Chimney Swifts have touched down in Canada!
Some exciting news to report as we all eagerly await the arrival of Chimney Swifts in Manitoba. Winnie Wake and friends at London’s Chimney Swift Program in southern Ontario received the first detailed sighting of a Chimney Swift in Canada on April 29th. As Barb mentioned in the last blog post Winnie had previously said “Most years, swifts show up here in the last few days or week of April” and she had the timing down pat! Indeed a glance at eBird.org (https://ebird.org/map/chiswi?neg=true&env.minX=&env.minY=&env.maxX=&env.maxY=&zh=false&gp=false&ev=Z&mr=1-12&bmo=1&emo=12&yr=cur) shows multiple Chimney Swift sightings in southern Ontario. Closer to Manitoba, sightings have taken place in South Dakota and Minnesota.
We also have Winnie’s words of wisdom in where Chimney Swift watchers in Winnipeg, and around Manitoba might spot their first Swift of the season “Quite often, London’s early swifts are seen near the river corridor. They seem to know that aquatic insects tend to emerge a little earlier than land-based ones. That means the general area of the river likely offers better foraging prospects at a time of year when numbers of insects in the air are still relatively low.” With many Manitoba communities that host Chimney Swifts located around waterways, it can be a good place to keep watch for the early birds.
As the Chimney Swift come every closer to Manitoba – what can we do to help? If you have a fireplace, please remember to close the damper. The damper is the metal door that closes access from the hearth into the chimney flue. Closing the damper means that if you host Chimney Swifts this season, they will stay in the chimney where they belong, and you will avoid any accidental mishaps of Swifts ending up in your house! As well, stay tuned to the MCSI blog as we will have an update on MCSI monitoring coming soon.
–Amanda
