2023 Monitoring Season Summary & Call for Feedback
The monitoring summary for 2023 is now up on the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative webpage!
Feedback wanted!
I want to start off by thanking our incredible volunteers. The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative would not be able to do what we do without this large network of enthusiastic folks – it truly is a team effort. Whether you have volunteered your time once, twice or many times, we deeply appreciate your help. With that said, we want to make sure volunteering with us is as positive of an experience as possible. We would love to hear what you thought of our monitoring approach this year – what worked, what didn’t, what you’d like to see next year, etc. I have prepared a Google Form with some feedback questions. All questions are optional – whether you answer one question or all of them, any feedback is valuable! If you need a refresher on what we did, keep reading this blog post for a recap of the season.
Here is a link to the Google Forms feedback form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq4yarv8YTmk0K7u4oStNH0bbWq4ok2KyH9lYn5D2m1lXwMQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
If you would like an alternative to filling out the online form but still want to share some feedback, I (Marissa) will be hosting three “drop-in” style sessions on Zoom. These drop-in sessions will be an opportunity for folks to pop in and say hi, and share any thoughts, ideas, feedback, complaints, you name it! If you would like to chat but are unable to make it to these sessions, please send me an email and we can find a time to touch base.
These drop-in sessions will be on:
- Tuesday, December 12th from 10 am – 11 am
- Wednesday, December 13th from 5 pm – 6 pm
- Saturday, December 16th from 9:00 – 9:30 am
The zoom link for each session will be:
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/2397840422?pwd=aktTZ1d0MWVYZ1pnY2hpeFBMK0QzZz09
Meeting ID: 239 784 0422 Passcode: WHM13G
A few reading material suggestions
Before jumping into our monitoring season recap, I’d like to let you know about some exciting new reading material:
– Barb and Rob Stewart’s paper, “The influence of weather and human disturbance on the reproductive success of Chimney Swifts in St. Adolphe, Manitoba, 2007-2013 and 2014-2022”, has been published in the Winter 2023 issue of the Blue Jay! You can find on our ‘Resources and Links’ webpage at https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/bluejaywinter2023.pdf
– Winnie Wake, who runs Nature London’s Chimney Swift Monitoring Program, has prepared an incredibly in-depth end-of-season report. A great read that provides interesting insights on swift dynamics throughout their range. You can find the report at https://www.naturelondon.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/NL_CHSW-End-of-year-monitoring-report-November-252023.pdf, as well on our ‘Resources and Links’ webpage at https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/nature_london_nov2023.pdf
2023 Monitoring Season Summary
Alright, now for our monitoring season summary:
This year, we took a slightly different approach to our monitoring season, with the goal of allowing more flexibility for volunteers. Our monitoring efforts focused on three categories of chimneys: 1) big roost sites that qualify for the National Roost Monitoring Protocol, 2) sites that were priority for confirming/reaffirming ‘residence’ status, and 3) smaller roost sites or nest sites that are routinely monitored by MCSI volunteers. Chimneys in category 1 were the priority to monitor on MCSI/NRMP nights, while the chimneys in categories 2 and 3 could be monitored on MCSI/NRMP nights and/or anytime throughout the spring/summer on a schedule that suited the volunteer.
We held four MCSI/National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) nights so that we could continue to contribute data to this national effort. For a site to qualify under the “official” NRMP protocol, it must be used by a minimum of four swifts. In Manitoba, most sites are used by fewer than four swifts therefore they can’t be included in the NRMP database. For this reason, we focused our NRMP night monitoring on historically big roost sites (>3 birds) that were likely to qualify for this database. Other than the four MCSI/NRMP nights, we did not have set monitoring times. Instead, monitoring could be done whenever worked for the volunteers.
Our 2023 monitoring season included a heavy emphasis on ‘priority sites’ (described as category 2 above). Based on the federal Chimney Swift Recovery Strategy, a site is considered a ‘residence’ if it has been used by Chimney Swifts at least once in the last three years. Our ‘priority site’ category referred to sites that were in danger of losing their ‘residence’ status if use by swifts was not confirmed this year. These sites were monitored whenever possible, and we released an updated weekly list of which sites had been ‘confirmed’ and thus, checked off our list.
Overall, some sites were monitored only at the beginning of the season during the roosting hour, while some sites were monitored throughout the entire season and at different times of day. Monitoring at different times of day, and at different points in the season, will provide different information. Monitoring a site in the evening hours can give us information on whether a site is being used as a roost. Monitoring sites throughout the summer, particularly throughout the daytime, can tell us whether a site is being used for nesting and whether that nesting attempt was successful or not. As we plan next year’s monitoring season, we would love to know what times of day, and which months work best for you to monitor! You can let us know in the volunteer feedback form I mentioned earlier (here’s the link again – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdq4yarv8YTmk0K7u4oStNH0bbWq4ok2KyH9lYn5D2m1lXwMQ/viewform?usp=sf_link).
Overall, we monitored 115 sites, in 20 communities across Manitoba. Out of the 42 sites on our priority list, we were able to confirm the presence of swifts at 19 of them. We also confirmed 6 new swift sites: the Hart-Cam Museum in Hartney, St. George School in Winnipeg, Fernwood Apartments in Winnipeg, Neepawa Hospital, a private residence in Melita, and Frontier Apartments in The Pas. Woohoo!
The updated MCSI Roost and Nest Site database is available on the “Monitoring Results” page of the website. This document summarizes the high counts of Chimneys Swifts at sites, if a site was used for nesting or roosting, and successes/failures of nest (if known).
Over 75 volunteers contributed to this incredible effort! We seriously could not do this without all of you wonderful volunteers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
That’s all for now. As always, please reach out to me at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments. I look forward to reading through your feedback form responses, and I hope to see some of you at the zoom drop-in sessions.
Cheers, and happy December!
– Marissa
