Author: mbchimneyswift@gmail.com

It feels like this will be one of our last Chimney Swift updates for 2019 – but what a year it has been!

Here are some updates from around the province, proving there is still life in the old swift yet.

We begin with Selkirk:

On July 19, Robert and Donna, counted 15 swifts at the large stack at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre and 2 in the infirmary;

On July 24, Robert and Donna, counted 34 swifts at the large stack at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, 4 in the yellow brick and 2 in the infirmary;

On July 24 and July 31, Ray and Sybil did not have any activity at the Merchant’s Hotel;

On August 2, Gerald counted 1 swift at Lower Fort Garry in the Fur Loft;

On August 5, Gerald counted 3 in one chimney, and 1 in the other chimney at St Andrews Lock and Dam in Lockport;

On August 8, Gerald counted 2 in the chimney at Lower Fort Garry in the Fur Loft;

On August 13, Linda and Nia counted 28 swifts at the large stack at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, Robert and Donna counted 2 at a busy nest site at the yellow brick chimney and 2 in the infirmary;

On August 14, Ray and Sybil’s luck changed and they counted a net 10 at the 367 Main Street site and August 15 a total of 7;

On August 14, Gerald counted 2 in the chimney at Lower Fort Garry in the Fur Loft;

In Brandon, Margaret and Millie continue their vigilant watching. Here is their brief report from the 9^th:

‘We decided to go earlier so this report includes daytime monitoring. We are concerned that our swifts arrived later and are at increased risk of nest failure. They are still feeding – we left feeling hopeful!’

Continuous feeding of young was going on. Jump to August 13, and the feeding was as busy as ever, 7 entries, 6 exits in 72 minutes. A similar rate was recorded on the 18^th. Fledging must be close for this pair.

Speaking of fledging, Garry sent this report on the 13^th:

‘20:24 – 1 swift circling, with low sweeps by chimney several times.

20:25 – same swift enters chimney, in a rather halting fashion.

20:33 – 1 swift circling chimney for almost 10 minutes. Making many wide circles and several low sweeps low to the chimney. Then it disappeared.

20:51 – 2 swifts circling chimney, keeping close company, some twittering with several low sweeps by chimney.

20:55 – the 2 swifts enter chimney, both in a halting manner.

21:03- 1 swift enters chimney. Came out of nowhere and dove in like a bullet. Adult I presume. 

Waited until 21:19 but saw no other entry. There were distractions with cars pulling out from where I was parked so not impossible that I missed one more dive-bomb entry.

So … I would say at least 2 young have been reared in this chimney, maybe 3, judging by the somewhat careful entries of 3 swifts.’

Brilliant news from Watt Street in East Kildonan. Thanks Garry for watching and sharing. More success in Portage la Prairie where Cal sent this report:

‘This evening Gord and myself along with Janice Madill did another swift watch. Gord covered the former Women’s Gail and had 3 rather late entries. Janice Madill and myself covered Trinity United Church.

The following is a quick breakdown of events at the church:

8:43 – a flyover flock of 16 swifts seen
8:48 – a flyover flock of 19 swifts seen  (a real surge in numbers over last week )
8:20 to 8:52 – several attempts at entry by an obvious fledgling
8:58 – 2 quick entries
9:02 – 1 quick entry followed by (at last) the rather clumsy entry by a fledgling
9:16 – another quick entry

Total 5 final entries for the evening all in the south chimney. There is the possibility that more than one of these 5 entries was a fledgling. We don’t really think so though as they were all “smooth” entries with the one exception. Unless of course two more fledglings “caught on” quicker on how to make more skillful entries!’

Back in Winnipeg, and it looks as though we had a fledged swift reported by Barbara and Phil:

‘Plenty of aerial CHSW activity (I counted 13, but there may have a couple more) over east Osborne Village.  No entries into Royal Oak. There were some tantalizing low flyovers of the Clarke chimney, three failed entries (3 different birds, or just one who couldn’t get it right?).  But only 3 entries in the end. Where did the other 10 go?’

Where indeed! Blair in St Boniface sent this:

‘My reports for this week. They cover two locations that had a pair of swifts all season.  This week was a repeat of what I saw last week.  

261 Youville – had swifts entering and exiting a couple of times, then two swifts went in for the night.

340 Provencher Blvd – had two swifts enter the chimney, 1 left 15 minutes later and then two returned 8 minutes later, for a total of 3 in the chimney.’

The suspicion here is that Provencher fledged one swift and Youville is still an ongoing nest attempt.

Randy from the Manitoba Museum sent an intriguing report on the 14^th:

‘And, while having a coffee meeting with other curators at Joe and Lilly’s in Sports Manitoba, a swift entered the gray-painted NE chimney of Children’s House on Pacific. It entered about 10:40 and exited less than a minute later. I did not see another entry after about 20 minutes.’

A second report came 24 hours later from Randy.

‘Watched the Pacific Avenue chimney yesterday (Aug 15) for about 10 minutes in the morning, 8:15-8:25, and ten minutes in the afternoon, 4:45-4:55 with no observations.

Watched for 55 minutes this morning (Aug 16) with some activity:

8:14 – 1 leaving

8:14 – 1 leaving
8:15 – 1 leaving
8:30 – 1 entering (might have missed the exit?)
8:35 – 1 entering
8:37 – 1 exiting
8:56 – 1 flew over the chimney about 5 feet above, did not enter
9:06 – 1 entering
9:08 – 1 exiting

Chimney is in full sun by 8:10 or earlier. Birds exited towards the east or the southeast (towards the river) and returned from similar directions.’

New Silver Heights was very active on the 16^th, watched by Bob and Valerie:

‘We went to look at the chimney at the Silver Heights apartments yesterday.  Activity, but apparently no fledging yet.’

Katrina still had an entry at the zoo on the 15^th. This tower has been a hive of activity in 2019!

Ken and Jan had a busy week in Dauphin starting on the 14^th:

‘Started out being a great night to watch swifts but then rain clouds moved in about an hour before sunset and drowned us out at one chimney but cleared out by the time we move to the roost chimney. Chimney 2018-14 wasn’t observed this night as volunteers are now working with Elections Canada so we started with 2018-15. We immediately spotted swifts flying overhead, 5 became 8 then 11 and then 14 but all flying high overhead. There was one entry event with 2 swifts going down with the last one clearing having trouble and hovering over the chimney mouth before dropping in. I would suggest this chimney has now fledged and one adult and a YOY are using the chimney for roosting.

Moved on over to observe the roost chimney #600 and observed the larger flock from 2018-15 of over 14 swifts flying through the light rain. There was then a series of 5 entry/exits which correlates to last weeks observation that the roost has a nest inside with young still not fledged. As sunset came, individual swifts started to roost but the big flock number did not materialize so it might be a composite flock of fledglings, parents and migrants. The final estimate for swifts in the chimney was only 7 but the maximum seem flying at one time was 16. It seems likely that the rest of the flock split themselves into the two nesting chimneys.

A summary could look like this: 16 swifts minus 7 in roost = 9 with 2 in nest chimney = 11 minus 4 adults = 7 possible YOY fledged so far which is a really good number with the nest in the roost still to fledge (maybe I’m dreaming this success number!).’

The intrigue continued on the 17^th at the large roost chimney:

‘Stopped by the Dauphin roost on our way home from a meal of Chinese food tonight and in less than 5 minutes saw an exit, entrance and exit so they are still not fledge yet.’

Finally, Barb has sent possibly her last report from St Adolphe for 2019:

‘Chimney Swift activity in St Adolphe was much reduced on Waning Wednesday, August 14. The aerial presence of the swifts along the north-south corridor was non-existent. At minute 50 of a one hour watch, a quick exit was made at the Main St. chimney. The departing swift was black and sleek, but was not presenting itself in a way to i.d., so it may have been a juvenile but that can’t be confirmed.

Over at the older residential area near the curling rink on Wednesday, up to 6 swifts could be seen flying low over the mature tree tops. They were feeding actively with Purple Martins. Watching the rim of the newly identified nest site yielded no entry/exit observations in 30 minutes. There was no need for concern though as fledging took place at this site Aug. 10-11. Fledglings could be seen flying near the nest chimney on Monday and again Wednesday, so flight training is well underway.

For other nest site monitors, it is fast approaching the cutoff date for successful fledging. In St Adolphe, August 16 is the latest known date for successful takeoff – and that was a Day 32 liftoff at the Brodeur Bros. site in 2010 (fledging was delayed by significant, prolonged wind activity). Watch for changes in activity patterns at your sites: an increase of activity by adults may signal drawing the young up to the chimney rim prior to fledging; an increase in activity by obviously flight-challenged swifts – including tentative entries – suggests fledglings are learning to navigate in the airspace. Once fledging takes place, the use of the natal site diminishes over 7-10 days and, yes, it can be variable between sites. This year the SE Club fledglings were in/out of the chimney often during the day for over a week while the Main St young were not using their chimney at all during a 90 minute watch 2 days post-fledging.

Margaret and Millie often have successful fledging at their site in Brandon at later dates in August. Tim has some good thoughts on this…’

In response to Barb’s last ‘poke’, Tim’s hypothesis is that swifts arrive back in Brandon later than the east. Maybe the season draws out longer in the southwest, stays warmer, and perhaps there is less insecticide spraying in the city. And that’s that!

And that is indeed our update. A plethora of great reports. Thank you everyone One more week to come, and possibly another week of great reports. We look forward to hearing from you.

Tim Poole

As the summer begins to wind down, there were still numerous reports of swifts in Manitoba to keep us busy. We will still have swifts into next week, so why not take a final look before they depart on their long journey south?

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We return to St Adolphe to begin this weeks report. Barb had the ultimate in rude awakenings, as she tells us here:

‘Wednesday August 7th was a wild ‘n’ wonderful morning in St Adolphe. It was Day 30 for the Main St juveniles and time to fledge. The youngsters obliged with a brief aerial parade over the condominiums just north of their natal site. The day before, the adults were significantly more active in the chimney (4 entry/exits per hour which isn’t high, but it was double the frequency seen lately). Thursday’s wind was blowing a couple of juveniles around in the morning and things were really tough to track. So the best estimate for now is that 2-3 fledglings are airborne from the Main St nest site.

It is always a pleasure chatting with passersby, as was the case Wednesday. Two people asked about how juveniles find their way up and out of the chimney. One person was quite happy at the prospect of having the baby birds, which were sounding off in their chimney – loud enough to be heard in the kitchen, move along to the exterior too! HUH? Our conversation took an unexpected turn, as did my car when I made my way to old town to check out a roof top. Barely out of the vehicle, an obviously moulting adult Chimney Swift swooped over a terra cotta collar extending above a brick chimney. The swift hovered to align itself, then dropped in! Another swift dropped in seconds later! My eyes were wide and my head was feeling overwhelmed. Here I am, thirteen years into MCSI monitoring and thinking all the sites in St Adolphe were “known”. But in front of me was definitely a newly identified nest site! I’m not sure who was in a deeper state of shock – me or the homeowners.

As it turns out, the homeowners heard similar baby bird noises in 2018. So the chimney appears to have been occupied by swifts for at least two consecutive seasons. At season’s end, we will be taking a closer look at the terra cotta collar, chimney side wall material, dimensions, and all that will help educate us on what makes this chimney attractive to swifts. Clearly, other candidate chimneys in old town St Adolphe could be lurking. Time to step back, take a breath, and start thinking about how best to approach 2020’s research project!’

Strangely, we always considered that St Adolphe sites were all known. How wrong we were!

Ken sent us an update from Dauphin as well on Wednesday:

‘Well, today I took it on myself to monitor the 3 Dauphin chimneys as all other observers are now busier as summer winds down. Both the nesting chimneys I monitored for an hour during the day and then the roost was done during the roosting hour.

Both nesting chimneys are still occupied but entries are well spread out as it appears that insects might be at a premium in our area, in one case, there was 30+ minutes between entries with the swift only being in the chimney for under a minute. For both sites there was also 2 entries within a minute of each other indicating both parents are out actively sourcing food for the young.

The roosting chimney was very quiet when after 20 minutes of watching, there was an exit; 15 minutes later an entry and 5 minutes later another exit, is there a nest in the roost? About 10 minutes after sunset, there were suddenly 8 then 14 swifts flying overhead and just as quick 11 went down the roost chimney and then 1 more leaving 2 unaccounted for that may have gone to one or the other nesting chimney for the night. There was no indication that any young swifts might be about as all entries were straight in without hesitation.’

Cal sent an interesting update from Portage la Prairie:

‘This evening (Aug 7) Gord and myself covered the Rufous Prince Building and Trinity United Church respectively. Gord ended up with a total of 6 swifts settling in for the night with 4 in the south chimney and 2 in the north one.’

We definitely appear to have some young about to fledge soon. Here’s what I came up with, all in the south chimney as usual:

8:30 6 flying over the Church
8:34 1 entry
8:35 1 exit
8:37 1 exit
8:42 2 entries
8:44 2 exits
8:45 9 flying over the Church
8:54 2 entries
8:55 2 exits
9:01 2 entries
9:03 1 entry
9:05 2 exits
9:13 1 entry
9:13 1 exit
9:14 1 entry
9:18 1 entry
9:18 1 exit
9:22 1 entry
9:23 1 exit
9:28 1 entry

Busy night!’

In Brandon, Margaret and Millie sent this update:

‘We were downtown yesterday Aug 6, and stopped in the lane just north of the Orange Block for less than 10 min. There was 1 entry and 1 exit in that time and definitely by 2 different swifts.’

Over to Lower Fort Garry, and Gerald sent the following dated this morning:

‘I was at the farm house from 8:20 PM to 9:30 PM. There was no activity at the house or the building to the east where they are digging. I sat to the south of the house so I could watch the east building inside the walls as well. I had two entries at 8:46 PM and at 9:20 PM.’

To Winnipeg, and Barbara and Phil sent an Osborne Village update:

‘It looks as though the young have fledged at Clarke, judging from the botched entries! Phil watched the Moxham chimney. It’s a little confusing, as on Google Earth the chimney appears to be in the middle of the roof, but the one he watched (maybe not from the best viewing point) is on the NE corner of the building. There was certainly a great deal of low flying activity in that direction that I could see from my place. Most of the earlier high-flying activity was over Fort Rouge Park and the river. Very little vocalizing.’

In Point Douglas, Frank and Jacquie checked chimneys at 515 and 527 Waterfront. The chimney at the rear of 527 had some entries and exits, and may warrant a return visit to confirm successful nesting.

In East Kildonan, Rudolf sent this quick update:

‘Once again a number of swifts were overhead at Kildonan Drive between Irving Place and Cheriton this evening. They have been a regular feature; at least 9 birds this time.’

Bob and Valerie were out in St James:

‘We eventually went to look again at the chimney at the Silver Heights Apartments this evening and saw a lot of activity, although apparently no indication of fledging yet. ‘

Blair was again doing some excellent monitoring, and had a great deal to report:

‘I did a small blitz in St. Boniface in the last 4 days, since my wife was away on a trip.

Tonight, I checked two new chimneys

• 180 de la Cathedrale – Part of St. Boniface U
• 228 Hamel – Aulneau Renewal Centre
  but no Swifts were seen in the area.

The next three locations were Chimneys that previously had a pair of Swifts occupying them this season.

• 188 St. Mary’s – had only one entry in the hour between, 30 minutes before and after sunset.
• 340 Provencher – had an entry and exit, followed by 3 entries for the night, possibly a new Swift fledged.
• 261 Youville – had two entry/exit events, about 2 minutes apart, then the two adults entered for the night, both at the 9:13 minute. Seems to be still feeding.’
  Kristyn at the Assiniboine Park Zoo sent this:

‘Here is the chimney swift survey completed on August 8 at Assiniboine Park. There were two cooper’s hawks hunting a squirrel quite close to the chimney during the survey. I saw one swift fly into the chimney, but did not see any come out.’

And if you are still here, Tim completed a downtown blitz on Thursday night:

‘I hit thrilling Thursday this evening, a multi-site blitz around downtown. I started at the Kennedy apartment and managed to get 2 entry exit cycles in this chimney, so feeding still going there. I also tried to keep an eye on two adjacent chimneys, one a tall apartment which hosted a nesting pair in 2018. There certainly seemed to be possible interest here on a couple of occasions.

I left at 9 because I wanted to check if the fall roost had formed at 303 Assiniboine. Nothing here, but I wandered to another chimney which has 2 flues, a bust cage and a tile top, found by John Hays about this time last year. A pair were really active overtop and soon entered the bust cage side. After this, a swift entered the tile side and quickly left. A minute later 2 swifts entered the tile side again, one stayed and the other left and headed towards 303 Assiniboine. A third entered the cage side, so likely in my opinion we had a successful breeding here (John recorded similar strange behaviour in 2018).

Back to the first spot, and I caught a last single swift enter the tall apartment, confirming use here for this year.

So 3 chimneys and 4 flues occupied this evening!’

–Tim Poole
Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

Swifts are still here, and the reports are still flowing. Here is the latest monitoring news from the chimney tops of Manitoba.

We start at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Kelsey sent this report on Thursday morning via text:

‘I think there might be fledging at the zoo. I have 2 bird with feathers missing on their wings and a third cleaner looking bird that took 3 shots to get into the chimney’

For those unfamiliar with swift biology, the adult birds moult during the breeding period, and if you look closely in binoculars, you can often see the missing wing feathers. However, fledging birds do not moult and have clean looking wings. The second part of the text re. the 3 three attempts to enter the chimney is very typical of an inexperienced bird. We therefore believe (unless Barb tells me otherwise) that Kelsey has confirmed that at least one Chimney Swift has fledged from inside this tower.

Katrina also watched the same chimney that same day, and 3 birds continued to be observed in the area.

in Brandon, Margaret and Millie continue to watch the Orange Block. They sent the following update from Tuesday evening:

‘Princess Ave was busier than on Sunday nights, but not distracting. Insects are in short supply!!’

2 swifts continue to use this site.

Frank and Jacquie braved the (not so) coming storm at 464 St Mary Avenue and 274 Osborne on the 31st. Unfortunately, no swifts were seen. Just down the road, Tim noted a single entry at the Granite Curling Club. This was a very early entry, and we suspect all swifts went to bed early that night.

In St Boniface, Blair sent a nice report in:

‘I was back to watch the chimney at 690 St. Joseph for evidence of fledged Chimney Swifts.  This chimney was successful last year and seems to be successful again this season. 

When we arrived, there were 10 – 11 Swifts in the air.  Between 8:35 and 8:53, there were 3 entries. Then 9 swifts were seen in the air for a total of 12 in the area.  During the hour the chimney was watched, I recorded a total of 8 entries, with one exit at the very end.  This swift did not return to the chimney during the time it was watched.

Previous visits to this chimney this season resulted in only a pair of swifts in the chimney, so with 8 entries tonight, there could be 5-6 young present now.’

In Osborne Village, Barbara and Phil provided another excellent update:

‘We didn’t go out on Wednesday because of the lightning, so these are from Friday.

It looks as though the young have fledged at Royal Oak, and Clarke (My Place) is still active (though they roost very early)‘

Leah also let us know that there were swifts still feeding during daytime at Lower Fort Garry on Thursday morning, and then she even found 7 swifts around Kildonan United Church on Kilbride on her way home.

Finally, Gerald sent the following from Selkirk:

‘Robert and Donna Hempler counted 34 Chimney Swifts entering the large stack at the Selkirk Mental |Health Centre on July 24, a season high number.’

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And there we have it. Keep the energy going folks, there is very little time left, and still swifts to find and swifts to count! We suggest that you take a leaf out of Blair’s book, and return to a site you have already monitored before the season ends.

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

We were very saddened to hear of the passing of long-term MCSI volunteer David Dawson. David volunteered in his home community of La Broquerie from 2010, doing his final monitoring check at the end of June this year. 

During his years of volunteering, David monitored the Paroisse Saint Joachim in La Broquerie. For many of those years, he only watched the large chimney on the side of the building. However in 2016, David organised to have the chimney on the rear of the building cleaned (funded by MCSI). He found a bees nest blocking access, removed it, and swifts have been using this spot ever since.

David was also well known for his building prowess – he was keen to build boxes for bats, as well as towers for swifts. Having decided that his two towers would stand better chances being attached to existing buildings, David donated them to other MCSI volunteers. One now stands in a private address in St Vital, and the other is attached to the side of the building at the Carman Elementary School. 

His efforts and enthusiasm will be hard to replace. 

His obituary can be read at https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-265887/DAWSON_%20DAVID

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

No, not THAT south! Here’s an update from the Chimney Swift capital of Manitoba, Saint Adolphe.

Taking wing was the theme of the last week of July. For me, heading off to Ontario for a family wedding was eased by the support of a legion of friends. Tim, Lynnea, Frank, Jacquie, Lewis, and Roberta did a magnificent job of monitoring the Club Amical in St Adolphe in my absence. At the SE nest site, ongoing daytime feeding on Thurs./Fri. changed to a burst of activity on the evening of Sat. July 27th, then an increased head count in the chimney was detected Mon. morning. I flew down to town upon my return and at least 2 fledglings were patrolling the Main St corridor Mon. afternoon/Tues. morning; Wednesday, the fledglings were practicing some touch ‘n’ go entries and exits.

Over the August long weekend, the Main St juveniles should be next to launch. Stay tuned for that fledging news next week.

Now, it’s time to move to another round of shout-outs and info updates for Southern Ontario. Starting in Guelph on July 26, our hosts Karen and Ken B. took us to the refurbished factory site where Sleeman Breweries has opened Spring Mill Distillery (in the Metalworks development on Arthur Street). The old brick chimney at this site should be opened for Chimney Swifts in 2020.

Moving over to the Kitchener wedding, taking a patio break at dusk on Sat. July 27th was a good move. A single swift flew over the Victoria Park Pavilion then 4 quickly winged their way by. Were these possible fast flights to a roost site?

At another gathering on Sun., July 28th we had the good fortune to hear of Bryan R.’s continued stewardship activities for a Toronto nest site. Years ago, Bryan was instrumental in following up on raccoon predation in an active swift chimney next door. This year, he linked with Ontario’s swift stewards ~ Bird Studies Canada ~ to track demolition plans for the same site; luckily those plans have been thwarted. The bonus round was Bryan recently catching a big flurry of activity consistent with fledging!

It is rewarding to see how many folks make an effort to support Chimney Swifts. That’s what is needed throughout the summer and winter ranges of these birds – zone defence and beyond. Take an interest and make a difference – do what you can, wherever, and whenever you can!

__ Barb Stewart

Apologies for the delayed weekly update. Tonight is another Wednesday and we would encourage you to get out and follow-up on any nesting in sites, as there may well be young swifts in the sky. Send us your reports and we will try to interpret what is happening for you.

The past week has generated much excitement in Manitoba’s Chimney Swift world. We had our first confirmed fledged chicks in St Adolphe for 2019, numerous active nest sites were observed and we even managed to find several new sites. Buckle down for a review of the past 10 days.

We begin in Osborne Village. We had ten chimneys watched on Wednesday evening, and lots of activity in some chimneys, less in others. Phil at the Royal Oak on River had an impressive 14 entries and 12 exits, with a very pair on this site. Barbara had 3 entries and 2 exits at the My Place Realty property at 105 Clark. Theses sites seem to be at very different points in the breeding cycle, the Royal Oak looking very close to fledging date. Phil and Barbara also managed to recruit Lisa and Peter to watch the new chimney on Scott. Although we are still waiting for the full report, we know that they had some good activity here as well. Blair took on the Biltmore, at 395 River and reported:

‘I saw a maximum of three swifts in the air at one time.  There were 6 entries and exits at 1-2 minutes later during the evening. There at 9:31 and 9:33 two swifts entered for the night.’

Frank sent his report from three chimneys that he and Jacquie were watching:

‘I took up a position in the back lane for better line of sight to the 424 River location while still close to the Stradbrook sites. Up to six CHSW were in the vicinity in the earlier part of the monitoring period, but I couldn’t determine where these birds roosted. They were making a wide arc over the area, generally focused to the east of my location. Jacquie didn’t see the “group of six.”

There were a few VERY low passes by a very vocal trio of CHSW, but they didn’t appear to use ”our” chimneys.

During the fly-bys I shifted location to try to see where the swifts were going. One could almost reach up and touch them, or so it seemed.

So:

Augustine United Church: 1 CHSW

411 Stradbrook: 1 CHSW

424 River: 1 CHSW’

Sabina at 245 Bell, a new spring find, was out of luck:

‘I hope you and everyone had more success than I did at 245 Bell last night! However I know others must have had success because I saw swifts diving around River Ave and saw upwards to 15 swifts around. Just not a single entry/exit for me..’

Tim tried a new site on Harkness, saw 4 swifts fly over at sundown, and then nothing. Kelsey however did have a pair feeding young at 141 River.

Finally, Leah took on 549 Gertude:

‘So… last Wednesday was an odd evening at 549 Gertrude (2017-35).  Heard and saw virtually no birds, which is odd as the previous week, from down the street, it sounded like there were all sorts of birds around this site!  The good news is… two birds did go into the chimney at sunset.  I also saw what I believe was a departure earlier on.  And then a 3^rd bird showed up almost a half hour after sunset…. made a few attempts at the church chimney, and then may have gone in a chimney in a house next door.  It all happened very quickly and the light was going…’

Cal in Portage la Prairie sent the following:

‘Gord and I did a watch on Wednesday evening with me manning Trinity United Church and Gord the former Womens Jail. We had a total of 6 final entries for the evening, 3  for the Jail and 3 for Trinity so there were at least 6 individual birds about.

My activity breakdown is as follows, all for the south chimney:

8:55 – 4 flying over the Church
9:04 – 1 exit
9:06 – 1 entry
9:13 – 1 entry
9:15 – 2 exits
9:34 – 2 entries
9:37 – 1 entry’

Moving to Morden, David has sent a promising update:

‘I had been away from my chimney for too long and didn’t know what to expect tonight.  Luckily, all seems to be well in the Swift world.  The pair was busy entering then exiting the chimney, their time inside varying between 33 seconds to 65 seconds.  8 different entry/exits were recorded during my session, followed by roosting entries for both birds.’

Brilliant news, and on the 28^th, David sent a second update:

‘Very similar pattern to what I observed this past “Swift Wednesday”.  8 entry/exit cycles with 20-60 second stays in the chimney over the monitoring session. Also 2 roosting entries about 15 minutes after sunset.  The only “different” behavior was that one bird made a single fly-by of the chimney before entering 30 seconds later the first time and 10 seconds later the second time.’

In other news, we have numerous reports from volunteers around the province. Blair checked a couple of his sites. At 188 St Mary’s, he had an entry and exit during the day on the 23^rd and on the 22^nd, he had 3 entries and 3 exits at 340 Provencher. Certainly a breeding attempt still going in the second of these chimneys.

Tim proved once again that he is better at finding swifts on his bike. On the 23^rd, he spotted an exit from 71 Kennedy on his way home from work. This chimney has been on the database since the early days of MCSI, but has never been confirmed as an active site for swifts. On the 24^th, he spotted a swift enter, and then exit a chimney on a private house on Balmoral. On the 25^th, it was a third new site confirmed in 3 days, spotting a swift entering a chimney at the apartment at 555 Lanark, next to the swift playground that is Lanark Gardens. We also had a report of 2 swifts entering a chimney on Dorchester by Cam, another new site.

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is still active. Paulson was on site on the 19^th and observed one exit. Kelsey  also confirmed that there is still daytime activity on the 25^th, with an early entry and exit.

We will have a proper update soon from Barb in St Adolphe, but we were delighted to hear that there was a fledging event at the Southeast Club Amical at the weekend. While Barb was away, Frank, Jacquie, Lewis, Roberta, Lynnea and Tim all took the trip down to the valley to make sure that we were able to catch the fledging event. On Monday, Frank and Jacquie recorded 13 entries and 11 exits. However, the total in the chimney was 4 during this session, and with no helpers on site, and the pattern of activity, we are confident that 2 swifts fledged.

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Let’s keep those reports flowing in!

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

Another week of interesting swift reports has arrived in our in-trays. This week we have another new site, this time in St Francois Xavier, reports demonstrating that our swift parents are now 100% focused on feeding non-brooded chicks, and some mixed news from St Adolphe.

First to St Francois Xavier though, and Mike and Michele:

‘Great news to report from St Francois Xavier!! We can now positively confirm that chimney swifts were seen entering a second chimney, not too far from the church. We’ve always had an eye on a couple of potential chimneys but never spent enough time at that location to see if they were actually being visited.

Wed night, we decided to split up since I was going to be late arriving at the church anyway (just like our wedding day…lol) By the time I arrived, Mike had already witnessed 2 entries at the new location and he couldn’t wait to tell me about it. A bit later on I saw a total of 5 swifts in the air, harassing a crow.’

Congratulations both!

Frank, Rhonda, Jacquie, Lewis and Lynnea hit the town in Carman for an evening to try work out what is happening. Frank reported on last Wednesdays shenanigans:

‘Lynnea, Lewis, Jacquie and I drove out to Carman last night, and we met up with Rhonda at the Memorial Hall. We devised a clever plan to monitor five sites with a designated local scout (Rhonda).

Lewis took the Memorial Hall where he had four entries and one exit.

Jacquie took the residence down the street and had two entries, no exits.

Both locations saw fly-bys of swifts, up to three near the Hall and up to 7 over the residence.

The rest of us took up positions to the south:

• Lynnea took the relocated tower at the Elementary School—no entries/exits.

• I checked the two residences across from the School: 163 2^nd St SW with two chimneys (one capped, the other possibly available) and 151 2^nd St SW (brick chimney with insert). No entries or exits.

• Rhonda monitored the general area near the intersection of 2^nd St SW and 4^th Ave SW where several fly-bys of up about six CHSW were noted. Lynnea and I had the occasional fly-by by up to 4 CHSW. Rhonda did a reconnaissance trip to try to find alternative destinations for the “missing” birds.

Unfortunately, we didn’t link up for a post-viewing debriefing (sorry Rhonda!). Once again, we couldn’t account for all the CHSW seen/heard.

No Timmies products were consumed, either…’

So we are at least two swifts short in Carman. There are certainly more sites to find. And not even a rewarding Timmies, how did Frank survive?

Ken and Jan sent this report in from the Riding Mountain region:

‘We found ourselves passing through Clear Lake (Wasagaming) this evening (Wednesday) so we stopped at the museum to watch for swifts for about an hour. We saw one entry into the northern chimney of the two western ones and 2 minutes later a swift left. We waited hoping for a repeat performance but that was all, didn’t even see them flying overhead, we left just past an hour observation time.

Later we got to Dauphin and went straight to the roost to watch the roosting hour during which time we saw 11 swifts go down that chimney.’

Gerald also sent the latest summaries from the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club. Here is our summary:

• Gerald recorded an exit followed by an entry in one chimney, and three entries in the other chimney at the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound in Lockport on July 15;
• Winona counted 3 entries and an exit at the Merchants in Selkirk on July 16;
• Winona counted 4 entries at the Merchants in Selkirk on July 17;
• Linda and Nia counted 17 entrances in the large stack at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on July 17;
• Linda and Nia counted 2 entrances  and 2 exits in the yellow bricj chimney at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on July 17;
• Gerald recorded one entrance in the southwest chimney, but no activity in the southeast chimney at Lower Fort Garry on July 18, with 6 swifts counted in the air.

Blair became the latest victim of Tim’s overenthusiastic attempt to find a new site, this time seeing nothing and hearing nothing at St Boniface Hospital. Sorry Blair!

And the Tim’s curse did not stop there even. This time it was Leah who was left scratching her head in Fort Rouge:

‘So, unfortunately, no exits/entries at 626 Wardlaw.  A spectacular looking chimney – roost size? – but although there were a number of pairs of birds that flew over the chimney, no dips or near misses.  More activity to the south and east – from the sounds of it, and after taking a walk after I finished, possibly 549 Gertrude (chimney at the church)?  Is that chimney active this year?’

Kelsey confirmed that swifts remain busy at the zoo. All our fingers and toes are crossed on this one!

Garry sent this from East Kildonan:

‘Feeding activity has really picked up at 712 Watt Street. Timing of visits indicates feeding non-brooded young. Things are progressing nicely!’

And for the purists, here is the swift pattern he refers to:

‘11:06 – entry one swift
11:06 – exit one swift (~ 15 seconds between entry and exit)
11:16 – exit one swift (appears both adults now out of chimney at the same time)
11:30 – entry 2 swifts (both adults returned to chimney together)
11:31 – exit one swift
11:47 – entry one swift
11:47 – exit one swift (~ 15 seconds between entry and exit)
12:04 – entry one swift
12:04 – exit one swift (~ 15 seconds between entry and exit):06 – entry one swift

Rudolf also reported 7 swifts in the area around Kildonan Drive and the Bergen Cut-off.

Barbara and Phil continue there Osborne endeavours, with breeding activity at the Royal Oak on River and the apartment on Clarke. Looking forward to Wednesday in this area. They also confirmed swifts using the chimney during the day on Sunday at Augustine United Church.

On Sunday evening it was the turn of Margaret and Millie to send an excellent update from Brandon, looking good for non-brooded feeding of swifts in the chimney. This chimney is amazingly consistent!

Another week goes by, and we have more swift reports flying by. Right now it seems that our swifts are at varying stages, from the latter stage of incubation all the way through to feeding non-brooded young. In fact, Barbara and Phil in Osborne Village gave some great examples of this in their weekly update:

‘It looks as though we have two chimneys (Royal Oak, and the Biltmore) with newly hatched young, one (Clarke)with CHSW who roost early (maybe eggs not yet hatched), and two with no daytime activity at all.

Thanks to Barb for her analysis of CHSW activity after hatching.  It helps to make sense of the activity we are seeing, and meant that I stayed an extra 5 minutes at the Biltmore as the entry/exit pattern of every 20 minutes suggested they were due again at that time.’

Leah watched an experimental chimney on Lilac. We say experimental, as Google Earth images suggest there were 6 small entry holes on the top of the chimney. We thought it might be worth a shot at seeing if swifts were using something a bit funky. Leah reported thus:

‘No entries, unfortunately. Will they seriously enter such small holes?  I had ruled out these types of chimneys as usable…’

The answer seems to be no. This would not be the first Tim Poole fail of the monitoring week!

Kelsey went roaming in St James, and possibly wishes she hadn’t:

‘The first night I stayed and watched the 2 chimneys on the “Piano Building” the whole time. I saw 2 swifts high overhead, they got lower overtime, and the last time I saw them they were headed northwest, so I went and checked where they might have gone. I found a house on Roseberry with a good looking chimney.

The next night I went was going to watch that chimney, but I got so excited trying to follow the group of 10 that I didn’t end up watching that chimney at all. this time the group seemed to hover a little more northeast of the “Piano Building”. There is an odd looking small chimney on the back of Underworld Scuba, as well as a chimney on the back of Liberty Full Gospel Chapel, on Marjorie. This is an odd looking chimney (and the picture on google maps shows a cap that is no longer there), but they were swooping quite low towards it repeatedly, before disappearing.‘

Garry visited Watt Street in East Kildonan on July 9th, and sent the following:

‘Activity continues at 712 Watt Street. Timing of visits indicates feeding brooded young, so all appears to be good at this site!‘

Gerald sent us a great number of excellent updates. Here is a summary of the latest news from the Selkirk Birdwatching Club:

• On July 3rd, Linda and Nia counted 14 in the large stack and 2 in the yellow chimney at Selkirk Mental Health Centre;
• On July 4th, Robert and Donna counted 24 in the large stack, 2 in the Infirmary and 2 in the yellow chimney at Selkirk Mental Health Centre;
• On July 4th, Winona counted 1 in the Merchant’s Hotel;
• On July 5th, Winona counted 3 in the Merchant’s Hotel;
• On July 7th, Gerald counted 2 in the southeast chimney and 0 in the southwest chimney at Lower Fort Garry.

In Brandon, Margaret and Millie sent three update sheets, showing the pair in the Orange Block still active on June 30, July 2 and July 7.

Janice did this weeks Trinity United Church watch in Portage la Prairie, and had only a single entry. 

Ken compiled the Dauphin report on behalf of the team, with Pat, Marilyn and Jan in place to watch the swifts:

‘Well, Dauphin observers talked themselves into getting a set of Wednesday observations and reports out this week. It seems to be getting harder to sneak that 1 hour of observation in with so much happening. As an example, we are all geocachers and tonight there was a caching event for us which was hard not to miss being called “Long Live the Queen” as sort of a christening of our new Dairy Queen. This 1 hour event was from 8 to 9 PM. With our sunset being at 9:53 PM we barely had time to down our ice cream and get to our observation spots for our chimneys. So what to do, well we did some observation before the event and then some more after it.

We are happy to report that all 3 chimneys where reporting swift sightings but none had repeated in’s and out’s of any sort of set timing so we think we have nesting but still sitting on eggs. The reason we’ve said “some swifts think it’s still spring” is that we have birds flying around in pairs just chattering things up and even some “chevron” Vv flying about. Entries and exits were anywhere from a few minutes apart to over ½ hour duration either in the air or the chimney. There were some veer and peers but not consistent enough to indicate some internal chimney event was happening. We have not had any major “nest washing off the chimney walls” rainfalls but have had some unseasonably hot humid days.

By the end of the evening, there were at least 1-2 swifts in nesting chimneys and the roost had possibly 10-12 as we were not directly watching this chimney but could see birds approach it from our other observation stations.‘

Given the previous report from this location, all we can say is that the swifts were being as brilliantly baffling as ever, there being no large roost on that evening.

Finally in this section, what about our evening trip to Emerson?Frank, Jacquie, Lynnea and Tim took on the challenge, and this is what Tim sent in:

‘Emerson last night left everyone scratching heads. As befitting a Machovec road trip, a stop at Timmies was a necessity. Apart from the requisite Manitoba construction, we arrived in Emerson on roosting hour checking West Lynne which has a couple of likely chimneys. We decided to focus our efforts in the main town. Heading through Emerson, I directed us towards 3 buildings that were identified as potential habitat last fall. 

Lynnea suddenly spotted a possible swift, there was a quick verbal exchange as I failed to find said swift, and then we leapt into action. Frank drove like a hero, turned the corner rapidly, and we could clearly see a pair above us. Success!  

Ultimately, Frank and Jacquie watched the Masonic building, Lynnea a house and I took on an abandoned house. We each saw and heard swifts, Lynnea‘s max being 2 clearly identifiable pairs. It surely wouldn’t be too long before a swift took the plunge? The final swift sightings  were around 9:20. After that, nothing! We have no idea where they are heading. Maybe West Lynne, but why spend so much time in Emerson? Maybe a tree? Maybe they popped over the border? Maybe we need to do more scouting the buildings! Who knows, but it is clear that a new plan is needed to work out this place and Neepawa.‘

Another week closes, and some big news from St Adolphe in our weekly update. Yes, we have swifts hatching this week! We also have some updates from around the province, from Lockport, St Francois Xavier and Neepawa among others.

Usually we end with St Adolphe, and Barbs weekly update, but this time it is really important to at least open with part of the update as Barb gives a terrific explanation of what is actually happening in the chimney right now:

‘Here is a reminder of some Chimney Swift biology to help you track activity at your nest sites:

• Hatching Day = Day 1 of feeding. 
• Feeding brooded young lasts for 6-7 days; typically, 2 entry/exit cycles are seen in an hour. Last week Tim referenced brooding = the warming of young in the nest by adults. When the juveniles can regulate their own temperature, both adults can head out to forage…that is when the chimney will be “unattended”, reflecting the next stage of nesting.
• Feeding non-brooded young occurs between Day 6-7 and Day 28-30. Feeding rates are often 3-4 times per hour, or more, if a locally abundant food patch is present. Watch for longer duration-in intervals, = turnaround times, now that the same swift enters and leaves. The between-visit intervals are now going to be shorter than those seen in the feeding brooded young stage. 
• At Day 28-30, the juveniles take their first flights outside the chimney as fledglings.
• Fledglings use the natal chimney for resting and are still fed there for a few days. However, daytime use of the chimney declines markedly over the first week post-fledging as the youngsters gain flight proficiency and become independent feeders. 
• Roosting by the family group at the natal chimney will continue until pre-migratory groups come together in August.’

Now to that St Adolphe update:

CLUB AMICAL

On Monday July 1, between 10:10 – 11:30 AM, the SE pair had 2 entry/exit cycles; 1 minute duration-in interval; 41 minute between-visit interval; 1 minute duration-in interval.

The NE pair had a 30 minute between-visit interval and a long, 37 minute duration-in interval.

Hatching was indicated at both sites. 

BRODEUR BROS.

Classic incubation exchanges were first seen Sunday, June 30. Hatching is likely to occur within the next 7 days. 

CHURCH 

Friday, June 28; 9:55 – 10:55 AM: 1 entry/exit cycle with a 2 minute duration-in interval; repeated approaches low to rim before flying off = “peer ‘n’ veers”. SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING. 

Sunday, June 30; 11:15 – 12:15: 2 entry/exit cycles; intervals = 2 minute duration-in, 30 minutes between-visit, 8 minutes duration-in. WOW – HATCHING WAS INDICATED.

Wednesday, July 3; 12:00 – 1:00 PM:

12:14:51 entry

12:22:59 exit (8 minute duration-in interval)

12:25:08 entry ( ~2 minute between-visit interval)

12:33:32 exit (8 minute duration-in interval)

The sequence and timing of the entry/exit events indicated the site was unattended – the breeding pair were feeding non-brooded young! The peer ‘n veer events of Friday telegraphed hatching. 

MAIN ST.

As of July 3, incubation is still underway and hatching is expected any time now.

In summary, as of July 3, all 5 nest sites in St Adolphe were active and 3 stages of nesting were evident. The SE and NE Club sites had brooded young while the Church site had non-brooded young (Day 6). Incubation was progressing at Main St and Brodeur Bros.

While some classic incubation exchanges and typical unattended site activity have been seen, there have been long stretches of disturbingly low activity. It is another hot, dry summer and airborne insects may be limiting. We welcome some rain and the ripening of food sources. There are many beaks to fill in the nests now!’

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So there we have it, we have swifts hatching, and even more interesting, we already have non-brooded young.

Next we head to a brilliant effort in Osborne Village from Barbara and Phil. This area has long been crying out for a couple of locally based volunteers, and in 2019, we finally have two dedicated and skilled people in the area. Here is their report from the week:

‘Catch-up time in Osborne Village! Fresh from our contribution to Toronto’s CHSW data, we needed to catch up on watching in our neighbourhood. 

You’ll see that both the Clarke site, and the Royal Oak apartments on River each had one entry, which I assume means that there is a nesting pair in the chimney.

I did a day-time watch at the Biltmore (395 River), and was rewarded with an almost immediate entry/exit.  The 30% chance of showers changed to 100% rain, and since I came out without a jacket, I cut the watch short after the trees no longer provided shelter.

I moved on to 118 Scott in the afternoon, and while there was some overhead activity, there was no activity in the chimney.  I did have a great conversation with a local resident who was very interested.

In the evening I watched 351River (Rosemount Apartments) for the first time.  One entry there.  Phil watched 6 Roslyn (same back lane) which is not on the data base.  No activity there, but he had a better overhead view of the area, so saw the birds that I could only hear. ‘ 

An excellent update, and we have covered almost every known site in that area thanks to Barbara and Phil!

Mavis  has also been watching in this area as she can see one of the 424 River chimneys form her apartment (in keeping with these chimneys, she can only see one):

‘Although I’ve been watching and recording a few times, I have yet to see any Swifts enter the chimney that I can see.  I see them fly around it, but haven’t seen them go into it. They are so fast that I can’t guarantee they aren’t going in – just that I’m not seeing them go in. There are up to 6 Swifts that I see flying, but mostly 4 when I am watching.’ 

Next to the Kildonans. Frank led a group to West Kildonan/the North End on Wednesday and returned with this, slightly damp, swiftless report:

‘Lewis Cocks, Jacquie and I went in search of swifts in the North End.Temperature was only 18C, and there was a noticeable absence of bugs at both sites we checked.

At the chimney at 123 Matheson Ave E (Etz Chayim Congregation), no swifts were seen or heard.

At the two smaller chimneys at 50 Mac (Seven Oaks House Museum), Lewis had two high fly-bys but no entries were recorded.

We curtailed observations at sunset due to rain.’

The following evening, Tim had an absolutely banker of a new site, the Immaculate Conception Parish on Austin Street in North Point Douglas. He had previously taken a couple of excursions in this neighbourhood during June and noted that there were swifts around this chimney. Surely then a new site was guaranteed to be confirmed? Well, apart from a couple of late high flyers, the evening ended in dark disappointment as no swifts were spotted using the chimney. An odd evening given that the chimney looked very impressive! Tim did though have better luck on a brief excursion on Saturday evening:

‘I went to buy ice cream just now, and as you do, I tracked a swift into a new location in a private house opposite the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre.’

On Thursday, Lynnea and Adam decided to do a multi-site check. They watched the Roxy Lanes on Henderson for 20 minutes but eventually got annoyed looking at pigeons on the chimney (they were later advised to watch tight, as they may have seen said pigeons getting dive-bombed). The moved onto the Valhalla chimney and were rewarded with an exit. Onwards to Archiibald Storage and 2 entries. The roll thus ended at the Niakwa Plaza on Archibald as it was probably a little late by the time they arrived. Zero swifts noted here.

Blair had tried a new site in St Boniface as well, this time on the 2nd:

‘This week I checked out a new chimney at 381 De La Cathedrale..  Although, it looked like a good 3.5 by 5 brick chimney to me, no swift activity was observed on this evening.’

On Canada Day, Gerald had a great evening at Lockport. There were 6 entries and 1 exit on one chimney at the Manitenance Compound and 2 entries at the other.

In St Francois Xavier we received this Wednesday report:

‘Mike was on his own this evening for monitoring night and he was very excited to report something very interesting when he got home. For the first time this year, he witnessed 4 swifts enter the chimney to roost for the night. We had seen 4 in the air before but we were under the impression that only one pair was using this chimney….seems we were wrong about that. The first one entered at 9:32pm followed by a pair together 12 minutes later then the last one 1 minute after that. No exits were witnessed this evening.’

Gord in Portage la Prairie lucked out on Wednesday, with zero swift activity at Olina’s and the MTS Building.

Back to Tuesday, and Tim was in Neepawa this time during the morning:

‘I was in Neepawa earlier. Spent 80 minutes at the hospital and got one sighting. Elusive! I then headed across town, found a pair low flying low over the Safeway parking lot. They were still taking nesting material from a tree. At one point it looked like there were several swifts in the air. Unfortunately I did not find where they took the nesting material. Lots of private houses south of the highway which look good.’

This is still proving a challenge – getting a swift to fly into a chimney in Neepawa!

Keep the reports coming. Next Wednesday, we are looking for any volunteers who fancy a trip down the highway to Emerson. Please email us if you are interested in helping to find swifts in the south.

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative (MCSI) is today launching a crucial new set of factsheets. These factsheets are being targeted at property owners with resident Chimney Swifts. In many cases, Chimney Swifts nest in chimneys attached to an a furnace, whether working or not. However, in some cases, especially in private homes, Chimney Swifts nest in chimneys dropping into to the household fireplace. In the next week we expect eggs to begin hatching and the parent swifts to begin the new phase of regular feeding of young birds.

Following four incidents, two in 2017 and two in 2018, of nests falling from the wall of a chimney into a fireplace, MCSI felt that we needed to act. In each year, chicks from one nest were returned successfully to the chimney and fledged following intervention by MCSI volunteers. Although we were delighted with this outcome, we also had a situation in each year, where due to a lack of information, swifts were not returned to the chimney in good time, and the adult birds abandoned their young. In these cases, with a heavy heart, the swifts were delivered to a rehabilitation centre. Although the staff and volunteers at the rehabilitation centre were able to raise the chicks, due to the short breeding season in Manitoba. the birds had to be flown to London Ontario to be released by the excellent Debbie Lefebre at Swift Care Ontario. This approach did lead to birds being returned to the wild in both years BUT we do not want to make a habit of flying birds halfway across Canada to release them for various reasons. In Manitoba, our swifts remain for a much shorter period than London, and therefore the window to raise, train and release young swifts is too short. It is therefore an imperative that the swifts are returned to the chimney, returned to their parents, who will feed, train and lead these young swifts to survive their first months of life.

Our objective is to ensure that if a nest falls into the base of the fireplace, the chicks are returned to the chimney as soon as possible by part of the MCSI team. We have also produced a separate sheet which is being sent by Manitoba Sustainable Development to various groups who may receive a call about baby birds in the fireplace, including rehab centres, veterinarians, pest control companies and chimney sweeps.

The new factsheets, were drafted by Christian Artuso and the Steering Committee, and designed to fit in with our existing series of facthseets by the talented Richard Cain. 

We are looking for help from you, our volunteer network. We really need to get this message out in communities across Manitoba. You can help in the following ways:

1. We have stacks of factsheets, and would love it if you could take some to local community centres, libraries and other meeting places that people may see them;
2. Pin up the front page on community notice boards;
3. Hand deliver to houses which you think may have, or get swifts nesting in the chimney; and
4. Post the images above across social media or share from the Facebook page @ManitobaIBA (simply add this as your search on Facebook).

Please email us if you can help – we want to get these factsheets distributed widely and quickly.

Happy swift-ing, and let’s help make 2019 a very successful year for our swifts!

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator