END OF AUGUST – START OF SEPTEMBER BLOG: THE END OF OUR CHIMNEY SWIFT SEASON IS THE START OF NEW BEGINNINGS
The end of the 2022 Chimney Swift monitoring season in Manitoba has arrived. MCSI sends out a BIG shoutout of thanks to everyone who participated in various activities this year. Citizen scientists form the all-important base which we build upon. Your monitoring data informs us about roosting activities and breeding behaviour. You help us identify Chimney Swift habitat, so that protection and restoration can take place. By alerting us to emergency situations, we can respond with appropriate rescue action (that duck falling through a nest site will be a memorable highlight for years to come!).
Good news landed this week from Gerald and Jo who were tracking the Men’s House nest site at Lower Fort Garry. Bundling all of their monitoring reports together gives us the indication that fledglings are on the wing! As usual, there were head scratching moments to figure out. Lucky for us that a cleanout trap at the Men’s House chimney should hold the secrets to verify the breeding outcome in this last-to-fledge site.
Chimney Swift shenanigans appear to be experienced by many of us (dare I say universally?). In her Aug. 23rd report, Winnie Wake recounts a “turnaround analysis” for one of the London, ON, nest sites. Tim, you’re not the only person to have a forehead cleft from dealing with these birds! Here’s what Winnie wrote:
“FSA-SE is a particularly happy surprise. Considered done-for-the-season as a nest chimney a few weeks ago, it has come back to life, with a second nesting attempt! On Aug 16, the report of 7 paired in/outs in 40 mins was interpreted as neighbouring young swifts practising chimney entries. Extra visits (Aug 18, 19 & 20), deeper digging, and photos by Glenn Berry revealed otherwise. Seems that frenzy of ins and outs was carried out by strong fliers and coincided with a very high density of insects flying low around FSA. Parent swifts (photos showed jagged wing edges and bulging throats) were right on the job, grabbing food out of the air and shuttling it into the chimney at top speed. On Aug 23, at least one food delivery was noted and 2 more were observed the next morning. Yet, somehow the wily parents at FSA-SE eluded being counted as in-for-the-night on Aug 23 (perhaps not surprising since their second nest evaded detection during the entire incubation stage!).”
Lastly, but far from least, it is time to extend a warm and hearty greeting to Marissa Berard, our new MCSI Coordinator! Tanshi! Bienvenue! Bienvenidas!
You may have noticed that the MCSI auto-reply to emails changed recently. Marissa will be working 1 day a week now during her transition to fulltime status in early October. After the long weekend, Marissa will reach out and introduce herself to you all.
Thanks again for making the 2022 season such a success. We all look forward to working with Marissa to plan for 2023 – see you at the chimney sites next spring!
- Barb, for the MCSI Steering Committee.
