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CHIMNEY SWIFT NESTING OUTCOMES IN ST ADOLPHE, MB, 2025

~ The Smokie Skies and Stealthy Swifts on the Fly Edition ~

Prepared by Barb Stewart

The annual monitoring report from St Adolphe is taking on new dimensions this year. It was a summer of record-breaking weather and record-breaking swift activity. Here is a summary of the St Adolphe Chimney Swifts’ remarkable breeding season.

RECORD-BREAKING WEATHER – WILDFIRE SMOKE AND HEAT. In the summer of 2025, records for wildfire smoke reducing air quality and scorching heat were shattered (e.g., https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-wildfire-smoke-record-environment-canada-1.7600812 ; https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-weather-may-heat-record-1.7533172 ). Those conditions impacted Chimney Swifts and their monitors. Here’s a note from a July 29 monitoring sheet: “Air Quality = 10+; the smoke is thick and on the deck; have not see swifts in the air from the Club or at the Church area; have only seen the birds associated with events in and out of the SE Club chimney.” Typical Chimney Swift activity patterns were altered during wildfire smoke and heat events. Often, adult swifts were not seen feeding or socializing locally and they were feeding their young less frequently than expected. A one-hour shift normally would include several feeding exchanges for non-brooded juveniles and that wasn’t always happening. Using conventional standards for monitoring did not capture the real situation that was unfolding inside the chimney. Under these circumstances, more frequent and lengthier monitoring sessions may be advantageous, but it is also a challenge for monitors to be subjected to wildfire smoke and heat.

RECORD-BREAKING SWIFT ACTIVITY. On July 29, 2025 at 10:37 AM, I was moving from the Club Amical to the Church. As noted above, thick, irritating wildfire smoke hung low. It had been a difficult morning for swift monitors and swifts trying to feed. While heading east on the driveway leading to The Tower, which is situated in the Paroisse St Adolphe Parish Church field, an adult swift was seen to fly over The Tower, circle to the east, return low over the rim and drop in. WOW! At 10:54 AM, another swift buzzed the rim as it flew south. Then a similar unhesitant flare ‘n’ drop adult entry occurred at 10:55 AM. Importantly, 2 adults left together ~1 minute later. The swifts were able to safely exit The Tower. I’M GOBSMACKED! The first observations of Chimney Swifts using one of the five MCSI-built original style 12’ towers had been made. After 17 years, without any observations of 12’ tower use, why did those swifts decide that The Tower was now an attractive site? And just where did they arrive from?

Stealthy Swifts were in action so it was time to get eyes focussed on the rim! Tim Poole followed up with a daytime observation on August 10, then Barb Stewart and Frank Machovec & Jacquie Machovec carried on with daytime observations. Lewis Cocks and Frank monitored on the evening of August 12 and noted 3 swifts using The Tower during the daytime preceding the roosting hour when 6 adults entered for the night. Tim and Linnea Poole monitored during the evening of August 16 and likely observed 2 fledglings using The Tower; 5 swifts roosted.

See MCSI Blogs: “An Update and A Surprise!”, Aug. 4; “Early August Recap”, Aug. 11; “Mid-August Updates”, Aug. 18; “End of August Recap”, Aug. 25.

( https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/news-and-posts/ )

The fledgling plot thickened on September 17 when the St Adolphe ground crew assembled to observe contents inside The Tower. Physical evidence confirmed Chimney Swift use of The Tower. An entire nest had dropped to The Tower floor in the northwest corner; dark ½ egg shells equivalent to 4-5 hatched eggs were seen in that location. Moreover, there was an intact nest attached to the south wall of The Tower ~ below it was evidence of a more recent nesting attempt = whiter eggs: 1 unhatched and 2 hatched. No carcasses were seen. Chimney Swifts had successfully used The Tower as a nest site in both 2024 and 2025!

BACKING UP TO 2024 FOR A POSSIBLE PIVOT POINT. Maybe the arrival of The Swarm of from-away swifts at the Church in July 2024 was pivotal in the colonization of The Tower that year. Perhaps a variation of a Kansas City Shuffle was playing out = the swifts had us looking at the novel Church activity while some real stealth action was happening behind our backs at The Tower!

To refresh your memory, here is an excerpt from Marissa’s July 26, 2024 blog

( https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/2024/07/ ):

“However, there was a noticeable change in swift numbers in St Adolphe on July 19. While monitoring the Church site, Barb saw a group of about 16-17 swifts which is a higher count than has been accounted for this year. She has dubbed this group of swifts “The Swarm”. She knows they are adults (and not fledglings from the local nest sites) because of the easy-to-see moulting happening in the wings. She describes “big gaps in the trailing wing margin plus very frayed wing tips”. It’s the time of year when adult swifts are replacing their feathers, while fledglings will have brand new feathers that aren’t yet in need of replacing.

This new influx of adults must be a “pre-migratory grouping” – swifts that have arrived into St. Adolphe, on their way out of the breeding grounds and towards their wintering grounds down south. This pre-migratory grouping is noteworthy because of how early it is – the local nest site has not even fledged yet. Very interesting!

“The Swarm” brought some drama. On July 20, Barb was monitoring the Church and saw some typical feeding exchanges and the usual count of 3 swifts entering and exiting (breeding pair + helper). However, “The Swarm” then arrived, with a lot of low-level flyovers and “peer ‘n’ veers” at the chimney. They then began entering the chimney! She saw 12 consecutive entries within 90 seconds. Over the next 8 minutes, she counted 19 consecutive exits. This mass use of a chimney with an ongoing breeding attempt, by non-breeding swifts during the daytime, is an unprecedented observation for Barb and was certainly worrying – how might this impact the breeding pair + helper + young that have yet to fledge? A monitoring session on Sunday with a lack of typical feeding patterns led Barb to fear a nest failure.  

On July 24, Barb completed 3 monitoring sessions to try and understand what was happening here. Here is her executive summary:

“Session 1 – 05:20 to 7:20 AM: three birds were accounted for; max seen was 2 exiting the Church chimney together; the activity pattern included three consecutive entries and three consecutive exits, suggesting that the breeding pair and helper were onsite feeding. Some juveniles have survived.

Session 2 – 10:20 to 12:00 noon: The Swarm was active – 13+ swifts were accounted for; Drop ‘n’ veer, tilt ‘n’ veer flyovers etc. telegraphed interest with something(s) inside the chimney; small groups of 3-4 dropped into the chimney from the swarm and exited into the swarm. Single entry/exits took place = likely feeding events but the swarm activity tends to mask this.

Session 3 – 8:36-8:52 PM (daytime) then 8:52-9:52 PM (roosting hour; sunset 9:22 PM): single entry/exits during the daytime. Roosting entries began at 9 PM – the total for the night =14! Rob was instrumental in doing sky counts as I did rim watching…our “swifts in + sky counts” totalled 14 during the roosting hour, so we feel confident all the birds flying about roosted in the Church.”.

And a summary of swift count timeline: “The baseline count in St A was 12 before the influx of from-away birds on July 19th; the peak count was 19 last weekend; yesterday the max count was 14, so 5 swifts have shuffled along. There are at least 3 ST A birds still in town = breeding pair and helper. The other 11 could be some combo of St A swifts + from-aways.” This situation is fascinating and unprecedented…”

THE TOWER HISTORY. The original St Adolphe tower was completed by mason Tony Smith on June 7, 2008. Situated at the Old Ferry Site (RM of Ritchot property due north of the Main St home then owned by Arthur & Suzanne Leclerc), the open topped, cinder block 12’ tower was made using Kyle & Kyle specifications. This design is used very successfully by swifts in the southern US (see link to the Kyle’s book in https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/chimney-swift-towers/). No interest was paid to the tower by the St Adolphe Chimney Swifts. Investigations showed the tower had poor thermal stability and was soaked internally by heavy rains, so it seemed unsuitable as a Manitoba nest site. The tower base started to sink in one corner and it was discovered to have been put over an old drainage conduit that was used historically to drain wastewater from the Church and adjacent Convent to the Red River. Bob Stefaniuk, then Reeve of the RM of Ritchot, sponsored the lifting and relocation of the tower in 2010. A first attempt to move the tower, made by Dan Ross on October 18, resulted in the deflation of a very expensive tire on the John Deere TC44H wheel loader. A new tire supported the next fork lift attempt on October 20. Paul Dumont, aided by Louis Rouire, picked up the tower and gingerly drove it across the road. The new site at the Church field, owned by the Paroisse St Adolphe Parish, was chosen by parishioners Hubert Brodeur and Auguste Lagasse. Parishioner Leon Verhaeghe assisted with preparing/leveling the pad and constructing the retaining wall. Mason Bill Anderson, and assistant Randy, added a new brick exterior to the tower November 3-6, 2010 with the goal to improve thermal stability. A sun/rain shield (made to Kyle specifications) and redesigned cleanout trap panels to improve air flow were built by Rob Stewart and installed on May 26, 2011 by Auguste Lagasse, Frank Machovec, Jacquie Machovec, Barb Stewart, Rob Stewart, Ryan Stewart and Leon Verhaeghe (see “Renovations at Swift Tower”, May 29, 2011; https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/2011/05/). The final landscaping and signage installations were supported by Blue Grass Sod Producers, Sage Garden and the Lady Gray’l Trust. For many years, Chimney Swifts continued to snub use of the upgraded tower although follow-the-leader style flyovers were seen annually, especially in late June when non-resident birds moved through St Adolphe.

LONG TERM MONITORING OF FIVE NEST SITES IN ST ADOLPHE. Behaviour observations of Chimney Swifts using five nest sites in four historical St Adolphe buildings were made for the 19^th consecutive year (see summary below). In 2025, all sites were occupied and breeding pairs moved through nest building, egg laying, incubation, and hatching stages. Unfortunately, nest failures began in early July and by mid-month nests of brooded juveniles were lost at the Church, NE Club Amical, and Brodeur Bros./Daycare. Fortunately, the breeding pair at the SE Club Amical nest site prevailed, assisted by a helper, and 2 fledglings took their first flights outside the chimney August 11. Good news continued with the Main St nesting attempt appearing successful based on cleanout trap evidence.

The 2025 Church nesting attempt had failed before 6 swifts “from away” arrived in St Adolphe on July 20 and were seen using the Church during the daytime. That was similar timing of new arrivals to St Adolphe in 2024 (The Swarm mentioned above).

From Marissa’s July 21, 2025 blog: “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/)”

WHAT’S NEXT? The last swift seen in St Adolphe this year was a bird exiting from The Tower on the morning of August 21. The last known Manitoba swifts, a late-breeding pair, left Selkirk in mid-September. Our swifts winter in the Amazon Basin and begin to migrate north in early March. Crossing the Gulf of Mexico, the birds arrive in the southern US – Texas to Florida – then continue north as they distribute themselves through the summer breeding range. We can look forward to hearing the characteristic chittering of Chimney Swifts in early to mid-May as they race about St Adolphe skies.

New trends need investigating. The colonization of The Tower and shifting dynamics of premigratory swifts arriving in the third week of July are noteworthy. Departure dates at the end of the season vary between years (Stewart and Stewart 2023; https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/bluejay_winter2023.pdf ). For the 2014-2022 breeding seasons, unsuccessful and successful Chimney Swifts typically left St Adolphe on August 2 and August 14 respectively. This was 5-6 days earlier compared to the 2007-2013 breeding seasons when unsuccessful and successful Chimney Swifts typically departed on August 7 and August 20 respectively. This year, later fledging in mid-August (nominally August 11-16) was the trend, so a large number of swifts were flying about much later in the season once more. Clearly, Chimney Swifts have some capacity to adapt to ever changing environmental conditions such as intense wildfire smoke and heat events. We have to learn from the swifts, adapt our approaches to monitor the birds accurately, understand the conditions required for them to breed successfully and provide suitable habitat for their needs.

In 2026, MCSI will be celebrating 20 years of Chimney Swift outreach, monitoring, habitat stewardship and research activities. I am looking forward to meeting up at The Tower and other chimney sides in St Adolphe next year for more swift experiences and learning opportunities. Those Stealthy Chimney Swifts at The Tower will be monitored with Eagle Eyes! Merci et thank you to our swift-friendly landlords and tenants: the new homeowners of Main St, Alexia and Darien Krasnesky; Paroisse St. Adolphe Parish; the RM of Ritchot; and the St Adolphe Child Care Centre. Your support of this Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative research program and St. Adolphe’s Chimney Swifts is appreciated! Many thanks also to the St Adolphe ground crew for assisting in the all-important monitoring and Tower inspection/upkeep: Marissa Berard, Lewis Cocks, Frank Machovec, Jacquie Machovec, Linnea Poole, Tim Poole and Rob Stewart.

Summary of Chimney Swift breeding outcomes, for six St. Adolphe nest sites in 2025. These results are based on 62.5 hours of observations.      

SITE	NESTING ATTEMPT?	OUTCOME OF NESTING ATTEMPT
SE CLUB AMICAL	YES	SUCCESSFUL; behaviour observations estimate 2 fledglings on August 11; helper present.
NE CLUB AMICAL	YES	UNSUCCESSFUL; failed at feeding brooded juvenile stage, July 15; helper present.
BRODEUR BROS./ DAYCARE	YES	UNSUCCESSFUL; failed at feeding brooded juvenile stage, mid-July; no helper detected.
CHURCH	YES	UNSUCCESSFUL; failed at feeding brooded juvenile stage, July 7-8; helper likely.
MAIN ST.	YES	SUCCESSFUL; fledging date unknown; helper status unknown.
TOWER   (LOCATED IN THE CHURCH FIELD; MCSI ORIGINAL STYLE – T3)	YES	SUCCESSFUL 2025 NESTING ATTEMPT (based on behaviour observations and cleanout trap evidence); breeding pair and helper observed during the daytime; 2 fledglings using site August 16; 1 unhatched egg and 2 hatched eggs; no carcasses. Nest attached to south wall of Tower above eggs. Additional roosting adults observed pre-fledging; site designated as combination nest/roost site. THESE ARE THE FIRST OBSERVATIONS OF USE OF ANY OF THE FIVE ORIGINAL-STYLE 12’ TOWERS BUILT BY MCSI IN 2008.   SUCCESSFUL NESTING ATTEMPT IN 2024 INDICATED (based on cleanout trap evidence only); 4-5 hatched eggs; no carcasses. Nest dropped in northwest corner of Tower beside eggs. THIS IS NOMINALLY THE FIRST SEASON OF USE OF THE ST ADOLPHE TOWER.

Behaviour observations plus the physical evidence seen in cleanout traps were used to assess nesting success at the Brodeur Bros./Daycare, Main St., and Tower sites. Only behaviour observations were available to assess nesting success at the SE Club Amical, NE Club Amical, and the Church sites as there are no accessible cleanout traps associated with those chimneys.

Prepared by Barb Stewart, Sila Consultants, October 13, 2025. sila.stewart@gmail.com

Happy first week of fall!

We’re finally back with our last monitoring recap. We left off last time with the happenings of Sept 10, when Dennis and Patti were hoping to see signs of fledglings but saw only 2 entries during the roosting hour before having to wrap up early due to some Fire Department training. 

Dennis and Patti returned on Sept 11. They monitored from 7:05pm-8:20pm, and saw 1 entry at 7:18pm and 1 entry at 7:27pm. The next day, on Friday Sept 12, Dennis and Patti monitored from 6:58pm-8:17pm. They noted that there was a goose sitting on the chimney from about 7:00pm-7:30pm. They saw zero swifts…

On Saturday morning (Sept 13), Patti spent about an hour chimney-side and did not see any swifts. She returned later that evening and again saw no activity during the half hour she was there.

On Sunday (Sept 14), Patti monitored from 7:00pm-8:13pm and again saw no activity, confirming that they must really be gone for good (until next spring, of course).

Huh – what an interesting and mysterious end to the Infirmary swift saga. Thanks again to Patti and Dennis for their many hours of September monitoring!!!

It’s tough to say if the chicks did successfully fledge and depart very quickly afterwards, or if somewhere along the way the late attempt failed. Now that the swifts are gone, we will be able to check out the chimney clean-out trap for more clues. The contents of the chimney clean-out trap (egg fragments, nests, etc) will provide very important information on what truly went down. I hope to post a summary of the clean-out findings on the blog, so stay tuned for that. 

So, that’s officially a wrap on our 2025 Chimney Swift monitoring season! Thank you SO much to all of you incredible volunteers. It’s hard to put into words how much your participation and support mean to this program.

We’re in the process of entering and verifying all the monitoring data from the season. Once we’ve got that information ready, we will post the season summary on the blog.

Thanks again for being here!

Cheers,

Marissa

If you can believe it, there is a pair of swifts in Manitoba that is likely still feeding chicks! Yep, you read that right – the breeding pair at Selkirk Mental Health’s Centre’s Infirmary chimney are still going strong, despite some very cold days.

We want to send a huge shoutout to the Selkirk volunteers who have continued to monitor weekly, right to the end of this looooong season! Fun fact, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club was recognized as one of our 2017 Swift Champions (https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/new-swift-champion-plaques-awarded/). Gerald Machnee, who coordinates the Selkirk volunteers and also spends a ton of time monitoring, was recognized individually as one of our 2024 Swift Champions (https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/swift-champions-2024/). We’re very lucky to have you all in our swift community!

Selkirk

T01: Fred and Nettie monitored T01 on Sept 4 from 7:00pm-8:35pm and saw no activity. Gerald monitored T01 on Sept 7 from 7:10pm-8:25pm and once again saw no activity, confirming that the swifts at this site have left on migration.

Infirmary: Despite several days of cold temperatures, it seems the Infirmary swifts have survived and are continued to feed! On Sept 5, Dennis and Patti monitored the Infirmary from 7:30pm-8:32pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 7:44pm, 1 entry at 8:05pm and 1 entry at 8:10pm.

 They monitored again on Sept 7 from 7:07pm-8:27pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 7:11pm, 2 entries at 7:35pm followed by 2 exits at 7:37pm, and 2 final entries around 8:00pm.

On September 10 (Tim’s estimated day of fledging), Dennis and Patti watched the site from 6:58pm-7:48pm hoping to catch signs of newly fledged young. They saw 1 entry at 7:11pm, 1 exit at 7:15pm, and 2 entries around 7:30pm. They had to wrap up their session early because of the Fire Department came to do some training near the chimney, so the suspense continues…

Stay tuned for the conclusions of this Selkirk Swift Saga – fingers crossed we will have good news to share soon! 

Until then, have a great September!

Cheers,

Marissa

Chimney Swifts in the News, and Some Still in the Nest! 

Happy September! We’ve hit the home stretch of the 2025 swift season.

The swift activity has really dwindled in many communities across the province, but there are still some swifts kicking around. The breeding pair at the Infirmary chimney in Selkirk seem to still be feeding young, with a week to go until the estimated fledging date. The dropping temperatures and decreasing insect availability will certainly present a challenge for these swifts, but anything is possible! We are crossing our fingers that they will succeed.

Friendly reminder to please send in your monitoring reports. Even if you have reports from earlier this summer that you haven’t submitted yet, it’s not too late! We will make sure they get added to our database.

Before we launch into our penultimate monitoring recap, we’ve got a few interesting links to share. Chimney Swifts were featured prominently in the media last week!

• Last Wednesday, Assiniboine Park posted an article (“A Soaring Success: Chimney Swifts at Assiniboine Park”) on their website: https://www.assiniboinepark.ca/stories/301/a-soaring-success-chimney-swifts-at-assiniboine-park
• The story was then picked up by CBC radio on Friday, who aired a segment on “Information Radio” with Marcie Markusa and again on “Up to Speed” with Faith Fundal: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-29-information-radio-mb/clip/16166431-how-assiniboine-park-helping-threatened-chimney-swifts
• Also on Friday, Rudolf Koes was an invited speaker on the phone-in show about birding on CBC Radio Noon. He was asked about Chimney Swifts (and gulls):

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-101-radio-noon-manitoba/clip/16166532-bird-expert-talks-seagull-flocks-chimney-swifts-manitoba

Time to get into our monitoring recap.

Carman

Rhonda watched the Carman Memorial Hall on August 26 during the roosting hour and did not see any swifts. Looks like the swifts have officially departed from Carman.

La Broquerie

Frank visited the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie for a roost hour watch on August 30. He caught 2 entries into the large chimney, and 3 entries into the small chimney. A few more details from Frank: “During the monitoring period the birds never circled the church area as they usually do; they just plunged into their chimney from great height.” 

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Luc monitored the Church on August 19 from 8:08pm-9:08pm. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:23pm, 3 entries around 8:30pm, 1 exit at 8:32pm, 1 exit at 8:40pm, 1 entry at 8:43pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:47pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:50pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:53pm, and 2 entries around 9:00pm (4 swifts in the chimney).

Selkirk

The swifts have departed from most sites at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, but there is still some activity at two sites.

T01: On August 27, Fred and Nettie monitored T01 from 7:10pm-8:55pm and saw 1 entry at 8:10pm, 1 entry at 8:19pm, and 1 exit at 8:30pm.

Infirmary: On August 26, Patti monitored the Infirmary from 7:42pm-8:53pm. She saw 1 entry/exit around 7:55pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:03pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:08pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:11pm, 2 entries followed by 2 exits around 8:18pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:26pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:28pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:34pm, and 3 entries around 8:40pm. Feeding is ongoing!  

A roosting hour watch on Sept 1 revealed a roost count of 2 swifts. We’re thinking that the assumed helper may have left, leaving the breeding pair to try and wrap up their late nesting attempt by themselves.

Wasagaming

Ellie watched the Dragonfly Tearoom on August 21 from 8:15pm-9:15pm and on August 26 from 8:05pm-9:05pm. She saw no activity on both nights.

Winnipeg

Breanne monitored 411 Stradbrook Ave from 7:17pm-8:47pm on August 29. She did not see or hear any swifts.

Priority site list (updated September 2):

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 – Tower
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	Frank M.
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

It’s Not Over Till It’s Over! 

We’ve reached the last week of August, and soon the swifts will all be headed down south for the winter. But, it’s not over till it’s over! While it seems that swifts have officially departed from many sites (as evidenced by counts of zero swifts during theroosting hour), there are still lots of swifts around. For example, the breeding pair and helper at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre’s Infirmary chimney are still feeding non-brooded young! 

As swifts move around and make their way south, swifts may pop up in areas they weren’t regularly seen throughout the spring/summer. If you do notice any groups of swifts, we’d love to hear about it! Please send us an email with the number of swifts, location and time.  

Though swift numbers are dwindling, monitoring is still valuable at this time of year. Getting those roosting hour “zero counts” helps us understand when swifts depart from different areas (and how these dynamics change from year to year). 

Let’s get into the recap, including the results from our Aug 19 blitz. Thanks again to all of you for your continued help and participation. We are so grateful and very appreciative to have such an incredible volunteer base!

Carman

Rhonda watched the Carman Memorial Hall on August 19 from 8:11pm-9:00pm. She saw 2 entries around 8:36pm. Rhonda also mentioned that she saw some daytime activity at this chimney on the following days (though the amount of daytime use seems lower than in early August). 

Lockport

On August 21, Gerald monitored the St. Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound from 8:15pm-9:07pm and saw no activity. 

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald watched the LFG sites on August 19 from 8:08pm-9:10pm. There was no activity at the Fur Loft. At the Men’s House, there was 1 entry/exit at 8:32pm, and 1 entry at 8:33pm.  

Gerald returned on August 24. He watched from 8:00pm to 8:55pm and saw no swifts. Seems they have officially departed from Lower Fort Garry.  

Portage la Prairie

Jana watched the United Church on August 19 from 8:15pm-9:20pm and saw 2 entries into the South chimney. 

Selkirk

The swifts have departed most sites at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. As of August 21, only 2 of the 6 sites still had swift activity (T01 and the Infirmary chimney). Details below. 

T01: Fred and Nettie watched T01 on August 21 from 7:30pm-9:10pm and saw 4 entries during the roosting hour. 

T02: Lisa and Monty watched T02 on August 19 from 8:00pm-9:10pm and saw no activity. 

T04: Nia and Linda watched T04 on August 19 from 8:04pm-9:10pm and saw no activity.

Infirmary chimney: Dennis and Patti watched the Infirmary chimney on August 19 from 8:00pm-9:08pm. They saw 1 entry/exit at 8:07pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:13pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:27pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:33pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:41pm, and 11 entries between 8:45pm-8:59pm. Looks like this site has shifted to feeding non-brooded young while also hosting roosting swifts. 

On August 23, Patti monitored the Infirmary from 7:55pm-9:00pm. She saw 1 entry/exit at 7:59pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:04pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:15pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:18pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:28pm, 1 entry at 8:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:43pm, and 2 entries around 8:49pm (3 swifts using the tower – likely a breeding pair + helper). Lots of feeding happening here!!! It seems also that the group of roosting swifts has moved on, leaving only the swifts involved in the breeding attempt. 

Yellow Brick chimney: Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney on August 19 from 8:04pm-9:10pm and saw no activity. 

St. Adolphe

Barb has continued her regular visits to the Tower. On August 18, she was there from 9:15am-10am and saw 3 exits, and 1 entry. The next day (Aug 19), she did see 2 swifts feeding in the area but did not see any entries or exits. On Wednesday (Aug 20), she once again did not see any activity. It seemed like the daytime activity had come to an end, until Thursday (Aug 21) when Barb caught an exit from the tower at 9:36am. She returned on Friday morning and did not see any entries or exits during the 30 minutes she was there. She returned again on Sunday and once again didn’t see any swifts. It seems that the swifts may now have left St Adolphe for the season (though I think it’s safe to say we are all open to some more surprises this year). 

St. Norbert

On August 19, Blaire watched the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation from 8:01pm-9:19pm and saw 7 entries between 8:32pm-8:53pm. 

Winnipeg

Tim has once again found a new site! On August 20, Tim caught a fast entry into a private residence in the 300 block of Maplewood Ave. This chimney was an interesting one. Here is Tim’s description: 
“It looks like there are three flues with spark arresters covering the outer two flues and the swift entering the central flue (which might or might not have some sort of liner).” 

Here is a photo, sent in by Tim: 

On August 19, Amy M. checked out the Uptown Lofts (394 Academy Rd) from 9:10am-10:00am and did not see any activity. She then moved to the Assiniboine School (175 Winston Rd). She monitored this site from 10:05am-11:05am and saw 1 entry at 10:20am, 1 exit at 10:23am, 1 entry at 10:36am, and 1 exit at 10:43am. Seems feeding is ongoing at this site. 

Jo and Richard watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower on August 19 from 7:06pm-8:10pm. They saw up to 6 swifts flying overhead but did not see any entries or exits. 

Breanne monitored Ludlow Court (141 River Ave) on August 19 from 7:40pm-9:10pm. Though she heard some chittering to the west, she did not see any swifts. 

Rudolf shared with us an interesting sighting he had on the morning of August 20: “About 25 swifts were flying in a loose flock over Kildonan Park, seen from across the river. They were obviously actively feeding and I counted/estimated them several times, always coming up with the tally of 25. Most I have seen in the area in many years.” 

That’s it for this week’s recap. Thanks again for monitoring and for sending in your reports! 

Priority site list (updated August 25):

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 – Tower
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	Frank M.
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, Late Nesters, and More!

A quick reminder that our final monitoring blitz is tomorrow, August 19^th! Please reach out if you would like some suggestions for sites to monitor. You can also check out our priority site list (included at the end of this blog) or browse through our 2024 summary database and pick a site from there:

https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/2024_2021_database.pdf

At this point, many sites have now fledged while some sites are still feeding young.

There continues to be very exciting and unexpected developments at the Tower in St. Adolphe. Originally, we thought the never-before-seen use of the Tower could be attributed to curious, non-breeding swifts. However, after multiple momentous monitoring sessions this week, it seems that the Tower is hosting a very late nesting attempt AND has become a roost site for non-breeding swifts!!! This is unprecedented. The full rundown of the St. Adolphe Tower happenings can be found in the St. A recap below.

Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Carman

Rhonda has been regularly monitoring the Carman Memorial Hall. On August 5, she watched from 8:38pm-9:45pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 8:42pm, and 1 entry at 8:56pm. On August 6, she watched from 6:10pm-7:10pm and saw 2 entries followed by 2 exits at 6:12pm, 1 entry at 6:34pm, 1 exit at 6:42pm, 1 entry at 6:54pm, 1 exit at 7:00pm, 1 entry at 7:02pm, and 1 exit at 7:08pm. On August 9, she monitored from 3:00pm-4:18pm and saw 2 entries around 3:10pm, 1 exit at 3:13pm, 1 exit at 3:33pm, 1 entry at 3:44pm, 1 entry at 4:04pm, 1 exit at 4:05pm and 1 exit at 4:13pm.

Lockport

On August 15, Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound from 8:12pm-9:20pm. He saw 1 entry/exit around 8:40pm and 1 entry at 8:56pm at the South chimney. 

Portage la Prairie

On August 11, Jana monitored the United Church (15 Tupper St. S) from 8:33pm-9:18pm. Throughout the monitoring session, she saw 7 swifts enter the South chimney.

Jana and Gordon checked out a few sites on the evening of August 13. They started out at the former Correctional Centre (329 Duke Ave) from 8:25pm-9:05pm and saw no activity at all. Jana then moved go the United Church and was joined shortly after by Gordon. They saw 9 entries into the South chimney.

Selkirk

T01: Cam watched T01 from 9:46am-10:46am on August 11 and saw 1 entry at 9:46am, 1 entry/exit at 10:06am, and 1 entry/exit around 10:31am. Fred and Nettie watched T01 from 7:20pm-9:20pm on August 13 and saw 1 entry at 9:05pm.

T02: On August 15, Dennis and Patti watched T02 from 7:56pm-9:15pm. They saw 1 entry at 8:59pm and 1 exit at 9:10pm. 

T03: Dennis and Patti watched T03 from 8:18pm-9:21pm on August 13 and saw no activity.

T04: Cam watched T02 from 10:52am-11:52am on August 11 and saw no entries or exits. Nia and Linda watched T04 on August 11 from 8:19pm-9:26pm and saw 2 entries at 9:21pm.  

Yellow Brick chimney: On August 11, Cam monitored this site from 10:52am-11:52am and saw 1 exit at 11:10am. He mentions there may have been a few more exits but only 1 was confirmed.On August 13,Nia and Linda watched the chimney from 8:19pm-9:26pm and saw 4 entries.

Infirmary chimney: On August 13, Dennis and Patti watched this chimney from 8:18pm-9:21pm.They saw 1 entry at 8:31pm, 2 exits at 8:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:42pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:43pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:52pm, 15 entries between 8:59pm-9:14pm, and 1 exit at 9:20pm. That’s up to 15 swifts inside the chimney and 14 swifts inside at the end of the roosting hour. Seems like feeding is ongoing at this site, on top of hosting many roosting swifts!

St. Adolphe

There is LOTS to report on here. Before we launch into the very exciting developments at the Tower, we’ll do a quick recap of the other St. A sites. The SE Club Amical swifts officially fledged on August 11! Woohoo. On August 13, Barb caught 2 of the SE Club Amical fledglings exit the NE Club Amical chimney, so they are doing a bit of exploring. On August 13, there was no daytime entries/exits at the Brodeur Bros./Daycare site and the Main St site. The Main St chimney hasn’t been regularly monitored this season, so accessing the clean-out in the fall will reveal whether the nesting attempt at this site was successful or not.

Now let’s get into the extra exciting stuff – the Church and the Tower! These sites can now be monitored from the same vantage point, thanks to some precise tree trimming by Rob and Barb.

On August 12, Lewis and Frank took a trip down to St. Adolphe to monitor the Church and the Tower. Lewis was stationed at the Church while Frank was stationed at the Tower, and they monitored their respective sites from 7:45pm-9:20pm. At the Church, Lewis saw 10 entries which took place between 8:42pm-9:11pm. At the Tower, Frank saw 2 entries around 7:55pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:12pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:17pm, 1 entry at 8:31pm, 1 entry at 8:40pm, 2 entries at 8:55pm followed by 2 exits at 8:57pm, and 2 final entries around 9:04pm. That’s 6 swifts inside the tower! It’s also worth noting that there were 3 swifts using the tower during “daytime” hours (earlier than 30 minutes before sunset) – this is very interesting!

There were lots of eyes on the Tower the next morning (August 13). Barb arrived around 10:08am, and Frank and Jacquie arrived around 10:30am. They switched off on monitoring duties. Between the three of them, the tower was monitored from about 10:08am-12:20pm. There was 1 entry at 10:09am followed by 1 exit at 10:10am seen by Barb, and 1 exit at 11:12am seen by Frank and Jacquie.

On August 14, Barb monitored the Tower from 9:15am-10:15am. She saw 3 consecutive exits around 9:17am, 1 entry at 9:30am, 1 entry/exit around 9:36am, 1 entry/exit at 9:53am, 1 entry at 9:55am, 1 exit at 9:58am, 1 entry at 10:04am and 1 entry at 10:13am. Importantly, Barb noticed one of the swift collecting twigs, a.k.a. nest building behaviour!

On August 16, Tim and Linnea monitored the Church and the Tower from 8:00pm-9:14pm. At the Church, there were 3 entries between 8:54pm-9:01pm. At the Tower, there was 1 entry/exit around 8:09pm, 1 entry at 8:28pm, 1 entry at 8:38pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:48pm, and 3 entries between 8:54pm-9:03pm (5 swifts inside the tower at the end of the roosting hour). Tim notes that there were 15 swifts flying overhead at 8:40pm while 2 swifts were inside the tower, so there were at least 17 swifts in the area.

Daytime use continued August 17, when Barb checked out the Tower during the afternoon and saw 2 swifts enter followed by 1 exit several minutes later.

So, what is going on here??? Well, the Tower seems to have become a site of interest for breeding swifts AND non-breeding, roosting swifts. The consistent daytime activity by 3 swifts (likely a breeding pair + a helper) combined with the twig collecting observed by Barb strongly suggests that a very very late season nesting attempt is underway here… Barb theorizes that “the interest in The Tower by a breeding oriented pair may have been the draw for others from the “from away” group to join in for roosting”. We won’t know for sure what is going on inside that Tower until we access the clean-out later in the fall. Until then, we will have to patiently wait while we continue to take our best guesses! 

Winnipeg

John watched the Moorgate Apartments (2187 Portage Ave) from 8:12pm-9:26pm on August 10. He saw up to 8 swifts flying within 50 metres of the chimney throughout the session, and saw 2 swifts enter around 9:02pm. John mentioned that he lost sight of the chimney between 8:50pm-9:00pm while he spoke with a resident from the building, so it is possible there were other entries that were missed. 

On August 10, Blair monitored Fernwood Apartments (314 St Anne’s Rd) from 8:19pm-9:12pm and saw no swift activity. On August 13, Blair monitored Niakwa Park Plaza (1310 Archibald St) from 8:24pm-9:20pm and saw 5 entries between 8:39pm-9:04pm. Blair suspects these were 2 adults and 1-3 fledglings. On August 14, Blair monitored Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) from 1:04pm-2:04pm and saw no swift activity. Later that day, he monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) from 8:08pm-9:18pm and saw 5 entries between 8:39pm-9:04pm. Blair suspects these were 2 adults and 3 fledglings, based on the variety in entry styles.

Amy and Matt monitored the St. Avila School (633 Patricia Ave) on the morning of August 12. They saw 8 swifts flying overhead but did not see any entries or exits.

Breanne monitored River Manor Apartments (424 River Ave) from 7:51pm-9:31pm on August 13, and saw groups of swifts flying in the area but did not see any entries into the chimney.

Alyssa monitored the Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) chimney on August 13 from 8:19pm-9:19pm and saw 2 entries at 8:21pm followed by 1 exit at 8:26pm.

Thanks everyone!

Priority site list (updated August 18):

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 – Tower
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	Frank M.
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

We’re back with another monitoring recap. Thank you so much to all you incredible volunteers for your continued support and contributions, including answering our spontaneous monitoring call-out last week! We can’t say it enough – your dedication is what makes this program so special and we could not do this without you!

Our next monitoring blitz Tuesday, August 19^th. You can monitor one of your usual sites, 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

If you aren’t free on August 19, no problem! As always, you can monitor on another day that works for you. All data is helpful, and contributes to our database. 

Carman

Rhonda has continued to keep an eye on the swifts in Carman. On July 17, she saw lots of feeding activity while on July 23, there was no daytime activity (which she believes might have corresponded to the site fledging).

La Broquerie

Amy M. and I took a trip down to La Broquerie on August 5 to monitor the two chimneys at the St. Joachim Parish Church. We watched the chimneys for just over an hour (9:28-10:36am) and saw lots of action! At the small chimney, we saw 1 entry at 9:36am, 1 exit at 9:40am, 1 entry at 10:00am, and 1 exit at 10:06am. At the large chimney, we saw 4 exits at 9:40am, 1 exit at 9:41am, 2 entries at 10:08am, 2 exits at 10:11am, and 1 entry at 10:16am. Up to 6 swifts were accounted for. 

Lockport

On August 8, Gerald monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound from 8:15pm-9:35pm. At the South chimney, he saw 1 exit at 8:41pm, 2 entries and 2 exits at 8:59pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:03pm followed by another entry/exit around 9:04pm, 2 entries around 9:20pm and 1 exit at 9:23pm. Some thoughts from Barb: “Given the short duration-in and between visit intervals, I wonder if you have some popcorn behaviour by fledglings…perhaps practicing the all important landings via touch ‘n’ go swift style entries/exits. We never get the satisfaction of knowing exactly which swift pops up after an entry.”

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald monitored the LFG sites on August 10 from 8:17pm-9:25pm. At the Fur Loft, he saw 1 entry at 8:29pm, 1 exit at 8:32pm, 1 entry at 8:43pm and 1 entry at 9:01pm. At the Men’s House, he saw 1 entry/exit at 8:20pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:34pm, and 2 entries around 8:54pm.

Otterburne

On August 5, Amy M. and I monitored the three chimneys at Providence University College from 11:27am-12:32pm. We counted about 15 swifts flying around the Providence College campus and saw lots of action at chimney 551 (the “large” chimney, and the middle one when looking at the chimneys from the main parking lot). During the hour we were there, we saw 10 entries and 9 exits with up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once. Nice to see so much swift activity! It seems that the foraging conditions were quite good that day, given the smoke-free day and on and off rain. 

A Chimney Swift exiting chimney 551 at Providence College. Photo: Marissa Berard.

Portage la Prairie

Joel reports seeing at least 19 swifts flying around Dufferin Ave W on August 5^th. On August 6, Jana and Gordon monitored the United Church from 8:28pm-9:38pm. At the South chimney, they saw 1 entry/exit at 8:29pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:40pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:07pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:08pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:11pm, and 3 entries between 9:21pm-9:29pm. The next day on August 7, Jana returned to the United Church and monitored from 12:19pm-12:55pm. She saw up to 18 swifts flying but did not see any entries or exits at the chimney.

Selkirk

T01: On August 7, Fred and Nettie watched T01 from 7:30pm-9:30pm and saw 1 exit at 7:40pm, 1 entry/exit around 7:42pm, 2 entries around 7:58pm, 1 exit at 8:01pm, 1 entry at 8:12pm,1 possible exit at 8:17pm, and 2 entries around 8:48pm. We believe this site fledged last week.  

T02: On August 10, Dennis and Pattie monitored T02 from 8:20pm-9:26pm and saw 1 entry at 8:46pm, 9 entries from 9:06pm-9:16pm and 2 exits at 9:19pm (up to 10 swifts inside the tower but only 8 in at the end of the roosting hour). We think this site also fledged last week.

T03: On August 7,Dennis and Pattie monitored T03 from 8:31pm-9:30pm and saw 1 entry at 9:20pm. We suspect this nest failed earlier in July.

T04: On August 7, Nia and Linda monitored T04 from 8:45pm-9:34pm and saw 1 entry at 9:15pm. This site has been hard to decipher but it does seem that any nesting attempt here has failed.

Infirmary chimney: On August 7, Dennis and Pattie monitored the Infirmary chimney from 8:31pm-9:30pm and saw 1 exit at 8:59pm, and 10 entries between 9:11pm-9:17pm. It still seems possible that this site is hosting a late nesting attempt combined with being a roost site for other swifts.

Yellow Brick chimney: On August 7, Linda and Nia monitored the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:39pm-9:34pm and saw 3 entries from 9:16pm-9:19pm.We still aren’t sure what is going on at this site.

St. Adolphe

As you may recall from our last blog post, Barb caught two swifts entering and exiting the artificial tower in St. Adolphe on July 29 (the first known use of this tower in its 17 years of existence). On August 10, Tim was made a quick stop at the tower while in the area and caught an exit at 2:54pm! Barb returned to the tower on August 11. She watched from 9:40am-10:05am, and saw 1 entry at 9:54am and 1 exit at 10:02am. Very interesting…. Could there be a nesting attempt at this tower?! We are SO excited to take a peek inside that tower this fall once the swifts are gone, to see if there is a nest or any other evidence of nesting. Until then, we will have to be patient and take our best guesses!

Barb has also continued to keep a close eye on the SE Club Amical swifts, who were on track to fledge sometime between today and Wednesday. This morning (August 11), she monitored the chimney from 9:02am-9:37am, and saw 3 consecutive exits at 9:17am, 1 fast entry at 9:23am, and 1 fast exit at 9:30am. Barb’s words: “Based on the consecutive exits and only activity noted recently by a pair of adults, plus the longer duration-in interval, I am going with nominal fledging!” Woohoo!

Winnipeg

Tim has found a new site in Winnipeg! While in the area, he saw an entry/exit around 6:48pm at the St. Edward the Confessor Church (836 Arlington St). Nice one, Tim!

On July 28, Tim caught 1 entry at 1:08pm into the Mount Royal Apartments (2265 Portage Ave).

On August 6, Breanne monitored the roost chimney at 424 River Ave from 8:01pm-10:01pm on August 6 and though she saw groups of up to 27 swifts flying near the chimney, there were no entries.

On August 7, Frank monitored the Niakwa Manor (185 Fernwood Ave) which was on our priority site list. He watched from 7:55pm-9:25pm and saw 3 entries between 8:24pm-8:46pm, so we can now cross that site off our list. Thanks Frank!

On August 10, Garry watched 712 Watt St from 2:03pm-3:05pm. There were no entries or exits at the chimney, but he saw 4 swifts near the chimney. He was able to see that one was a moulting adult, and two of them were “crispy-plumaged” (likely recently fledged young). 

Blair has visited many St Boniface sites over the past few weeks. On August 2, he monitored 188 St. Mary’s Rd from 2:12pm-2:42pm and saw no swift activity (though he notes there was a Merlin in the area). Also on August 2, he monitored Springs Christian Academy (261 Youville St) from 1:47pm-2:06pm and saw 1 entry at 2:03pm. He returned to this site on August 3 from 8:30pm-9:38pm and saw 2 entries at 9:13pm. On August 2, he monitored 690 St. Joseph (Kaljieb Electrics) from 1:05pm-1:35pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 1:13pm and 1 exit at 1:24pm. He returned to this site on August 5 from 8:25pm-9:34pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 8:28pm, and 1 entry at 8:56pm.  On August 7, he monitored Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) from 8:32pm-9:17pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 8:36pm, and 2 entries around 9:05pm. On August 8, he monitored the Arundel Apartments (790 Elizabeth Rd) from 8:32pm-9:29pm and saw one swift fly-over at 9:12pm but no entries or exits.

That wraps up our recap for this week.

Priority site list (updated August 11):

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 – Tower
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	Frank M.
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 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