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
