Author: mbchimneyswift@gmail.com

Monitoring request & surprise tower shenanigans!

Happy August!

This year has been a very strange one in terms of swift activity. Barb and Tim are speculating that the consistent smoke paired with dry conditions have resulted in poor foraging conditions for the swifts. The chances of a successful nesting attempt are a lot lower when the adults are struggling to catch enough food to feed the young. These widespread difficult conditions (and related nest failures) might be resulting in the early formation of premigratory groupings. We’ve gotten several reports of groups of swifts being spotted in areas they haven’t been regularly seen in so far this spring/summer. Things are shifting!

Though our official August monitoring blitz is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19^th, I’d like to put out a monitoring call out for this week (Aug 4-8). Basically, if you have time to squeeze in a monitoring session or two at any point this week, we’d love to know what you see! At this point, most sites with an active nesting attempt will be feeding young or will have fledglings, so it’s a really good time to check for activity before most swifts begin to depart later in August. Daytime and roost hour monitoring are both valuable, depending on what works best for you. Both provide important clues to understanding the MB swift situation puzzle. 

Before we launch into our monitoring recap, I want to share a very exciting and unexpected event from this past week. As you may know, we have several artificial towers for Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. The towers we talk about most often are the four towers at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) and the tower at the Assiniboine Park Zoo (APZ), all of which have been very successful. What we don’t talk about as often, are the older towers that were built between 2008 and 2013. These towers were the first attempt at installing artificial towers in Manitoba, and they were based on a design by Kyle & Kyle used in the southern United States. Unfortunately, no swifts were observed using these towers, so a few years later a group of experts got together and created a new tower design better suited to Manitoba’s climate (which is the design used for the newer towers at the SMHC and APZ). There’s a lot more info on the towers on this page of our website: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/chimney-swift-towers/

ANYWAYS, here’s the big reveal… This week, for the first time since it was built 17 years ago, Barb saw swifts use the artificial tower in St. Adolphe!!! Extremely unexpected. The full story is in the St. Adolphe recap below.

Time for our monitoring recap.

Lockport

On August 1, Gerald watched the chimneys on the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound from 8:20pm-9:40pm. At the South chimney, he saw 1 exit at 8:38pm, 1 entry at 9:11pm, 1 exit at 9:13pm, and 1 entry at 9:23pm.

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored the LFG sites on July 28, from 8:17pm-9:40pm. At the Fur Loft, he saw 1 entry/exit around 8:23pm, 1 entry at 9:05pm and 1 entry at 9:13pm. At the Men’s House, he saw 1 entry at 8:24pm, 1 exit at 8:28pm, 1 entry at 8:29pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:38pm, 1 entry at 8:44pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:50pm, and 2 entries around 9:04pm (4 swifts roosting in the chimney).

Portage la Prairie

On July 23, Gordon and Jana watched the Rufus Prince Building from 9:02pm-9:53pm. They saw lots of activity at the middle chimney: 1 exit at 9:24pm, 1 entry at 9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:35pm, 5 entries between 9:36pm-9:42pm, and 1 exit at 9:43pm (up to 5 swifts in the chimney but only 4 in at the end of the roosting hour). There was no activity seen in the other two chimneys on the building.

Selkirk

Winona monitored the apartment building at 367 Main St on July 28 from 8:35pm-9:35pm and saw no swift activity. On July 30, Winona monitored the Merchant’s Hotel from 8:30pm-9:30pm and saw no swift activity.

Here’s the breakdown of the recent observations at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre sites.

T01: On July 30, the MB Wildlife Branch students monitored this site during the day and didn’t see any activity. However, on July 31, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 7:50pm-9:45pm. They saw 1 entry at 8:12pm. 1 entry/exit around 8:25pm, 2 entries at 8:39pm, 2 exits at 8:40pm, 1 entry at 9:02pm, and 3 more entries between 9:20pm-9:35pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower). It seems that this site has likely fledged, woohoo!

T02: Bonnie and Gwen monitored T02 on July 29 from 8:14pm-9:45pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 8:14pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:16pm, 2 entries around 8:21pm, 1 exit at 8:34pm, 2 entries around 8:40pm, 1 exit at 8:45pm, 1entry/exit followed by another entry/exit around 8:46pm, and 4 entries from 9:06pm-9:36pm (6 swifts roosting in the tower). It seems that this site has also likely fledged!!! Also, we think this site has had a helper which likely contributed to its success.  

T03: On July 30, Dennis and Pattie monitored T03 from 8:24pm-9:42pm and saw 5 entries between 9:22pm-9:29pm. We suspect this nest failed earlier in July.

T04: On July 28, Tim monitored T04 from 8:25pm-9:45pm and saw 1 entry at 9:29pm and 1 entry at 9:41pm. On July 29, Winona monitored T04 from 8:30pm-9:40pm and saw 3 entries at 9:34pm. There was no activity at this site during a daytime monitoring session on July 30 done by the MB Wildlife Branch students. On August 1, Nia and Linda watched T04 from 8:45pm-9:45pm and saw 2 entries around 9:31pm. Hard to say for sure whether this nesting attempt has failed.

Infirmary chimney: Dennis and Pattie monitored the Infirmary on July 30 from 8:24pm-9:42pm and saw 1 entry at 8:35pm, 1 exit at 8:51pm, and 7 entries between 9:00pm-9:31pm. Last week, we wondered if this chimney might be hosting a late nesting attempt (in addition to being a roost site for other swifts). The daytime entry/exit combined with the high roosting count seen this week supports this idea.

Yellow Brick chimney: This chimney has been a confusing one this year. There hasn’t been a clear indication that a nesting attempt was initiated here. During a daytime visit on July 30, the MB Wildlife Branch students did see 3 exits. On August 1, Nia watched this chimney from 8:45pm-9:45pm and saw 3 entries during the roosting hour – who knows what the swifts are doing here!

Southport

Gordon and Jana watched the Mynarski House (230 Centennaire Drive) on July 31 from 8:35pm-9:45pm. They saw 1 entry/exit around 8:47pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:07pm, and 2 final entries (at 9:13pm and 9:23pm). Looks like there is an active nesting attempt ongoing at this site.

St. Adolphe

As mentioned in this week’s intro, Barb had quite the unexpected observation on July 29, when she caught a swift enter the artificial tower in St. Adolphe for the first time ever. In Barb’s words, here’s how it went down:

“Driving in the south arm of the U shaped driveway which leads to the Church Tower area/cemetery field, I saw a low flying swift over The Tower. The swift had flown by from N to S, then it circled to the east (field side) and approached low ‘n’ slow again. At 10:37:52 it dropped in! Wow! The FIRST OBSERVATION OF CHSW USE OF THE ST A TOWER!!!

So with eyes glued to the rim, I extracted the hot ‘n’ smoked out swift questing pup from the back seat and set up under a Japanese Maple shrub north of the interpretive sign. At 10:54:52 a very fast flyover of the rim took place by 1 swift; it disappeared through the cleft of two mature willows to the south. At 10:55:05, a swift approached low from the north, flared its wings over the rim & dropped in. More draining of my gray matter! Most importantly, at 10:56:00 and at 10:56:02 1 swift departed.

So why after 17 years do these 2 swifts decide to make an entry/exit on a smoke infused morning when no local feeding was seen otherwise? Queue the music “Who are you? WHO WHO WHO WHO? ‘Cause I really wanna know”!”

As Tim put it: “The question is of course, one off from migratory swifts moving through or something more?” Barb hasn’t seen any other entries or exits at the tower since, so the most likely explanation is that the two swifts she saw using the tower were part of the “restless premigratory moment” she has been witnessing in St. Adolphe. Lots of swifts checking out different chimneys and popping out, without being linked to an active nesting attempt.

Otherwise, the nesting attempt at the SE Club Amical is still active. On Monday August 4, Barb reports: “Today is Day 21 for the SE Club juvies so they should be on the wall now…about 7 more sleeps to go before fledging!”

Winnipeg

On July 29, Amy M. did a daytime monitoring session at the Essex House apartment building (2415 Portage Ave) and did not see any activity. She then checked out the Foodfare in St. James (at 2285 Portage Ave) and saw an exit at 10:50am. This site was on our priority site list so we can now cross it off. Great news!

Graham and Alyssa monitored the CMU chimney on July 30 from 9:27am-10:27am and saw zero swift activity. Alyssa returned to do another monitoring session at this site on July 31 from 8:41pm-9:41pm. There were no entries or exits seen during the roosting hour, though two swifts were spotted flying overhead including an approach by one of the swifts who seemed to check out the chimney before flying away to rejoin the second swift.

On July 29, Breanne monitored the Granite Curling Club from 8:14pm-9:44pm. She saw up to 15 swifts flying in the area throughout the evening. She saw 2 entries into the Granite Curling Club chimney (one at 9:10pm and one at 9:26pm). 

On July 30, Blair monitored the Fire Hall at 864 Marion St from 8:42pm-9:43pm and saw no activity. On July 31, he monitored Niakwa Park Plaza (1310 Archibald St) from 8:42pm-9:15pm and saw 1 exit at 8:44pm, 1 entry at 8:50pm, and 1 entry at 9:03pm.

John monitored the Moorgate Apartments (2187 Portage Ave) on July 31 from 4:34pm-5:34pm and saw 1 entry at 5:10pm.

On July 31, Katharine was in the Grant Park Mall Shopping Centre parking lot, when she happened to catch an entry into the Grant Wilton Apartments (1055 Grant Ave) at 6:08pm followed by an exit at 6:10pm. Great to know this site is in use this year. 

Priority site list (updated August 4):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church	Pat S.
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave (both chimneys)	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments	Marissa B. & Amy M.
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School	Amy M.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James	Amy M.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church	Amy M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

August is just around the corner, which means it’s officially time to keep an eye out for fledglings! The young typically fledge 28-30 days after hatching. In Manitoba, this typically falls sometime during the end of July or first week of August. It can be tough to distinguish adults from fledglings, but there are some useful clues we can look for. Here are a few tips, taken from past blog post by Barb Stewart:

“For monitors in Manitoba, moult characteristics become an important way to distinguish fledglings from adults. Most fledging takes place toward the end of July and into the first week of August, and it is useful to identify juveniles to help estimate nesting success. The flight of newly fledged chimney swifts is characterized by: flying at low altitudes, rapid wing beats for slow air speed, large banking turns, and, occasionally, difficult entries to chimneys (yes, they do miss the opening and tumble down the outside face!). However, within several days post-fledging, young swifts are proficient fliers and they are not easy to distinguish from adults based on flight competency alone. So how do you distinguish juveniles vs. adults? The best way is to look for evidence of moulting on the trailing wing margins. Juveniles will have intact margins while adults will have discontinuities and gaps due to worn and missing feathers.” Full post here:https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/july-update-field-identification-of-adult-chimney-swifts-in-the-summer-range/

Another thing to look for is a change in the levels of daytime activity, combined with an increase in the number of swifts that enter the chimney during the roost hour (because the fledglings are now also leaving the chimney during the day and entering it to roost). That being said, it can be hard to know if an increase in roosting numbers is due to fledglings, or due to the arrival of early-dispersing adult swifts that have left their summer sites and are beginning to form pre-migratory groupings.

As is often the case with swift watching, sometimes the clues are easy to interpret, and sometimes all we can do is take a wild guess at what might be happening…

Time for another round of monitoring updates, including the confirmation of another priority site in Winnipeg – woohoo!

Carman

On July 16, Rhonda checked out the Memorial Hall from 7pm-8pm and saw no activity. The next night (July 17), she had better luck with 1 entry at 7:48pm followed by 1 exit at 7:51pm.  

La Broquerie

On July 24, Frank took a trip down to La Broquerie to monitor the chimneys at the Saint-Joachim Parish Church. He watched from 8:25pm-10:05pm. At the large chimney, he saw 1 exit at 8:39pm, 2 entries around 8:47pm, and 1 exit at 9:56pm. At the small chimney, he saw 1 entry/exit around 8:48pm, and 2 entries around 9:28pm.

Lockport

Gerald watched the chimneys at the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on July 25 from 8:25pm-9:50pm. At the South chimney, he saw 1 entry/exit around 8:32pm, 2 exits at 8:41pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 1 entry at 9:07pm, 2 exits around 9:13pm, and 2 entries at 9:33pm (up to 3 swifts using the chimney but only 2 swifts in at the end of the roosting hour). There was no activity at the North chimney.

Morden

Marvin monitored Lucky’s Restaurant on July 24 from 6:56pm-7:36pm. He saw 1 exit at 7:04pm, and 1 entry/exit around 7:18pm. Marvin also quickly stopped by the next day around noon, and saw 1 entry during the 3 minutes he was there.

Selkirk

T01: On July 23, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 8:00pm-9:55pm and saw 1 exit at 8:20pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:30pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:43pm, 2 entries around 8:48pm followed by a exit at 8:50pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:59pm, 2 entries at 9:15pm followed by 1 exit at 9:16pm and 1 exit at 9:19pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, and 1 entry at 9:40pm (up to 3 swifts using the tower but 2 swifts in at the end of the roosting hour). On July 25, Cam monitored T01 from 10:33am-11:33am and saw 1 entry/exit at 11:09am. Despite the slower monitoring session on July 25, feeding is likely ongoing at this site.

T02: On July 24, Dennis and Pattie watched T02 from 8:37pm-9:52pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 8:37pm, 1 exit at 8:38pm, 1 entry at 8:42pm, 1 exit at 8:47pm, 3 entries at 8:52pm, 3 exits at 8:54pm, 1 entry at 9:09pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:16pm, 1 exit at 9:19pm, and 4 entries between 9:36pm-9:43pm (4 swifts roosting in the tower). It seems that feeding is ongoing at this site as well.

T03: On July 23, Dennis and Pattie watched T03 from 8:38pm-9:52pm and saw 4 entries from 9:28pm-9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:40pm, and 1 entry at 9:40pm (4 swifts roosting in the tower).

T04: On July 25, Cam watched T04 from 11:39am-12:39pm and saw no entries or exits at either site. 

Yellow Brick chimney: On July 24, Nia watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:35pm-9:50pm and saw 4 entries around 9:39pm. On July 25, Cam watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 11:39am-12:39pm and saw no entries or exits at either site. 

Infirmary chimney: Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney on July 23 from 8:38pm-9:52pm and saw 1 exit at 9:06pm, followed by 9 entries between 9:13pm-9:45pm. It seems possible that there is late incubation ongoing at this site.

St. Adolphe

Barb caught an exit at the SE Club Amical chimney on the morning of July 25, confirming that the nesting attempt at this site is still ongoing.

Winnipeg

On the night of the blitz (July 16), Jo and Betsy monitored the Assiniboine Park Zoo Tower from 8:04pm-9:45pm. They saw lots of activity – 1 entry at 8:10pm, 2 exits at 8:12pm, 2 entries around 8:27pm, 1 exit at 8:30pm, 1 exit at 8:46pm, 1 entry at 8:47pm, 1 exit at 8:53pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:08pm, 1 exit at 9:16pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:21pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:27pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:31pm, and 2 entries around 9:39pm (2 swifts using the tower and inside at the end of the roosting hour). Seems like this could be feeding non-brooded young.  

Paul monitored the CMU chimney on July 23 from 2:46pm-3:16pm. There were no entries or exits during the 40 minutes he was there. He saw up to 4 swifts in the area, and on a few occasions a swift would dive at the chimney but not enter the chimney (a behaviour we’ve been seeing at a few other chimneys in recent weeks). John monitored this site on July 27 from 5:30pm-6:30pm and saw no swift activity at all. Paul returned to this chimney again on July 27 from 8:47pm-9:47pm and also saw no swift activity at all.

Breanne has continued her weekly monitoring of the Maryland Foodfare chimney. On July 9, she monitored from 8:36pm-10:16pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 9:03pm. She mentions that she continued to hear chittering as it was getting very difficult to see near the end of session, so it’s possible she missed entries or that swifts entered late. On July 16, Breanne watched from 8:30pm-10:00pm and saw 2 entries at 9:55pm. On July 23, she watched from 8:22pm-10:10pm and saw 1 entry at 9:40pm.

On July 28, Amy M. monitored the Nordale School (99 Birchdale Ave) and saw 1 entry at 5:17pm, and 1 exit at 5:27pm. This was a priority site, so we can now cross it off our list!

That wraps up our monitoring recap.

Priority site list (updated July 28):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church	Pat S.
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave (both chimneys)	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments	Marissa B. & Amy M.
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School	Amy M.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church	Amy M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

Monitoring Recap: July Blitz Results & More

Thank you so much to all of you who have monitored over the past week! We’ve received many reports from the monitoring blitz on July 16 as well as the days surrounding the blitz.  Your reports are so valuable and provide really great insight into the current status of sites across the province. Most nesting swifts have now transitioned to feeding non-brooded young, characterized by more frequent feeding exchanges (usually 3-4 times per hour). Some swifts seem to still be incubating – hopefully these eggs hatch ASAP!

The high levels of activity at this point in the nesting season mean it’s a fantastic time to monitor and check for site use. The blitz dates act as a push to see what’s going on chimney-side at different times throughout the season, but we strongly encourage you to monitor whenever works for you, as often as you’d like! The more data the better (and anything helps).

There is lots to share, so let’s get into the monitoring recap.

Dauphin

On July 17, Pat noticed an entry/exit at St Paul’s Anglican Church – this site was on our priority site list, so we can now cross it off. Nice!

Ken reports that there is also some use ongoing at the Malcolm Block (213 Main St N), the old Scott’s Hardware building (120 Main St N), and the Hong Kong Café (123 Main St S). They have not observed activity at the Watson Art Centre(104 1^st Ave N).

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored the LFG sites on July 17 from 8:30pm-9:55pm. At the Furloft, he saw 1 entry/exit at 8:36pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:35pm, and 1 entry at 9:44pm. The Men’s House was very active,  with 1 exit at 8:31pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:34pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:46pm, 1 entry at 8:49pm, 1 entry at 9:00pm, 2 exits at 9:01pm, 1 entry at 9:12pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:22pm, 1 exit at 9:29pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:36pm, and 2 entries around 9:40pm. Looks like the swifts at the Men’s House have now moved to feeding non-brooded young.

Morden

Marvin and Evelyn monitored Lucky’s Restaurant on July 16 from 8:34pm-9:14pm and saw 2 entries at 8:39pm, 1 exit at 8:41pm, 1 entry at 8:41pm, 2 exits at 8:42pm, 1 entry at 8:55pm, 1 exit at 8:56pm, 1 entry at 8:56pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 1 exit at 9:08pm, 1 exit at 9:09pm, and 1 entry/exit at 9:12pm.

Portage la Prairie

Gordon monitored the United Church on July 17 from 8:55pm-9:50pm and saw lots of activity at the South chimney. There was 1 entry at 8:57pm, 1 exit at 9:08pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:09pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:20pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, and 2 entries around 9:36pm. Looks like the swifts are feeding young at this site.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Luc monitored the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church on July 16 from 8:59pm-9:59pm. He saw 3 entries between 9:45pm-9:50pm.

Selkirk

On the day of the blitz, Amy H. and Cam of the Manitoba Wildlife Branch conducted daytime monitoring of all six Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) sites. That same evening, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club also monitored all six SMHC sites. This combination of daytime and roost hour data is so valuable for figuring out what is going on at these sites and makes for interesting comparisons in daytime vs roost activity. I’ll go through the observations one site at a time.

T01:  Cam monitored T01 from 10:34am-11:34am and saw 1 entry/exit at 10:56am, and 1 entry at 11:15am. That evening, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 8:00pm-10:10pm. They saw 2 exits at 8:35pm, 1 entry at 8:51pm, 1 exit at 9:04pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, and 3 entries from 9:45pm-9:55pm. Seems like feeding is underway at this site.

T02: Amy monitored T02 from 11:38am-12:38am and saw 1 entry/exit around 11:44am, 1 entry/exit around 12:02pm, 2 entries at 12:15pm, and 2 exits around 12:16pm. That evening, Gerald monitored from 8:30pm-10:10pm. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:39pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:50pm, 1 entry at 8:53pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:00pm, 1entry/exit at 9:02pm, 2 entries at 9:05pm followed by 1 exit at 9:07pm and 1 exit at 9:15pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:21pm, 1 exit at 9:38pm, and 3 entries between 9:45pm-9:51pm (3 swifts roosting in the chimney). It seems that feeding of non-brooded young is underway, with a possible “helper” swift assisting the nesting pair.

T03: Amy H. monitored T03 from 10:35am-11:13am and saw no activity. That evening, Dennis and Pattie watched T03 from 8:50pm-10:01pm and saw 3 entries between 9:34pm-9:51pm. Judging by the lack of daytime activity at this site, it is likely the nesting attempt at this site has failed.  

T04: Cam monitored T04 from11:39am-12:39pm. He saw 2 entries at 11:51am, 1 exit at 11:51am, and 1 exit at 12:00pm. That evening, Gerald monitored T04 from 8:30pm-10:10pm and saw 1 entry at 9:43pm. Hard to say what is happening at this site!

Yellow Brick chimney: Cam monitored the Yellow Brick chimney from 11:39am-12:39pm and saw no entries or exits. Cam noted that several times during the monitoring session, there were swifts swooping down towards the chimney but veering off at the last second. That evening, Nia monitored the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:45pm-10:05pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 9:05pm, and 4 entries between 9:50pm-9:52pm. This site is another confusing one – there is some daytime activity, but it is inconsistent so it’s hard to say for sure if this nest has failed or if there is some type of attempt ongoing.

Infirmary chimney: Amy monitored the Infirmary chimney from 10:35am-11:13am and saw no activity. That evening, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney from 8:50pm-10:01pm and saw 1 exit at 9:06pm and 9 entries between 9:11pm-9:55pm. Another tough one – it seems that this chimney is mainly being used as a roost site, though the “daytime” exit at 9:06pm could indicate a late nesting attempt.

It will be fascinating to continue to follow these sites throughout the rest of the summer and see what happens.

St. Adolphe

There are five sites in St A that are regularly tracked by Barb every year (SE Club Amical, NE Club Amical, Brodeur Bros/Daycare, the Church, and a house on Main St). This year, Barb has been prioritizing the Club Amical and Church chimneys for monitoring. This is because the Club Amical chimneys and the Church don’t have accessible chimney clean-out traps, so Barb must rely on monitoring to know if there are nesting attempts at these sites and if they are successful. The Brodeur Bros/Daycare and the Main St sites, on the other hand, have chimney clean-out traps that can be accessed in the fall and that provide information on any nesting attempts that occurred.

On the day of the blitz (July 16) and throughout the following four days, she spent some time at all five sites to get a sense of what was going on, including squeezing in some short observation sessions at Brodeur Bros and Main St. Here’s a recap of what she saw at each site. e

Club Amical SE: On July 16, this site was feeding Day 2 brooded young and likely has a helper on site. On July 17, Barb caught 1 exchange within 30 minutes of monitoring. On July 18, there were 2 exchanges within 35 minutes. On July 19, she caught 1 exchange as soon as she arrived, confirming the site as still active. On July 20, she saw 1 exit on arrival and an entry 2 minutes later. She suspects that the short between-visit interval could be due to a helper on site and/or a transition to feeding non-brooded young.

NE Club Amical: On July 15, there was no activity during an hour of monitoring. On July 16, there was no activity during a 45-minute session, suggesting day 2 of a nest failure. On July 17, there was once again no entry/exits which confirmed that this nest has failed.

Church: The Church nest failed earlier this month. Interestingly, on July 20, Barb caught sight of a swift exiting the Church chimney with her peripheral vision. Within 30 seconds, she saw a total of 6 swifts exit the chimney… Who are these swifts, and what are they doing? Very strange, but not totally unfamiliar….

In Barb’s words: “There seems to be a replay from the CHSW playbook – a year to the day! Cast your thoughts back to exactly 1 year ago when a swarm of swifts started using the Church chimney as a premigratory roost before the Church nestlings had fledged (End Of July Update July 2024; https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/2024/07/)”

Brodeur Bros/Daycare: On July 16, Barb squeezed in a 15 minute session at this site and didn’t see any entry/exits within that period. On July 17, she spent 30 minutes here and again didn’t see any activity. On July 18, she did another 15 minute session with no activity seen. On July 19, she finally caught an exit upon arrival, confirming that this site is indeed active!

Main St: On July 16, Barb spent 30 minutes watching this site and didn’t see any activity. On July 18, she caught 1 entry/exit during a 15 minute observation period, confirming that this site is active – woohoo!

Winnipeg

Alyssa and Sophia watched the CMU chimney on July 10 from 8:30pm-10:10pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:10pm, 1 exit at 9:17pm, 1 entry at 9:28pm, and 1 entry at 9:43pm. John watched the CMU chimney on July 16 from 9:15am-10:25am and saw 1 entry at 9:25am, 1 entry/exit around 9:42am, 1 entry/exit around 10:05am, and 1 entry/exit around 10:25am. Looks this site is continuing to feed non-brooded young. 

Garry monitored 712 Watt St on July 15 from 10:43am-11:48am, and saw 1 entry/exit at 11:13am, 1 entry at 11:39am, and 1 entry/exit at 11:46am. Looks like this site is now into the feeding stage.  

On the morning of July 15, Amy M. monitored a private residence on Ruby St for 75 minutes and did not see any entries or exits. She then moved to a private residence on Canora St on saw 2 entries and 1 exit.

On the morning of the blitz, Amy M. and I checked out multiple priority sites in Winnipeg. We started at 71 Kennedy St and caught 1 entry/exit around 9:30am (woohoo – priority site confirmed). We then moved to Balmoral St, where we spent about 45 minutes monitoring a private residence but did not see any activity. We also briefly monitored the apartment building at 39 Balmoral St but did not see any activity while we were there. We then monitored the two priority site chimneys at 222 York Ave. We did not see any activity at these chimneys, though we did see a swift flying low in the very nearby vicinity which we presume exited from the chimney at 180 Main St.

On July 14, Blair monitored 1310 Archibald St from 12:56pm-1:51pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 1:11pm, 1 exit at 1:14pm, and 1 entry/exit around 1:42pm. Blair then monitored 790 Elizabeth Rd from 1:56pm-2:59pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:03pm.

On the day of the blitz (July 16), Blair monitored 314 St Anne’s Rd from 1:23pm-2:23pm. He saw 1 entry at 1:35pm, 1 exit at 1:41pm, 1 entry/exit around 1:52pm, 1 entry/exit around 2:00pm, 1 entry/exit around 2:13pm. These 4 entry/exit cycles within 1 hour support that the swifts are feeding non-brooded young at this site.

Frank decided to check out 865 Tache Ave (one of our priority sites) on the evening of the blitz. He watched from 8:30pm-10:05pm but did not see any swift activity (and no swifts heard or seen in the vicinity).

Rudolf monitored the Radmon House Apartments (1010 Brazier St) on July 16 from 6:23pm-7:23pm. He saw 1 exit at 6:38pm, 1 entry at 6:48pm, 1 exit at 6:51pm, 1 exit at 7:00pm, and 1 entry at 7:08pm. He did not see any activity at the Curtis Gordon Hotel or at 1030 Brazier St.

Priority site list (updated July 21):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church	Pat S.
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave (both chimneys)	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments	Marissa B. & Amy M.
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church	Amy M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

Blitz Reminder, Strange Groupings, Moulting Swifts & More

This year is proving to be an interesting one. Some nests have failed, some swifts are still incubating, and some swifts are feeding young. This past Friday, Barb spotted a group of 18 swifts in St Adolphe, which is the largest group of swifts she’s seen there this year. This increased count is highly unusual for this time of year, given that most sites are still in the incubation or feeding stages. Where did these swifts come from? We would typically expect to see this type of influx of new swifts further into August, as the nesting season wanes and the swifts disperse and form pre-migratory groupings. Barb wonders if this is an early dispersing group of swifts that have joined up with St Adolphe flock – strange times.

Quick reminder that our next monitoring blitz is tomorrow, Wednesday July 16! Daytime or roosting hour monitoring are both helpful. This is a great opportunity to check out what is going on at your “usual” site, or to check out a different site. You can pick a site from our priority site list, or any other site from our database. The full site list can be found in our summary database, at the following link:  https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/2024_2021_database.pdf

The consistent smoke has been a challenge for volunteers and for swifts alike. As always, health and safety are the number one priority. There is never an obligation to monitor – please stay within your comfort levels and stay inside if you are concerned about the air quality.

As you monitor over the next few weeks, you may notice some interesting looking Chimney Swifts. At this time of year, adult Chimney Swifts go through an annual moulting process, during which they replace their worn and damaged feathers. Some birds, like the Canada Goose, moult all their flight feathers in one go, rendering them incapable of flight for several weeks. Chimney Swifts can’t do that, because they are aerial insectivores and need to be able to fly to catch their flying insect prey. Instead, their moult is gradual. This longer moulting process allows them to fly throughout the entire moulting period.

Last week, Barb noticed that some low-flying Chimney Swifts were showing moult characteristics – “discontinuities in the trailing wing margins”. In other words, some noticeable gaps in the feather lengths on the bottom of the wing (as pictured in the photo by Dave Lavigne below). 

These moult characteristics are a very helpful tool for telling adult swifts and fledglings apart. Young swifts born this summer will not have any gaps in their wing margins, as all their feathers brand new and they aren’t replacing any.  

For more information on Chimney Swift moulting, you can check out this blog post from 2015 written by Barb: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/july-update-field-identification-of-adult-chimney-swifts-in-the-summer-range/

Alright, let’s get into the monitoring recap!

Carman

Rhonda has been keeping an eye on the swifts in Carman. She’s been periodically checking the private residence on 2^nd Street, as well as the Memorial hall. She hasn’t seen any activity at the private residence on 2^nd Street, but as of July 7^th the nesting pair at the Memorial Hall were incubating.

A few more notes  from Rhonda: “The swifts are silent with none of the familiar exit chatter as they are in heavy predator territory with both a neighborhood merlin and a molting and very habitual low flying crow on regular patrol who looks like they are keeping a close eye on the chimney at the memorial hall.”

Darlingford

Marvin and Evelyn were driving past Darlingford and took the opportunity to make a quick stop at the Darlingford School Heritage Museum to look for swifts. They watched from 3:39pm-3:59pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 3:46pm. Great to know there is a nesting attempt ongoing at this site this year.

Lockport

Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on July 13 from 8:25pm-10:05pm. At the south chimney, he saw 1 entry at 9:49pm followed by 1 exit at 9:52pm. At the north chimney, he saw 1 entry at 8:48pm, 1 entry at 9:30pm, 1 exit at 9:31pm, and 1 entry at 9:52pm (he believes this last entry may have been by the same swift that exited the south chimney at 9:52pm).

Lower Fort Garry

On July 9, Gerald monitored the LFG sites from 8:40pm-10:05pm. There was no activity at the Museum building. There was 1 entry into the Furloft at 9:20pm. At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry/exit around 8:48pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:06pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:23pm, and 1 entry at 9:33pm.

Morden

Marvin and Evelyn watched Lucky Chinese Restaurant (321 Stephen St) on July 9 from 8:53pm-9:58pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 exit at 9:19pm, at exit at 9:26pm, 1 entry at 9:30pm, and 1 entry at 9:41pm. Marvin notes that the the birds entering the chimney came from the northwest and the approaches were low, so the entries were tough to see and were obscured by trees and buildings. The exits are much easier to spot, because the exiting swifts tend to fly southwest, over the observation point. Marvin is fairly certain there are only 2 swifts at this site and suspects they missed an entry between the 3 exits. 

Selkirk

Cam and Amy monitored the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC) sites during the daytime on July 10. Amy watched T02 from 11:00am-11:45am, and saw 2 entries around 11:02am, 2 exits around 11:04am, 1 entry at 11:07am, 1 exit at 11:10am, and 1 entry/exit at 11:15am. Seems like this site is now showing feeding behaviour, indicating that the eggs have hatched!  Amy watched T03 from 10:13am-10:58am and saw 1 exit at 10:41am (likely still at incubation stage).

Cam watched T01 from 10:13am-10:58am, and while there were swifts diving at the tower, he saw no entries or exits. Cam watched T04 and the Yellow Brick chimney from 11:01am-11:46am. At T04, he saw 1 entry/exit at 11:09am, and 1 entry at 11:12am. At the Yellow Brick chimney, there were no entries or exits. Cam notes that at both these sites as well, swifts were slowly diving at the chimney and veering off at the last second. Seems like there was an incubation exchange at T04, but hard to say what is happening at the other two sites.

On July 9, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney and T03 from 9:00pm-10:08pm. At the Infirmary, they saw 2 entries around 9:13pm, 3 entries from 9:34pm-9:38pm, 2 exits at 9:40pm, and 7 entries from 9:42pm-9:51pm (10 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T03, they saw 1 entry at 9:13pm, 1 exit at 9:27pm, 3 entries from 9:40pm-9:48pm, and 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:49pm (3 swifts roosting in the tower).

Lisa and Monty watched T02 from 8:57pm-10:07pm and saw lots of activity. They saw 1 exit at 9:00pm, 1 entry at 9:01pm, 2 entries at 9:06pm, 2 exits at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:10pm, 1 entry at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:26pm, 1 exit at 9:31pm, 1 entry at 9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 3 entries at 9:39pm, 1 exit and 1 entry at 9:40pm, 2 exits at 9:41pm, and 4 entries from 9:46pm-9:58pm (7 swifts roosting in the tower).

On July 10, Nia watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 9:02pm-10:05pm and saw 1 entry at 9:55pm. Fred and Nettie watched T01 from 8:00pm-10:10pm and saw 1 entry at 8:40pm, 1 exit at 9:10pm and 1 entry at 9:11pm.

On July 12, Linda watched T04 from 9:03pm-10:09pm and saw no entries or exits.

St. Adolphe

Many updates to share from Barb regarding the St Adolphe swifts. As of July 7, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys remained active (despite ongoing loud construction near at the Bear Store across the road). Both sites showed no indication of hatching or feeding yet.

Barb visited the Church on July 8. Here’s her report: “Church was quite quiet – it was 10C overnight and noticeably chilly this morning and I was in ST A by 9 AM. By 10 AM the feeding action picked up by a group of 8 individuals around the cemetery/rectory/Church area. No entries/exits surprised me over the 35 min observation period but the group of snoops did make repeated flyovers of the rim.” While there, she also saw an exit at Brodeur Bros./Daycare, confirming that this site is still active.

On July 9, Barb saw 1 exit from the Church as she arrived but did not see any other activity for the next 45 minutes – she fears that there has been a nest failure at this site. Barb also noticed the “Snoop Group” (a group of curious swifts that have a tendency to check out chimneys by approaching the chimney and veering away at the last second) diving at the Club Amical SE chimney.

On July 10, Barb stopped by the Club Amical chimneys for a quick 15 minute monitoring session. She didn’t catch any entries or exits, but she did see a single bird dive towards the NE chimney and veer off, twice.

On July 11, Barb spent 30 minutes at the Club Amical. The air was smoky and she did not see any swift activity. She also noted that there were no swallows or martins in the area. She did see a couple of swifts in the distance as she was leaving the Club Amical to head to the Church. She spent 15 minutes at the Church and did see a group of 18 swifts on a few occasions, foraging in the area. There were no entries or exits at the Church. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, this group of 18 swifts is the biggest group of swifts she’s seen in St. Adolphe so far this season and was surprising to see so early in the season!

Barb returned over the weekend to investigate further. The NE Club Amical site remained active, with feeding activity on Sunday. She didn’t see any activity at the SE Club Amical site on Sunday but did see activity on Monday (likely still incubating).

Winnipeg

John monitored the CMU chimney on July 3 from 9:44am-10:53am, and saw 1 exit at 9:58am. Paul monitored this chimney on July 13 from 7:27pm-8:57pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 7:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:12pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:34pm, and 1 entry/exit at 8:54pm. Lots of entry/exits within the 90 minute observation period. Judging by this high feeding rate, the swifts are likely feeding non-brooded young.

Tim dropped by a few priority sites on the evening of July 8. He spent some time at King George Court (272 Cockburn St) and at Lanark Gardens (465 Lanark St). Unfortunately he did not see any entries or exits at either site. He did note that he observed a low-flying swift around the Lanark Gardens courtyard so it likely did exit one of the chimneys on site. Hard to watch the many chimneys on site at once!

Frank checked out the Home Street Mennonite Church (318 Home St) on July 9 during the roosting hour. He saw 1 exit at 8:21pm, 1 exit at 8:51pm, and 1 entry at 9:53pm. We can now cross that site off the priority site list, woohoo!

On July 5, Blair monitored Kaljieb Electrics (690 Joseph St) from 1:45pm-2:30pm and saw 1 entry/exit at around 2:20pm. Blair then monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) from 2:46pm-3:31pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:56pm. On July 6, Blair monitored Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (188 St Mary’s Rd) from 1:55pm-3:10pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 2:04pm. Seems that incubation was ongoing at all three sites at the time of monitoring.

On July 10, Blair monitored the St. Boniface Fire Hall (864 Marion St) from 5:07pm-6:07pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 5:42pm, and 1 entry/exit around 6:04pm. These 2 exchanges within an hour support that the swifts here are now feeding brooded young.

On July 11, Blair monitored Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) from 11:37am-12:38pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 11:55am. Looks like incubation is still ongoing at this site.

Amy M. spent an hour monitoring at the St Norbert Parish Church (80 St Pierre St) on the morning of July 11, and did not see any activity.

On July 14, Amy monitored the Kildonan United Church (187 Kilbride Ave) from 3:30pm-4:15pm and saw 1 entry at 3:42pm and 1 entry at 3:50pm. This site was on our priority site list, so we can now cross it off our list. 

Priority site list (updated July 15):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave (both chimneys)	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church	Amy M.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

Start of July Recap: The hatchlings are here!

Happy July!

Based on your monitoring observations from the first week of July, it seems that many sites are still incubating. However, we’ve officially got hatchlings at the Church in St. Adolphe! Barb estimates that the eggs hatched sometime between the afternoon of July 2 and the morning of July 3, based on the noticeable increase in entries/exits at this site on July 3 compared to July 1 (more details in the monitoring recap below). This is great news! We expect that more sites will start showing these increased rates of activity any day now.

Just a reminder that our next monitoring blitz is on Wednesday, July 16.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out! The best way to reach me is by email at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com.

Thanks for being here! Time for the monitoring recap.

Hartney

The swifts in Hartney and their irregular activity has continued to lead Katharine on a true rollercoaster this year. When she last monitored the Hart-Cam Museum on June 21, 2 swifts entered to roost for the night. On July 1, Katharine monitored the Museum from 6:33pm-10:33pm. 4 hours – wow! That might be a new record for longest monitoring session. Unfortunately, there was zero sign of the swifts.

The next day, whilst sitting on her friend’s patio in Hartney, she happened to notice a Chimney Swift in the sky. The lone swift was flying in proximity to a group of Barn Swallows before flying southward, solo. She decided to return to the Hart-Cam museum that evening, to see if this swift might make an appearance to roost. She watched from 9:07pm-10:40pm. This time, she did see a swift flying in the airspace above the chimney.

From Katharine: “I almost wondered if this could be a different swift than one of the original 2 that I had watched on the previous trips.  It would forage and then fly relatively close to the chimney as if it was thinking to enter and then would pass over. Finally, at 9:31 pm, it hovered over the chimney and began to descend, but then aborted and flew off again at the last second.  It then made a number of aborted attempts to enter the chimney. At 9:36 pm, it made a final aborted attempt, but within a few seconds returned and entered the chimney. There was no further activity and no exits were observed. If it was one of the original two swifts, why was it acting so hesitant to enter the chimney?”

It’s hard to know exactly what is going on at this site, but it feels safe to say that there is not currently an ongoing nesting attempt. This site will be an interesting one to follow. Thank you Katharine, for your diligent monitoring efforts! 

La Broquerie

Frank made the trip out to La Broquerie on July to monitor the St Joachim Church from 8:30pm-10:10pm. He observed a few trio fly-overs starting at 8:35pm, and a group of six swifts flying over at 9:14pm. He saw 3 entries into the small chimney at 9:21pm, and 1 entry into the large chimney at 9:36pm. Two swifts remained unaccounted for at the end of the roosting hour. The two church chimneys are the only two known Chimney Swifts sites in La Broquerie. Where did these other two swifts go to roost?! It’s possible that they entered very late. Or perhaps, there is another undiscovered site nearby!

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored the LFG sites on June 30, with the assistance of his trusty video camera. 

At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry at 8:59pm and 1 entry at 9:58pm. At the Fur Loft, there was 1 entry at 8:26pm, 1 exit at 8:36pm, 1 entry at 8:40pm, 1 exit at 9:15pm, and 1 entry at 9:36pm. At the Museum, there was 1 entry at 8:57pm and 1 entry at 9:54pm. Gerald noted that there were still a few swifts flying around at 10:05pm and he is unsure where they went. Interesting observations!

Portage la Prairie

On July 4, Jana monitored the United Church from 9:21pm-10:11pm. At the south chimney, she saw 1 exit at 9:36pm, and 2 entries around 10:00pm. She did see up to 12 swifts in the sky throughout the monitoring session.

Selkirk

On July 2, Dennis and Pattie watched T03 and the Infirmary chimney from 8:53pm-10:15pm.

At T03, they saw 2 entries at 9:37pm, 2 exits at 9:47pm, 2 entries at 9:54pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:55pm, 1 entry at 9:58pm, 1 exit at 10:04pm, and 3 entries at 10:12pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower). At the Infirmary chimney, they saw 2 exits at 8:58pm, 1 entry at 9:22pm, 1 entry at 9:29pm, 2 exits around 9:33pm, and 7 entries between 9:47pm-10:12pm (7 swifts roosting in the chimney).

On July 3, Nia and Linda monitored the Yellow Brick chimney and T04 from 9:09pm-10:10pm. At the T04, they saw 1 entry at 9:32pm, and 3 exits from 9:40pm-9:51pm (up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once, but none at the end of the roosting hour). At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 exit at 9:42pm, and 4 entries from 9:49pm-9:56pm.

St. Adolphe

Barb continues to keep a close eye on the St Adolphe sites. On July 2, Barb monitored the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys from 9:50am-10:35am. At the NE chimney, she saw 1 swift enter the chimney at 9:50am, followed by another entry 30 seconds later. 2 minutes later, she saw 1 of the swifts exit. She then saw 1 entry at 10:34am. Barb’s notes: “Based on two in the air and >50% of the obs. period with an attending adult, the NE pair are likely incubating”. At the SE chimney, she saw 1 exit at 10:30am (meaning that the site was attended for at least 40 minutes). Like the NE chimney, this site also had >50% of the observation period with an attending adult which supports incubation (assuming that there is still a second swift present at this site – its whereabouts during this monitoring session remain a mystery).

When Barb monitored the Church on July 1, the swifts were still showing activity consistent with incubation. Barb returned to the Church on July 3 and watched from 8:45am-9:45am. She saw 3 entries and 3 exits within one hour, along with a few “drop and veers” (a fast approach but no entry). This is a noticeable increase in activity compared to July 1, which strongly supports that there are officially hatchlings at the Church! She also suspects there may be a helper on site with the breeding pair.

The Pas

Joel has noticed Chimney Swifts in a few areas around The Pas. On June 12 he saw 3 swifts near the Lathlin/Settee junctions. On June 15, he noticed a Chimney Swift at Grace Lake, flying with various swallow species. On June 28, he noticed 2 swifts over the VIA Rail/Bignell area. On July 2, he saw 3 swifts overhead near the Lorraine Apartments (which has been used as a nesting sites for the last few years).

Wasagaming

Pam monitored 106 Buffalo Drive in Wasagaming on June 30 during the roosting hour and did not see any swifts.

Winnipeg

Graham watched the CMU chimney on June 30 from 9:10pm-10:10pm, and saw 3 entries between 9:42pm-9:54pm. Graham also noted that before these entries, there were a few “fake outs” where a swift approached the chimney and then veered away, not entering. 

Garry monitored 722 Watt St on July 4 from 7:31am-8:32am. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:21am. Looks like incubation is ongoing at this site.

Thanks everyone! Here is the updated priority site list:

Priority site list (updated July 7):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

Hello!

We’ve reached the end of June, and the swift nesting season is in full swing! Over the past few weeks, most nesting swifts have been incubating. This stage, which last 18-21 days, is characterized by the observation of classic incubation exchanges (an entry followed by an exit within a couple of minutes as the parents switch-off on “keeping the eggs warm” duty). Because this exchange only happens about once per hour, it can make for rather uneventful monitoring sessions. 

As we move into July and further into the nesting season, the young should very soon begin to hatch and the adults will move into feeding behaviour. This is great news for us monitors! This feeding behaviour should bring higher levels of activity as the parents enter and exit more frequently to feed the young. For the first week or so after hatching, the young are what we called “brooded” which means they still need to be kept warm by a parent. During this stage, feeding typically happens 2-3 times per hour. Once the young become “non-brooded” (and hungrier and hungrier), feeding rates will increase to 3-4 times per hour.

Daytime activity at nesting sites will continue to increase throughout the month, so daytime monitoring is a great option at this time of year. Roost hour monitoring also continues to be a great option season-round, as swifts will always roost inside a chimney or tower overnight.

With that, let’s launch into the recap. Thank you for continuing to send in your monitoring reports!

Dominion City

Dave, whose house is a nesting site for swifts, is continuing to keep an eye out for other potential nesting sites in Dominion City. He has spotted up to 6 swifts flying over his house, so there are likely other sites nearby.

Hartney

Katharine monitored the Hart-Cam Museum on June 20 for 40 minutes. She saw 1 entry at 6:54pm and did not see an exit before ending her monitoring session at 7:33pm. She did not see the second swift again. On June 21, she monitored from 7:14pm-10:07pm. This time, she saw 2 swifts flying in the air together. She saw 1 entry at 8:32pm,1 exit at 8:36pm, and then saw both swifts enter around 9:59pm.

Lockport

On June 20, Gerald observed the two chimneys at the St. Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound and did not see any activity. He suspects they may have entered early due to showers in the surrounding area. Gerald returned the next day on June 21, to check for the swifts. He saw 2 swifts enter the north chimney during the roosting hour. There was no activity at the south chimney. 

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored Lower Fort Garry on June 24 from 8:22pm-10:05pm. At the Fur Loft, there was 1 entry at 8:35pm, 2 entries around 9:37pm, and 1 exit at 9:40pm (up to 3 swifts inside the chimney but only 2 inside at the end of the roosting hour). At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry at 8:47pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, and 1 entry at 9:54pm. Interestingly, Gerald also noticed swift action at the chimney on the west side of the Museum building, including 1 exit at 8:34pm. He also saw swifts diving at this chimney, but there didn’t seem to be any entries.  

Morden

Marvin and Evelyn monitored Lucky Chinese Restaurant on June 24, from 9:02pm-9:50pm. They saw 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, followed by 2 entries at 9:42pm. Marvin noted that it’s hard to know for sure if there are 2 or 3 swifts using this chimney.

Portage la Prairie

Gordon and Jana watched the courthouse (formerly the correctional centre) on June 24 during the roosting hour and saw 1 entry into the small north chimney.

Selkirk

The Selkirk Mental Health Centre continues to provide some very eventful monitoring sessions.

On June 24, Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney and T03 from 9:09pm-10:22pm. At the Infirmary, there were 2 exits at 9:13pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:46pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, 1 entry at 9:56pm, 7 entries around 10:01pm, 1 exit at 10:03pm, 1 entry/exit at 10:06pm, 1 exit at 10:16pm, and 4 entries around 10:18pm (11 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T03, there was 1 exit at 9:09pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:16pm, 1 exit at 9:35pm, 2 entries at 9:36pm, 2 exits at 9:43pm, 1 exit at 9:50pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:53pm, 1 exit at 9:59pm, 2 entries at 10:00pm, 2 entries around 10:10pm, 1 exit at 10:13pm, 2 entries around 10:13pm, and 1 entry/exit at 10:19pm (6 swifts roosting in the tower).

Cam spent some time at SMHC on the afternoon of June 25. At T03, there was 1 entry followed by 1 exit 8 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At T01, there was 1 exit, followed by 1 entry 5 minutes later, followed by 1 exit 18 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At T04, there was 1 entry 9 minutes into the session, followed by 1 exit 10 minutes later (likely an incubation exchange). At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry at the end of the monitoring session. Cam left shortly afterwards so was not able to see if there was an exit, but this was likely part of an incubation exchange as well. At the Infirmary, there were 2 exits right at the start of the session. 10 minutes later, a pair entered and exited within a minute. Tim suspects this pair might be initiating a late nesting attempt.

On June 25, Lisa and Monty monitored T02 from 8:30pm-10:19pm. They saw 1 entry/exit around 8:39pm, 1 exit at 9:05pm, 1 entry at 9:05pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:29pm, 2 entries around 10:04pm, 1 exit at 10:09pm, and 1 entry at 10:13pm (3 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting hour).

On June 26, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 7:50pm-10:17pm. They saw 1 exit at 8:24pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:53pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:55pm, 1 exit at 9:56pm, 2 entries and 1 exit at 10:00pm, 1 entry at 10:03pm and 1 exit at 10:10pm (2 swifts observed using the tower but 1 inside at the end of the roosting hour). Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04 from 8:55pm-10:13pm. At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:45pm, 1 exit at 9:54pm, and 3 entries at 10:04pm (3 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour).  At T04, they saw 5 entries throughout the roosting hour.

It’s very interesting to compare the daytime activity with the roosting hour activity. Most of these sites are showing high levels of evening activity, with pretty typical incubation activity during the daytime. It is a fascinating situation to get to follow!

Souris

On June 20, Katharine watched Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home from 1:36-2:51pm and saw no entries or exits (though there were several swifts in the airspace). Katharine then watched the Hillcrest Museum from 2:55-4:10pm and though she saw up to 6 swifts in the area, she saw no entries or exits.  Katharine watched the former Chocolate Shop (now named Dimitri’s Tavern) from 4:46pm-6:02pm and saw 1 entry at 5:29pm and 1 exit at 5:45pm.  

St. Norbert

Blaire monitored the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation chimney on June 18 and saw no entries or exits. On June 20, she noticed some interesting swift behaviour near the St. Norbert Parish Church chimney. Two swifts were flying up and then approaching the chimney but aborting their entries at the last second. She saw them do this 3 times in a row. Interesting! This site last confirmed use by swifts in 2021.

Stonewall

Tim stopped by 336 Main St (a priority site) on June 25, and caught 1 exit at 10:02am. We can now cross that site off our priority site list. Woohoo!

Winnipeg

Blair monitored the Marion Hotel (393 Marion St) on the morning of June 24 for 1 hour and did not see any activity. On the morning of June 25, Blair monitored the Nordale School (99 Birchdale Ave) for an hour and though a swift flew by, there was no activity at the chimney. On the morning off June 28, Blair checked out a private residence on Ferndale Ave and while he saw 4 swifts flying around to the south of the building, he did not see any entries.

On the morning of June 24, Amy M. monitored the private residence on Canora St in Wolseley (on our priority site list) and saw 2 exits. Another site crossed off our priority list! 

On the morning of June 25, Amy monitored the private residence on Park Boulevard N (priority site). While she did see 6 swifts flying overhead, she did not see any entries or exits. Next, she moved a few blocks over to a private residence on Hosmer Boulevard. The owners at this house have let us know that they believe there are swifts using their chimney, so Amy went and monitored. She did see 1 entry, so we’ve officially got a new site to add to the database! Great news.

Graham and Tyler monitored the CMU chimney on June 25 from 9:00pm-10:11pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:43pm and 1 entry at 9:49pm.

Jennifer reports that she is often near the chimney at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on Provencher and has seen lots of activity, including many entries and exits. Great to hear that this chimney is still very active.

Breanne monitored the Maryland Foodfare chimney on June 28 from 8:50pm-10:20pm and saw no activity. This lack of swift action was unexpected, because she was regularly seeing 2 swifts at this site throughout the month of June. Fingers crossed they entered extra early and are seen again next week!

That’s the end of our monitoring recap. Thanks everyone!

Priority site list (updated June 30):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage	Tim P.
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence	Amy M.
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Thanks!

-Marissa

Hello all! We’ve got lots of monitoring updates to share this week including a new site in Winnipeg, and 3 sites crossed off our priority site list! 

Our June monitoring blitz was on Wednesday June 18. Unfortunately the weather in many areas was stormy and/or rainy, so this definitely made it tough to monitor certain sites and/or may have led to some swifts going to bed early. We still managed to get lots of great data on June 18 as well as during the rest of the week.

Many sites are showing daytime activity. Most nesting swifts will likely be at the incubation stage. At this stage you will likely see classic incubation exchanges – 1 entry followed by 1 exit a few minutes later. These incubation exchanges typically happen about once per 60 minutes.

Without further ado, let’s get into the monitoring recap!

Carman

On June 13, Gordon and Jana watched the Memorial Hall from 8:38-9:30pm. They saw 1 entry at 9:07pm and 1 entry at 9:13pm. Jana notes that there was a break in the observation time from 8:48pm-9:00pm as they spend a few minutes checking out the chimney at the Carman Elementary School.

Hartney

Katharine has spent a lot of time monitoring the Hart-Cam Museum in Hartney, a site she discovered back in 2023. Katharine didn’t see any swifts there last year, so she was very excited to see 2 swifts back at the chimney on June 9. The rollercoaster ride continued when she returned on June 10 and June 11 and saw zero sign of the swifts – had they disappeared again? Thankfully, on June 19, Katharine saw 2 swifts again, entering the chimney for the evening.

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald watched the LFG sites on June 11 during the roosting hour. He saw 2 entries into the Fur Loft and 3 entries into the Men’s House. 

Morden

Marvin monitored Lucky Chinese Restaurant on June 18 during the roosting hour and saw 1 entry at 9:51pm. Marvin notes that he did not see any swift activity other than the one quick entry.

Marvin monitored this site again on June 19 and this time saw 1 entry at 9:12pm followed by an exit at 9:15pm, 1 entry at 9:15pm, and 1 entry at 9:29pm. It appears that there is a nesting attempt ongoing at this chimney!

Otterburne

On June 17, Brett monitored the convent building at 33 Eglise Ave and saw 6 swifts in the air near the chimney, but no entries or exits between 9:20pm-10:20pm.

On June 18, Brett monitored Providence College and saw up to 9 swifts overhead but only 1 entry into site 551 (“large chimney”) and 1 entry into site 552 (“skinny chimney).

Portage la Prairie

On June 11, Gordon and Jana monitored the Red River College from 9:07pm-10:12pm. They did see 2 swifts fly over, but there were no entries or exits.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Luc monitored the church in Saint-Jean-Baptiste on June 18. He saw 1 entry at 9:17pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:44pm, and 4 entries from 9:47-9:57pm (5 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). Luc noted that the final entry happened a few seconds before it began to rain. 

Selkirk

The action continues at Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Thanks to the Selkirk Birdwatcher’s Club diligent monitoring efforts paired with the daytime monitoring by Tim’s Wildlife Branch students, we’re able to gather so much interesting information on all the strange and interesting happenings at all 6 sites! 

Cam watched T01 on June 11 from 10:14-10:59am and saw 2 entries at 10:20am, 2 exits at 10:21am, 2 entries at 10:22am, 1 entry/exit at 10:24am, 2 exits at 10:25am, 1 entry/exit at 10:28am, 2 entries at 10:29am, 2 exits at 10:30am, 1 entry at 10:32, 1 entry at 10:33, 2 exits at 10:34, 1 entry at 10:47, a entry at 10:49, 1 entry/exit at 10:51, 2 exits at 10:54. That’s up to 3 in the tower at once, and 12 swifts accounted for in the air. Cam monitored the Yellow Brick chimney and T04 from 11:07am to 11:52am. There were no entries or exits at the Yellow Brick chimney. At T04, he saw 1 entry at 11:08am followed by 1 exit at 11:12am. 

On June 11, Bonnie watched the Infirmary chimney and T03. At the Infirmary chimney, she saw 3 entries between 9:20-9:52pm. At T03, there was lots of activity: 1 entry at 8:56pm, 2 entries at 9:26pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:35pm, 2 exits at 9:43pm, 2 entries at 9:45pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, and 19 entries between 9:52pm-10:12pm (21 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting hour). Fred and Nettie watched T01 and saw 1 entry at 8:00pm, 2 entries at 8:15pm, and 2 entries at 9:48pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower).

On June 12, Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04. At T04, they saw 1 entry at 9:09pm, 1 entry at 9:16pm, 1 exit at 9:18pm, 1 exit at 9:24pm, and 4 entries between 0:42pm-9:59pm (4 swifts roosting in the tower). At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:16pm.

On June 13, Gerald watched the Merchant’s Hotel and saw 2 entries around 9:15pm.

On June 15, Dennis and Patti watched the Infirmary and T03. At the Infirmary chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:25pm, 4 entries between 9:48-9:51pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, 2 entries at 10:02pm, 1 exit at 10:02pm, 2 entries around 10:05pm, and 2 final entries around 10:13pm (9 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At T03, there was once again a lot of activity. They monitored from 8:50pm-10:13pm. From 9:24pm-10:00pm, there were 15 entries and 7 exits (up to 9 swifts in the chimney but only 8 swifts inside at the end of the roosting hour).

Gerald watched 367 Main St on June 15 and saw no swifts. 

On June 17, Gerald (with the help of his video cameras) monitored T01, T03 and the Infirmary. At T03, he saw 1 entry/exit around 9:03pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:12pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:35pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:47pm, 1 exit at 9:53pm, and 5 entries between 9:56pm-10:11pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower). At the Infirmary chimney, he saw 2 entries around 8:57pm, 6 entries between 9:18pm-9:27pm, 2 entries followed by 1 exit around 9:48pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:53pm, and 4 entries around 10:02pm (13 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T01, he saw 1 entry at 8:46pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:27pm, 2 entries around 9:54pm, followed by 2 exits around 9:58pm (up to 4 swifts using the chimney but only 2 at the end of the roosting hour).

On June 18, Dennis and Pattie monitored the Infirmary and T03. At the Infirmary, they saw a whopping 30 entries and 17 exits between 9:24pm-10:12pm (up to 13 swifts in the chimney but only 11 swifts in at the end of the roosting hour). At T03, there were 10 entries and 4 exits from 9:43pm-10:12pm (up to 7 swifts inside the tower but only 6 swifts in at the end of the roosting hour).

On June 19, Nia and Linda monitored the Yellow Brick chimney and T04. At the Yellow Brick, they saw 3 entries from 9:14pm-9:19pm, and 1 exit at 9:51pm (2 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At T04, they saw 2 entries at 9:27pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, and 2 entries around 9:53pm (3 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting hour).

There is a lot to keep up with here, and the swift numbers at each site seem to be changing from night to night. I hope to do a bit more of a deep dive into the SMHC sites in a future blog post, to really try and explain what might be happening at each of the sites!

Souris

On June 11, Katharine monitored a few sites in Souris. At the “White House”, a private residence on 5^th Ave W, she saw lots of activity – 1 entry/exit around 11:46am, 1 entry/exit around 12:19pm, 2 entries around 12:38pm followed by 2 exits at 12:42pm, 1 entry at 12:46pm, 2 entry/exits at 12:58pm, 1 exit at 12:49pm, 2 entries around 12:56pm, 1 entry/exit around 1:06pm, and 2 exits at 1:11pm. There were at least 3 swifts using the chimney. Potentially a nesting site pair with a helper? Exciting!

At another private residence on 5^th Ave W (which is on our priority site list), Katharine did not see any swift activity. Katharine also monitored the Rock Shop and saw 2 exits around 3:05pm, 1 entry at 3:27pm, and 1 exit at 3:33pm.

While passing through Souris on June 13, I (Marissa) saw 1 entry into the Lagasse Studio of Fine Arts at 10:51am.

Winnipeg

We’ve got a new site in Winnipeg! On June 17, Jon saw a swift enter the chimney at Billy Mosienko Lanes (1136 Main St) at 6:43pm. This site wasn’t previously in our database. Nice one, Jon!

Frank monitored 223 Archibald (priority site) on June 15. He saw one entry at 8:50pm! Frank also monitored the Transcona College (another priority site) on June 17, and saw 1 entry at 8:50pm, 1 exit at 9:10pm and 1 exit at 9:33pm.  Woohoo, that’s 2 priority sites confirmed! Nice one, Frank! 

Blair monitored 1310 Archibald on June 12 and saw 1 entry at 9:04pm just as he was arriving. He suspects the other swift may have entered before he arrived. Blair monitored Fernwood Apartments (314 St Annes) on June 16 and saw 1 exit at 9:17pm, and 2 entries at 9:45pm. On June 18, Blair monitored 325 Talbot from 9:55-10:40am and saw up to 5 swifts flying overhead, and 1 entry at 10:31am.

Cam monitored multiple sites across Winnipeg on June 13 during the day. He watched the Cambridge Hotel 8:23-9:10am and did not see any swift activity. Cam then watched 411 Stradbrook Ave from 9:22-10:07am and saw up to 4 swifts foraging low overhead but no entries or exits. Next, he watched 280 River Ave from 10:21am-11:06am and saw 3 swifts overhead but no entries or exits. Cam watched 834 Grosvenor Ave (a priority site) from 11:49-12:00am and saw 1 entry/exit at 11:51am, and 1 entry at 11:55am – woohoo, priority site confirmed! He then watched the 465A Lanark and 465D Lanark from 12:26-1:11pm and though there were 3 CHSW foraging low in the sky, there were no entries or edits.

Breanne has been regularly monitoring the Maryland Foodfare chimney (as she does every year). On May 29, she saw 1 exit at 8:56pm and 2 entries at 9:23pm. On June 6, she saw 1 entry at 8:50pm, 1 exit at 9:01pm, and 2 entries around 9:30pm. On June 13, she saw 1 entry at 8:55pm, and 1 entry at 9:22pm.

John monitored the CMU chimney on June 14 from 2:13-3:13pm during the daytime and saw 1 exit at 2:36pm. Walker and Richard monitored the CMU chimney on June 16 and saw 2 entries at 9:39pm.

On June 18, Evan set out to monitor the private residence on Kylemore. While there was no swift activity at that chimney, Evan did see 2 swifts enter the chimney on the west side of the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre.

Rudolf monitored the Curtis Hotel on June 18 and saw 3 swifts enter the chimney during the roosting hour.

Jo and Betsy monitored the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower on June 19 during the roosting hour, and they did not see any swift activity at the tower – very unusual for this site!

Amy M. (program assistant) has been monitoring a variety of sites around the city. On June 13, she checked out the McBeth House and saw 1 entry into the north chimney around 11am. She then monitored the Kildonan United Church on Kilbride Ave and while she saw 8 swifts flying near to the chimney, she didn’t see any entries or exits. She returned to this site during the roosting hour on June 18, but saw no entries or exits (though the rain may be a factor).

That wraps up our monitoring recap. Thanks for reading!  

Priority site list (updated June 20):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence	demolished
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments	Cam T.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate	Frank M.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Thanks!

-Marissa

Hello!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey Protocol (NRMP) this year. The fourth and final night of NRMP was on June 2 – we will go into what was seen chimney-side in our monitoring recap below.

Our next scheduled monitoring date is on Wednesday, June 18. The goal of these monthly monitoring blitzes is to monitor as many chimneys and towers as possible, to get a snapshot of what is happening at different sites throughout the province. You can choose to monitor during the day or during the roosting hour – or both! Whatever works best for you.

Consistent daytime entries and exits are already being observed at some nesting sites, while some sites are still being used primarily during the roosting hour. As we move into further into June (and the swifts continue to build their nests and begin incubating), daytime activity should become more and more consistent.

If you are interested in checking out a new site, please take a look through our priority site list (we include an updated list at the end of each blog post). Alternatively, there are many many sites in our database and they are not all checked regularly. If you see a site in the database that you are interested in checking out, it would be great to know if they are currently being used by swifts!

Quick note: we don’t include the house numbers for private residences on the website, but if there is a private residence you are interested in monitoring, please send us an email.

The monitoring results from 2021-2024 which includes the site list can be found here: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/2024_2021_database.pdf

Monitoring recap

Dauphin

Ken watched the Malcolm Block building (the main roost site in Dauphin) on June 3, and saw 19 swifts entered the chimney.

Dominion City

We’ve gotten word from Dave in Dominion City that the swifts have returned to his chimney on Coulter St. He’s seen at least 1 swift enter his chimney and has seen up to 4 swifts flying around, so there may be some more sites here! Exciting.

La Broquerie

Frank watched the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie and saw lots of activity! At the large chimney, there were 6 entries and 1 exits for a total of 5 swifts roosting in the chimney. At the small chimney, 1 swift entered during the roosting hour.

Lockport

On June 5, Gerald monitored the St. Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound. At the south chimney, he saw 2 entries at 9:24pm. At the north chimney, he saw 1 exit at 8:39pm, 1 entry at 9:21pm, 1 exit at 9:29pm, and 1 entry at 9:30pm. Great to see that there is activity at both chimneys now, including a daytime exit in the north chimney indicating that nest building is likely underway!

Lower Fort Garry

On June 2, Gerald watched the Fur Loft and the Men’s House chimneys at Lower Fort Garry. At the Fur Loft, he saw 2 entries around 8:35pm, 2 exits at 8:44pm, and 2 entries around 9:11pm (2 swifts roosting in the chimney). At the Men’s House, he saw 1 exit at 8:36pm, 1 entry at 8:47pm, 1 entry at 8:39pm, 1 exit at 8:51pm, and 2 entries around 9:08pm (3 swifts roosting in the chimney).

Morden

Marvin, Evelyn and Marty watched Lucky’s Chinese Restaurant and the Pembina Hills Arts Centre on June 2. They only saw 2 swifts during the monitoring session, which appeared and flew straight towards the chimney. They saw 1 entry at Lucky’s and did not see the other swift fly into the chimney, so it’s unclear where the other swift went. There were no entries at the Arts Centre.

Otterburne

Brett watched the 3 chimneys at Providence College. At the “large chimney” (site 551), he saw 1 exit at 8:56pm. At the “skinny chimney” (site 552), he saw 2 entries around sunset time.

Portage la Prairie

Gordon monitored the Trinity United Church on June 4. At the south chimney, he saw 1 exit at 9:08pm, 1 entry at 9:52pm, and 1 entry at 10:04pm.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Luc monitored the church on June 2 and saw 5 entries and 1 exit during the roosting hour, with a final count of 4 swifts in the chimney.

Selkirk

There has been a LOT of swift activity at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre so far this year, much of which has been difficult to interpret. It will be very interesting to see what unfolds this season at each of the 4 towers and 2 chimneys!

On NRMP Night 4 (June 2), Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04. At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 2 entries at 9:20pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, 3 entries at 9:38pm, 2 exits and 1 entry around 9:42pm, and 4 entries from 9:47pm-9:52pm (5 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T04, they saw 1 entry at 9:19pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, and 2 entries at 9:42pm (2 swifts roosting in the chimney). Dennis and Patti monitored the Infirmary chimney and T03. At the Infirmary, Patti and Dennis saw 2 entries at 8:53pm, 2 exits at 9:05pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 1 exit at 9:39pm, and 2 entries at 9:40pm (2 swifts roosting in the chimney). At T03, there were 29 entries and 12 exits between 8:59pm and 9:55pm! There were up to 21 swifts in the tower at once, and 17 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting tower. Fred and Nettie watched T01 and saw 3 entries at 8:15pm, 1 exit at 8:16pm, 1 exit at 8:19pm, 1 entry at 8:33pm, 1 exit at 8:41pm, 1 entry at 8:55pm, 1 exit at 9:01pm, and 5 more entries spread out between 9:12pm-9:47pm (6 swifts roosting in the tower). Lisa and Monty watched T02 and saw 5 entries between 9:03pm-9:57pm (5 swifts roosting in the tower). 

Tim and Amy H. monitored at SMHC on June 3 during the daytime. They saw no activity at T01, T02 and T04. At T03, there was 1 entry at 10:38am and 1 exit at 10:42am. 

On June 8, Lisa and Monty watched T02 and saw 5 entries between 9:25pm and 10:02pm.  Dennis and Pattie watched T03 and the Infirmary chimney. At the Infirmary, they saw 2 entries around 9:38pm, 1 entry at 9:50pm, 2 exits at 9:51pm, 1 entry at 9:57pm, 1 exit at 9:58pm, 3 entries at 10:00pm, and 1 exit at 10:03pm. That’s up to 4 swifts in the chimney at once, but only 3 in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour. At T03, there was even more activity! From 9:08pm to a little past 10pm, there were 17 entries and 9 exits, with up to 9 swifts in the tower at once but only 8 swifts in at the end of the roosting hour. It is possible that more swifts may have entered these sites after dark. A late night for the swifts!

St. Adolphe

Barb has been keeping a close eye on the sites in St Adolphe. As of June 8, all 5 nesting sites were occupied, with the breeding pairs in nest building mode. Great news!  

St. Norbert

Blaire monitored the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation on May 29 and June 2. On May 29, she saw 2 entries at 9:07pm. On June 2, she observed 2 entries at 9:29pm.

Winnipeg

Chantel and Evan monitored 424 River on June 2 (NRMP Night 4) and saw 160 swifts enter the chimney during the roosting hour.

Amy M. watched the Moorgate on June 2 and saw 4 entries during the roosting hour.

Cain monitored the Fleetwood Apts and the Lothian Block (154 Evanson St) on June 2 and saw no entries at either site.

Cam monitored the Assiniboine School on June 3 and though he saw 6 swifts overhead, only 1 swift entered the chimney during the roosting hour.

Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower on June 2 and saw 2 exits at 9:07pm, 1 entry at 9:16pm, and 1 entry at 9:19pm.

John watched the chimney at CMU on June 2 and while he saw up to 3 swifts overhead, he only saw 1 entry at 9:19pm. He mentions that he was interrupted several times by people who had questions, so it was difficult to concentrate on the swift counting and may have missed a couple entries. Graham and Tyler monitored this chimney on June 10 and saw 4 entries between 9:14pm-9:55pm.

Blair has been busy monitoring different sites in St-Boniface. He started NRMP Night 4 off with a quick stop at Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) during which he saw 2 entries at 9:07pm. He then headed to the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (340 Provencher Blvd) for the remainder of the roosting hour. While he saw 2 swifts flying in the area, he did not see any entries or exits at this site.

On June 1, Blair spent 15 minutes at 690 St Joseph St and saw 3 entries.  On June 3, Blair watched Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (188 St Mary’s Rd) and saw 1 exit at 9:18pm followed by 2 exits at 9:21pm. On June 10, Blair monitored Eurocraft Office Furnishings (847 Marion St) and saw no activity. He also watched the Fire Hall (864 Marion St) and saw 1 entry at 9:08pm. On June 11, Blair monitored The Riverside (531 St Mary’s Rd) and saw 2 entries around 9:12pm.

Garry monitored 722 Watt St on June 4. Though he had previously observed 5 swifts flying around the chimney on a few occasions in May, only 2 swifts were seen entering the chimney for the night on June 4.

On June 4, Gwen monitored the Curtis Hotel on Henderson Hwy and saw 2 entries around 9:33pm.

On June 4, Marilyn and Pam monitored 780 Elizabeth Road (Arundel Apartments) which is on our priority site list. They saw 2 entries at 9:26pm – woohoo, priority site = confirmed!

Marilyn and Pam also monitored another priority site, 865 Tache Ave (Civic Roofing), on May 21 but did not see any activity. On June 11, Marilyn and Pam monitored St Mary’s Road United Church and saw 2 exits at 8:45pm, and 2 entries at 9:41pm. This site hasn’t had confirmed swifts in a few years, so it’s great to know they are back.

That’s all for now. Thanks everyone!

Priority site list (June 12):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Ave W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd St S	Private residence
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments	Marilyn B. & Pam L.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

Monitoring Recap: NRMP Night 3 & More

Hello!

It’s officially June, and the swift numbers finally seem to be increasing in many parts of the province! Thanks for sending in your reports. Keep reading for this past week’s monitoring recap, including results from NRMP Night 3 which was on May 29.

As we gear up for NRMP Night 4 happening tonight, please remember that your health and safety is always the number one priority. As wildfires continue to burn throughout the province, there is a lot of smoke, and many regions are under air quality warnings. There is never an obligation to monitor – please do what you are comfortable with, and stay indoors if that is best for you. 

Brandon

Louanne, Sandy and Glennis were surprised and pleased to see at least 4 swifts in the downtown skies on May 28. They did not see any entries or exits into the Orange Block. Where are they roosting?! The Brandon mystery continues.

Dauphin

On May 29, Pat, Ken and Jan monitored the Watson Arts Centre, the Old Scott’s Hardware building, and the Hong Kong Café. The Hong Kong Café had 2 entries, Old Scott’s Hardware had 1 entry, and there were no entries into the Watson Arts Centre. They note that it has been quite smoky, which may be impacting the swift numbers.

La Broquerie

Frank monitored the St Joachim Church on May 29 and saw 4 entries into the large chimney and no entries into the small chimney.

Lockport

Gerald monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on May 27. He saw 2 entries into the north chimney (one at 8:34pm and one at 9:32pm).

Morden

Marvin and Evelyn monitored in Morden on May 31. They saw 4 swifts fly by at 9:11pm, and 1 entry into Lucky’s Chinese Restaurant at 9:27pm.

Otterburne

Brett monitored the three chimneys at Providence College on May 25 (NRMP Night 2). At the “large chimney” (site 551), he saw 2 entries at 8:48pm, and 3 entries at 9:20pm for a total of 5 swifts roosting in the chimney. At the “skinny chimney” (site 552), he saw 1 entry at 8:50pm, and 2 entries at 9:30pm for a total of 3 swifts roosting in the chimney.

On May 29, Brett monitored from 8pm-10pm. At the “large chimney » (site 551) he saw 1 entry at 8:03pm and 2 entries at 9:23pm. At the “skinny chimney” (site 552), he saw 1 entry at 8:08pm, 2 entries at 8:45pm, 1 entry at 9:12pm, and 1 entry at 9:47pm. That’s 3 swifts roosting in the large chimney and 3 swifts roosting in the skinny chimney – a switcheroo compared to May 29.

Portage la Prairie

On May 28, Gordon and Jana watched the National Indigenous Residential School Museum (formerly the Rufus Prince Building) which has 3 chimneys. There was 1 entry into the south chimney at 9:06pm. The rest of the action was all at the middle chimney. They saw 2 early entries at 8:56pm, 2 entries at 9:41pm, 3 entries followed by 2 exits around 9:50pm, and 4 entries at 9:56pm. That’s a final roosting count of 1 swift in the south chimney and 9 swifts in the middle chimney.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

On May 26, Luc monitored École régionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste which is one of our priority sites. He saw up to 8 swifts flying overhead and eventually saw 1 swift enter the chimney at 9:30pm. This marks our first confirmed priority site for 2025! We can now cross this site from our priority list. Woohoo, merci Luc!

On May 28, Luc monitored the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church. He saw 9 swifts enter the chimney, spread out between 9:03pm-9:47pm.

Selkirk

On May 29, Gerald watched the Merchant’s Hotel and did not see any activity. Winona returned to this site on May 31 and saw 1 entry at 8:50pm and 1 entry at 9:19pm. Winona also watched 367 Main St on May 30 and saw 2 entries during the roosting hour.

Night 3 of NRMP at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre was a busy one! Dennis and Pattie watched the Infirmary chimney and saw 2 exits at 8:49pm, 5 entries from 9:17pm-9:31pm, and 1 exit at 9:32pm (4 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At 9:34pm, there were still about 20 swifts flying overhead. Denis and Pattie also watched T03 along with Fred and Nettie, where there was a lot of activity – 1 entry at 8:51pm, 2 entries at 9:03pm, 2 exits at 9:08pm, 2 entries at 9:17pm, 1 exit at 9:23pm, 2 entries at 9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:32pm, 3 entries at 9:38pm, and 1 exit at 9:49pm (up to 6 swifts in the tower, but only 5 inside at the end of the roosting hour). Lisa and Monty watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 8:39pm, 1 entry at 9:19pm, and 1 entry at 9:42pm.  Linda watched T04 and saw 2 entries around 9:14pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 2 entries at 9:36pm, and 1 exit at 9:54pm (2 swifts in the tower at the end of the roosting hour). Winona watched T01 and saw 2 entries at 9:30pm.

Many volunteers noted that they continued to hear swifts around the end of the roosting hour, so it is likely that there were more entries into some of these sites after dark.

Winnipeg

Jo and Betsy have been monitoring the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower. On both May 21 and May 25, 2 swifts entered the tower during the roosting hour. On May 29, they saw 1 swift enter the tower (though they note that they may have missed a second entry).

Nicole and Cain monitored the Fleetwood Apartments (on Lenore St) and the Lothian Block Apartments (on Evanson St) on May 24. They saw 1 entry into the Fleetwood at 9:40pm, and no activity at the Lothian Block.  They watched both these sites again on May 29. This time, Nicole saw no entries at the Fleetwood, but Cain did see 2 entries at the Lothian Block at 9:07pm.

John watched the Moorgate Apartments at 2187 Portage Ave and there was lots of activity. While arriving but before officially starting to monitor, he noticed 2 entries and an exit. He saw 7 entries between 8:56pm-9:29pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, and 1 entry at 9:30pm

Meredith monitored the Chief Peguis School on May n25 and May 29, and saw no swift activity on both nights.

Barbara, Phil and Evan watched 424 River on May 29. They counted 144 entries, the majority of which happened between 9:27pm-9:30pm. 

Amy monitored the three chimneys at the McBeth House on May 29, and saw 3 entries into the north chimney (A). The other 2 chimneys are on the priority list.

Richard and Walker monitored the chimney at the Canadian Mennonite University on May 29 and saw 3 entries.

Thank you to all our volunteers!!!

Priority site list (June 2):

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name	Observer
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Morden	–		Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Street W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd Street S	Private residence
Saint-Jean- Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste	Luc B.
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Cheers,

Marissa

The monitoring season is officially in full swing!

Overall, it seems that the swifts have been slow to arrive at most sites. Based on many reports from across the province, the counts so far seem lower than usual for this time of year. It will be interesting to see what the swift numbers are on NRMP Nights 3 and 4 (Thursday May 29 and Monday June 2).

We’ll now launch into a recap of what’s been seen chimney-side this past week, including NRMP Nights 1 and 2. Thank you to all you incredible volunteers for participating! We’re still waiting to receive the results from a few sites – friendly reminder to send in your monitoring reports by email to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com if you haven’t done so yet!

Dauphin

On May 21, Ken and Jan monitored the main roost and saw a group of 5 swifts enter the chimney, followed by a group of 7 swifts enter the chimney (total roost count of 12 swifts). Pat monitored the Hong Kong Café, and saw no activity until 1 swift appeared and entered the chimney around sunset. On May 25, Ken and Jan monitored the Watson Arts Centre and the Old Scott’s Hardware chimney and saw no swift activity at both locations.

La Broquerie

Frank monitored the church in La Broquerie on May 25 and saw 1 entry into the large chimney, and 2 entries into the small chimney.  

Lockport

Gerald monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound in Lockport on May 19, and saw 2 entries into the north chimney at 9:08pm, followed by 2 entries at 9:15pm, followed by 1 exit at 9:15pm and 1 exit at 9:19pm. Maybe the last 2 swifts were kicked out by the first 2 swifts who may be establishing that chimney as their nest site.

Lower Fort Garry

On May 25, Gerald monitored at Lower Fort Garry. At the Men’s House, he saw 2 entries at 9:05pm. At the Fur Loft, he saw 1 entry at 9:11pm and 1 entry at 9:28pm.

Morden

Marvin monitored the Pembina Hills Art Centre on May 21 and saw no swift activity.

Otterburne

 Amy H. monitored the 3 chimneys at Providence College in Otterburne. She saw up to 13 swifts in the air at once. At the “skinny chimney” (site 552), she saw a total of 6 swifts enter the chimney, while at the “large chimney” (site 551), she saw 3 swifts enter the chimney. No activity was seen at the chimney near the bell tower (site 550). 

Portage la Prairie

Jana monitored the Trinity United Church in Portage la Prairie on May 21 and did not see any entries or exits. She did see one swift overhead 9:27pm and another one at 9:39pm.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

On May 20, Luc monitored the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and saw 4 entries between  9:11pm to 9:17pm. On May 25, Luc saw up to 9 swifts in the area during his monitoring session. He saw 6 of these swifts enter the chimney between 9:21pm-9:46pm. 

Selkirk

On May 21 at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMHC), Gerald watched T01 and the Infirmary and saw no entries or exits at either site. At T02, Gerald saw 1 entry at 8:39pm, 1 exit at 8:43pm, and 2 entries from 9:12pm-9:16pm. At T03, Gerald saw 1 entry at 9:14pm. Nia watched the Yellow brick chimney and saw 2 entries at 9:14pm. Linda watched T04 and saw 2 entries at 9:13pm.

On May 25 at the SMHC, Fred and Nettie watched T01 and saw 3 entries at 9:21pm. Lisa and Monty watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 9:30pm and 1 entry at 9:40pm. Linda watched T04 and did not see any entries or exits. Linda also watched the Yellow Brick chimney and saw quite a bit of activity – 2 entries followed by 1 exit at 8:22pm, 1 entry at 8:24pm, 1 entry followed by 1 exit at 8:43pm, 1 entry at 9:07pm, 2 entries at 9:39pm and 1 entry at 9:47pm. That’s a total of 6 swifts in the chimney.

Dennis and Patti watched the Infirmary chimney and T03. At the Infirmary chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:25pm, 1 exit at 9:27pm, 1 entry at 9:28pm, 1 exit at 9:30pm, 1 exit at 9:32pm, 1 exit at 9:37pm, 1 entry at 9:50pm, and 1 exit at 9:52pm (that’s 3 swifts confirmed inside the chimney, but 0 left inside the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At T03, they saw 3 entries between 9:24pm-9:33pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:43pm, and 1 exit at 9:43pm (up to 3 swifts inside the chimney, but only 2 at the end of the roosting hour).

Winona watched the Merchant’s Hotel in Selkirk on May 22 and saw 2 entries at 9:04pm.

On May 25, Winona watched the apartment at 367 Main St and saw 1 entry at 8:59pm, 1 exit at 9:11pm, and 2 final entries at 9:20pm (2 swifts in the chimney).

St. Norbert

On May 25, Blaire monitored the Behavioural Health Foundation and saw 1 entry at 9:11pm. 

The Pas

Joel saw the first 2 swifts of the year in The Pas on May 21 at 10:02pm. Joel pointed out that this is the earliest he has ever noticed them in The Pas by at least 2 weeks.

Winnipeg

On May 19, Gwen monitored 139 Market Ave in Winnipeg and saw 2 swifts enter at 9:19pm.John watched the Canadian Mennonite University chimney on both NRMP nights. On May 21, he saw 4 entries into the chimney between 9:11pm-9:18pm. On May 25, he observed 3 entries between 9:31pm-9:37pm.On May 21, Cam, Jonathan and Chantel watched 424 River Ave and saw 44 entries. On May 25, Cam saw 61 entries at 424 River. On May 21, Nicole monitored the Fleetwood Apartments and saw up to 6 in the air and 2 entries at 9:12pm. On May 26, Amy H. monitored the Old Grace Housing Co-op and saw up to 4 swifts flying overhead, but did not see any entries or exits into the chimney.

That’s it for this week’s monitoring recap. Looking forward to NRMP Nights 3 & 4!

Here’s the priority site list – no sites have been confirmed yet. We will continue to update this list throughout the summer, to reflect when a site has been “checked off” the list (when swift use has been confirmed).

Priority site list (May 27)

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site name
Carman	–	2nd St	Private residence
Dauphin	–	404 1st St. SW	St. Paul’s Anglican Church
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Avenue	St John’s Anglican Church/Eriksdale Museum
Melita	–	Veteran’s Way	Private residence
Morden	–		Private residence
Pilot Mound	–	Railway St	Private residence
Souris	–	5th Street W	Private residence
Souris	–	2nd Street S	Private residence
St Jean Baptiste	–	113 2nd Ave SW	Ecole Regionale Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Stonewall	–	336 Main St	Prairie Zen Massage
Swan River	–	518 Main Street	Commercial building
The Pas	–	627 Cathedral Ave	Cathedral Apartments
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Drive	Dragonfly Delights Team Room
Winnipeg	Charleswood/Tuxedo/Westwood	Park Boulevard N	Private residence
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	71 Kennedy St	Scarsdale Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide Street	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert Street	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Daniel McIntyre	Canora St	Private residence
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Highway	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn Street	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Avenue	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Avenue	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Avenue	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge/East Fort Garry	Balmoral St	Private residence
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Drive	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	Point Douglas	442 William Avenue	Filcasa Housing Coop
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	394 Academy Road	Academy Uptown Lanes
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Dorchester Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	River Heights/Fort Garry	Kylemore Ave	Private residence
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Road	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	223 Archibald Street	Archibald Storage, large chimney
Winnipeg	St Boniface	865 Tache Ave.	Civic Roofing
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Avenue	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Avenue	Foodfare, St James
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Avenue	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	St Vital	185 Fernwood Ave	St Vital – Niakwa Manor
Winnipeg	Transcona	1305 Winona Street	Transcona Collegiate
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral Street	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	187 Kilbride Avenue	Kildonan United Church
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (B) East chimney (centre)
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (C) South chimney (right)

Thanks!

Marissa