mid-day. Six potential roost/nest sites were identified and the information has been passed along to Becky Magnus, the acting coordinator of SCSI (rmagnus@naturesask.ca). Chimney Swifts in the prairie provinces are well served by Gord and Louise’s activities – thanks for all you do! If anyone can provide historical or recent information about Saskatchewan Chimney Swifts, get in touch with Becky.

Back in Manitoba, we have had a lot of reports for May outside of the NRMP dates. Here is a summary of opportunistic observations and monitoring reports:

John has discovered a new site on William Ave which hosted 3 Chimney Swifts. Great sleuthing in finding this chimney!
Laurie has reported in from St Francois Xavier; she enjoys nightly viewings of Chimney Swifts flying over her home. Hopefully, an active site can be tracked down in the area.
Another new enthusiast, Garry, has confirmed that a 2015-discovered East Kildonan site is active again this year with a pair of Chimney Swifts.
Simone has observed swifts in the area of Scotia St. at Belmont.
Liis has observed a swift around a St Joseph Ave site that has not been monitored for several years.
Larry has caught sight of swifts SE of River and Osborne.
Tim had a fortuitous sighting of 2 swifts dropping into a 2015-discovered Fort Rouge chimney late one morning. It was another moment to reinforce the “you never know when, you never know where” activity of swifts. “Head’s up, eyes to the sky” rules during the monitoring season!

MCSI is fortunate to have returning volunteers and new monitors observing many chimneys. NRMP-2 weather was very obliging and a lot of early reports have come in:

Ken, in Dauphin, had 49 roosting swifts – up from 29 on NRMP-1.
Gord, in Portage, saw 9 in the air and 2 entered the Trinity United Church. This has been a successful nest site in previous years.
Good news came in from La Broquerie – David saw 3 Chimney Swifts enter the church with minutes left in the monitoring period.
Chris, in the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg, witnessed a classic meteoric entry. Beyond the “head’s up, eyes to the sky” rule, we should add the “don’t blink” caveat!
Margaret and Millie in Brandon, longstanding supporters of the program, had 3 Chimney Swifts roost. In 2015, a successful nesting attempt was tracked all season long through to fledging and migration. Hopefully, 2016 is another good year for Margaret, Millie, and the Brandon swifts.
Derek is tracking the movements of a flock near Oak St. in River Heights, Winnipeg. A new site is being monitored now with the hopes of documenting activity.
Yvonne is also monitoring a new Fort Rouge site which holds promise – nothing in so far, but occupancy can change quickly at this time of the year.
In St Jean Baptise, Luc has monitored on both NRMP-1, -2 dates and 2 swifts entered each night. This is excellent news as the top layers of the chimney were removed during last fall’s renovation/repair as part of the Swift Champion program. It is important feedback from the swifts that they consider the lower chimney height acceptable for use.
In St. Adolphe, all 5 nest sites were monitored. Six Chimney Swifts have been in town since the long weekend and they partitioned themselves as:

-SE Club Amical = 0; NE Club Amical = 2 – Kathy and Rob were onsite.
-Brodeur Bros. = 0; Jacquie and Roberta noted an entry/exit which seemed to be a swift checking out the chimney quickly.
-Church = 3 ; Lewis and Ken helped Frank break the curse of never seeing the most Chimney Swifts in one night (a good omen for ’16!)
-Main St = 1; Barb is hopeful that a local redistribution of swifts will result in a breeding pair taking up residence.

In Selkirk, the bird club was out in force and all the known sites in town were monitored – all were occupied:

-Winona note 3 roosting birds at the Merchants Hotel.
-Gerald saw 2 swifts at 241 Manitoba Ave.
-Robert recorded 2 entries at the Infirmary Chimney.
-Carol, Bonnie, and Gerald saw 1 entry at the Yellow Brick site.
Carol, Bonnie, and Gerald also had a direct view of the Large Stack where 25 entries and 3 exits occurred. When you adjust for exits made during the monitoring session, a total of 22 swifts roosted for the night. Interestingly, the NRMP-1 total was 33 in only the large stack and NRMP-2 total = 30 in town. Some dispersal – locally and beyond – seemed to have taken place between May 25 and 29.

The weather has not established a positive cadence yet. Cold, rainy weather enveloped the province again after NRMP-2 and is persisting through June 1. The promise of a sunny night for NRMP-3 THURSDAY, JUNE 2 is with us though. Dauphin, Brandon, Portage La Prairie, Pine Falls, Steinbach, and Winnipeg areas will emerge as a sunny day after a cold, wet night. It will be interesting to see if migrants have been arriving during this challenging feeding weather and how Chimney Swifts are partitioning themselves at nest sites…

READ ALL ABOUT IT! In case you missed the article in last weekend’s Free Press, you might want to check In Conversation with Tim Poole

We look forward to hearing from you after Thursday night’s session,

Barb for the MCSI team: webmaster – Frank Machovec; Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator – Tim Poole; Steering Committee Members – Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken De Smet, Nicole Firlotte, and Rob Stewart.

Raindrops keep falling on my head…

REPORT FOR NRMP-1 (MAY 25) + REMINDER FOR NRMP-2 = MAY 29

download (1) The first national monitoring night for 2016 collided with a major weather system that kept dumping rain down in most of Manitoba. We were fortunate to have hearty volunteers who toughed out the evening to generate a fascinating dataset!

A warm welcome is extended to Beth who joins the Assiniboine School (St. James, Winnipeg) monitoring team. “I don’t dissolve in the rain” was last heard from Beth. True to form, clad in two layers of rain wear and sporting a waterproof bag/paper, she knocked on David’s door to usher him to the chimney side. It turned out to be an amazing experience – over 156 Chimney Swifts funneled into the roost! As background, there had been close to 4 straight hours of moderate rain and the temperature had sunk to ~14 C when the birds entered between 8:48 – 9:01 PM; sunset was 9:21 PM.

Up in Dauphin, Ken was on stand at his roost site – rain had stopped about 2 hours before the monitoring session began. The final head count = 29 Chimney Swifts.

At a somewhat lower latitude, in Selkirk, Carol and Dorothy had 33 Chimney Swifts roost at the large stack and 0 entered the yellow chimney which is in a direct sight-line from the large stack.

Now here is where the story gets interesting…

Also in Selkirk, Gerald and James, saw 0 swifts while monitoring the infirmary chimney. This site was first discovered in 2014 and had 10 swifts using it; in 2015, 3 swifts were observed.

Tim, in Fort Rouge, saw 0 swifts around the Leisure Centre on the west side of Osborne. This chimney was a possible nest site in 2015 and was used by 2 swifts.

Jim, in Fort Rouge, saw 0 swifts around Beresford on the east side of Osborne St. He noted Chimney Swifts tearing around the area on May 24 and May 26. In 2015, Quinn monitored this site and it was used by 2-4 swifts before a nesting attempt appeared to be abandoned in early June.

Out in La Broquerie, David saw – yes – 0 swifts around the church. In 2015, a breeding pair successfully fledged young at this nest site.

So a pattern seemed to appear with this admittedly small sample size. Large numbers of swifts entered the “big three” roost sites – the three sites which house the largest known groups of Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. At other sites which typically house smaller group sizes of roosting swifts, and at nest sites, no birds were seen at all.

What does this all mean? My working hypothesis is that the energy budgets of non-breeding and breeding Chimney Swifts drive them to behave differently under some conditions. And we had those conditions Wednesday night. If a bird can rely on the thermal advantage of huddling with dozens of other swifts, surviving the night is possible, even if it toughs out feeding in a storm longer (feeding is more difficult when the heavy rains wash the aerial prey out of the air). However, if your breeding partner is the only source of extra warmth, it would be a better “choice” to save precious calories and call it a day earlier. It is likely that breeding adults were in some nest sites well before the start of monitoring. Barn Swallows nesting on the side of our home near St. Adolphe tucked in for the night ~ 8 PM Wednesday night!

images The forecast for NRMP-2, Sunday May 29, is improving – Brandon can expect sun; La Broquerie has 30% chance of showers; Portage La Prairie, Dauphin and Winnipeg have 60% of showers…so I hope that everyone can get out without being drenched and enjoy counting Chimney Swifts.

Thanks for all of your monitoring efforts and early returns.

Let’s stay in touch, Barb.

An Update and a Reminder

Reports of Chimney Swifts returning to Manitoba have come in over the past week. Here’s a recap of spring arrivals:

1. Gary B. was the first to send in a report on Sunday, May 15 – in the morning he saw 4 Chimney Swifts at Bunn’s Creek Pond, at Gateway Road, Winnipeg.

2. However, the first sighting of the year goes to Matt D. in Carman – a lone swift flew over the Elementary School early afternoon on Wednesday, May 11. I hope this is a special sign of good things to follow as Matt spent all of last summer diligently watching empty sky!

3. On May 16, Lewis C. sent news that 12 Chimney Swifts were “whirling about Fort Whyte Alive” in the morning.

4. In St. Adolphe, 2 swifts made a fleeting appearance at 7:35 PM on May 17. They fed low over Japanese Maples and flew quietly east of the cemetery. Suzanne L., a local resident, first heard characteristic Chimney Swift vocalizations ~ 5 PM.

5. Carolyn E. also heard swifts in the Hampton St., St James, Winnipeg, area on May 18.
6. The Birds and Birding in Manitoba Yahoo site had a posting by Peter Douglas on May 18: 15 – 20 Chimney Swifts had roosted in Assiniboine School, St. James, Winnipeg. The big roost appears to be setting up again this year; the roosting “funnel” is quite a spectacle to see if the numbers build.

7. Another May 18 sighting was made – this one in Portage La Prairie by Cody R. (Yahoo site posting): “Around 8 PM last night 4 chsw did a couple of flybys over my house on Dufferin ave for the first time this year”.

8. The trend of first sightings continued on May 19. Gerald M. had posted a report on the Yahoo site that the first swift had been spotted in Selkirk.

9. Perhaps you have heard my pep talk about the value of data points = 0. Observations of “nothing” establish baselines or confirm lack of activity. David D. monitored the La Broquerie Church on May 19 and saw no swifts = the birds had not returned yet. Hopefully, the season will be underway this coming week!

10. Interestingly, way up in Dauphin on May 19, Ken W. reported 10 Chimney Swifts entered their roost between 9:50-9:59 PM (sunset that night = 9:35).

More updates came in…..

Gordon O., our long term monitor in Portage La Prairie, called in a report of 2 swifts seen over Trinity United Church the morning of May 21.

When I went to St. Adolphe around 8 PM on May 21, the local group size had increased to 4.

May 22, from Ken: “still 10 swifts in Dauphin, going down between 9:50 and 9:59”

May 22, from an understandably delighted Carolyn: “A total of 6 have returned now to Hampton Street! So exciting! The watch continues! ”

The last report of a first sighting for 2016 came to our coordinator, Tim Poole, from Joel K. in The Pas. Four Chimney Swifts were flying about the rooftop at the corner of 5th Street and Larose Avenue at 7:14 AM.

Thanks everyone for updating the group on early morning, mid-day, and evening observations.

We are now approaching the first of the four nights when monitoring for the National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) takes place…

WEDNESDAY, MAY 25 is NRMP-1.

Please be at your site, ready to record entries and exits, to start 1 hour before sunset and continue to 1/2 hour after sunset. MCSI uses information on exits/entries in the daytime to distinguish nest sites from roost sites. Our 1 1/2 hour session has A.) 1/2 hour of daytime viewing and then we seamlessly transition to B.) roosting hour viewing (= 1/2 hour before sunset to 1/2 hour after sunset). Record your start time and finish time, plus sunset time, on the datasheet and we can partition the observations into “daytime” and “roosting hour” categories.
Check your newspaper or a weather site for sunset times in your area.
Datasheets and monitoring protocols can be found on the Resource page of our MCSI website = http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html
The national organizers encourage monitoring if it is raining. Use your discretion – if it is miserably stormy and you can’t see the chimney rim, chances are the swifts will have made an early retreat. Despite being afflicted with obsessive-compulsive Chimney Swift disorder, I draw the line at being hit by lightning. Stay safe!
News of NRMP-1 will be sent out before NRMP-2 (May 29) ~ send in a brief synopsis of your evening to have your site included in the blog update.

All the best for your viewing sessions

— Barb for the MCSI team.

They’re back !

THE FIRST SIGHTING OF CHIMNEY SWIFTS IN MANITOBA HAS BEEN REPORTED!

Welcome-Back The much anticipated first report of the season has arrived. Congratulations to Garry Budyk who sent in the news! His words follow:

“Chimney Swifts have arrived in Winnipeg. I saw 4 Chimney Swifts at the north end of Bunn’s Creek Pond (at Gateway Rd) this morning. They were twittering and feeding over the pond. Two of them also did a 2-swift chase. With them over the pond were some Barn, Cliff, Tree and Bank Swallows. Also my first Caspian Tern of the year.”

Send us your spring sightings of Chimney Swifts and we will keep updating the birds’ arrival locations.

As a friendly reminder, the monitoring season officially begins with the National Roost Monitoring Program on May 25, 29, June 2 and 6. Our monitoring session for all 4 nights starts 1 hour before sunset and extends to 1/2 hour after sunset.

The 1 1/2 hour monitoring period helps us distinguish between roost and nest sites (breeding pairs make entries/exits during the day in late May to early June as they build nests). It also allows us to explore how Chimney Swifts make their final roosting entry of the day relative to ambient temperatures. The monitoring period includes 1/2 hour of “daytime” observations which seamlessly transition to 1 hour of “roosting hour” observations.

All the best for your season start-up observations, Barb.

Food for thought

download Here’s a story reflecting the theme of Friday the 13th.

As the snowflakes swirl, the winds howl, and the temperature is stuck at levels well below the comfort range of Chimney Swifts and their aerial prey, take a moment to reflect on Rob Stewart’s analysis of loss of Chimney Swift habitat in Manitoba over the last ten years…

Loss of Chimney Swift Habitat in Manitoba, 2007-2016.

Loss of Chimney Swift habitat (chimneys) has been touted as one of the main causes of Chimney Swift population decline. In its tenth year, MCSI is able to retrospectively examine what this habitat loss looks like in Manitoba.

Between the spring of 2007 and fall of 2015, over 9 monitoring seasons, MCSI identified and monitored 178 chimneys considered to be suitable as Chimney Swift habitat. ‘Suitable’ chimneys were of adequate size, not lined with metal, accessible (not capped or screened), and in an area where Chimney Swifts had been observed. Of the 178 chimneys, 29 (16.3%) were no longer available to swifts in May 2016. The most common sources of habitat loss was closing the top of the chimney with a solid cap or wire mesh (20/29= 69%) and chimney removal (8/29=28%). One chimney was lined (1/29 =3%).

These numbers are, however, slightly underestimated due to a recent increase of observer effort. In 2015, the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas had been completed and MCSI benefitted greatly from ‘Atlasers’ who joined our ranks of volunteers to help find 26 new sites in 2015. This addition slightly distorts the longer term rates of chimney loss. From 2007 through to spring 2015 there were 152 known sites, of which 26 (17.1%) had been lost.

Winnipeg has the largest number of sites of all municipalities monitored but also the highest rate of loss: 22/109=20.2% (20/99=21.2% before 2015).

These losses refer to both active and potential habitat. MCSI has data to show how important potential habitat is. The large chimney at Assiniboine School, Winnipeg, was open but unoccupied in 2007 and 2008. Between 2009 and 2013, 2 to 8 birds were counted using it. But in 2014 the count was 110 and in 2015 it was 166.

While the inclusion of potential habitat is important, we can calculate loss rates based on active sites only. Loss rates of active chimneys, known to be used by Chimney Swifts in the 9 seasons of observations, is higher than the combined, overall average calculated for both potential and active sites. MCSI has identified 110 active sites, 94 of which were known before the increased monitoring effort in 2015. Of the active sites, 17.3% (19/110 in 2007-2015) to 18.19% (17/94 in 2007-2014) have been lost.

In summary, over the 8 monitoring seasons between early 2007 and the spring of 2015, southern Manitoba, and Winnipeg in particular, lost 17-21% of active or potential Chimney Swift habitat – about 2%/year. If you lived in a 25 X 40 foot bungalow, this 2%/year loss is the same as losing a 1 X 25 foot slice off your home every year. It is not good. And sadly habitat loss is ongoing with closures after the 2015 season.

While MCSI continues to develop artificial structures as replacement habitat, it is important to maintain existing structures for Chimney Swifts to roost and nest in. MCSI depends on your eyes to help our habitat stewardship and outreach programs succeed. Send us news of any known Chimney Swift habitat and alert us if these sites are damaged or facing closure.

— Rob Stewart

It won’t be long, now!

They’re almost here! Chimney Swifts have now been spotted over Montana and North Dakota. From the map you can make out that there are Chimney Swifts now within 100km of the Manitoba border with Saskatchewan. They also appear to be abundant in Michigan, Wisconsin and southern Minnesota.

May 9 swift update — May 9 Chimney Swift migration

My advice, start looking to the sky because it won’t be long!

Tim Poole

Swift Champion- St Ann’s Church Winnipeg

The latest in our series highlighting Manitoba’s Swift Champions recognises the contributions of St Ann’s Roman Catholic Church on Hampton Street, St James, Winnipeg. The church has two chimneys, both of which were used by Chimney Swifts in 2015.

Monitoring does sometimes give volunteers the opportunity to speak with building owners and local people about the importance of each chimney for swifts. It was during one of the evenings of the National Chimney Swift Monitoring Program that a chance meeting between volunteer Christian Artuso and the parish priest set off a chain reaction, culminating in the repair of one of the chimneys and the church becoming part of the Swift Champions program. That evening, Christian discovered that the northern chimney was due for demolition due to a combination of lack of use and erosion or the mortar holding the bricks together. Understandably, the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative were keen to conserve this important breeding site and with the help of Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship Wildlife and Fisheries Branch, spoke to the church and stopped the demolition. The chimney was still a public hazard and so with funding from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program, we were able to repair the it.

It was during the 2015 breeding season that we discovered that a second chimney, previously assumed to be capped was discovered to be very much active. During a site visit in August, we were excited to spot adult swifts entering and exiting this second chimney at around 10am, confirming that they were feeding a brood of chicks. We also suspected but did not confirm that the original chimney was an active nest site.

Tim Poole presented the plaque to Deacon Richard Ludwick who worked with us to repair the chimney prior to Saturday Mass. As ever, MCSI are delighted to work with our Champions to promote the cause of Chimney Swift conservation here in Manitoba.

To find out more about the Swift Champion Program, see http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/champion.html

Tim Poole

Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator

Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

mbchimneyswift.ca

Swifts on the move !

Blogging has been a bit light recently but you can see from the latest eBird map that the swifts are now dispersing widely across the USA and springing into Ontario. The last blog contained a mistake as the people at eBird scrapped the highly unusual recordof a Chimney Swift in Montreal. Therefore, the first Chimney Swift in Canada was actually recorded on April 17th at Second Marsh/McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve in Oshawa. With Chimney Swifts now being recorded in Wisconsin and Iowa, it will not be too long before they are again spotted in the skies of Manitoba.

On a different note, any eagle-eyed viewers out there may have seen a new link on our homepage to a new Chimney Swift information brochure produced by Environment Canada. If you haven’t seen it, then it is well worth the look. Take a look at http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/gen_info/fs_martinet_ramoneur_chimney_swift_1113_e.pdf.

–Tim Poole