Author: mbchimneyswift@gmail.com

We were recently delighted to award a Chimney Swift plaque to the effervescent Margaret Yorke and Millie Reid. Margaret and Millie have dedicated many years to numerous birding projects, including the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas.

They are also well know for their long-term maintenance and monitoring of their line of bluebird houses in Oak Lake.

2019 will be their tenth consecutive year of monitoring Chimney Swifts in Brandon, and this alone is a significant reason to celebrate their achievements. The first records of Margaret and Millie watching chimneys in Brandon come from 2010. At this time they watched two different chimneys. Following the demolition of one of these chimneys, Margaret and Millie put considerable effort into monitoring the Orange Block on Princess Street. Their dedication to the cause has been incredible, often watching the chimney at least once per week throughout the season, often confirming that a successful nesting attempt has occurred. 

We are therefore delighted that we could present them with a plaque at a recent workshop, and thank Margaret and Millie for not just a decade of swift watching, but many years of dedication to bird monitoring and stewardship in the Province of Manitoba.

Don’t forget our next night of chimney monitoring on Thursday night.

The weather forecast looks positively spring-like (for a change)!

— Tim Poole

We were saddened to learn that MCSI volunteer John Hays passed away on May 9th. John started volunteering with MCSI in 2016. In three seasons of monitoring John managed to discover several chimneys in downtown Winnipeg, contributing over 100 hours of chimney watching.

In his first year, John watched four chimneys in South Point Douglas, an area which had received relatively little monitoring attention previously. John would often use his days off to look for chimneys. Coming across a suitable candidate, he would set up 30 minutes daytime watches to confirm whether breeding pairs were resident. In 2016 he watched a previously unknown chimney on Princess Street all the way through to the chicks fledging. 

In 2017 John made a significant contribution to efforts to confirm whether sites would be eligible for the federal Critical Habitat process. In total, he watched 22 chimneys that year, all but one in the West End, South Point Douglas and Downtown areas of Winnipeg. John confirmed Chimney Swifts were using three of our target chimneys. Even more importantly, John’s efforts led to the discovery of four other chimneys. He also followed up on three discoveries from other people. These efforts meant that a further seven sites could be added to the Critical Habitat process. One of these sites, the John Howard Society building on Ellice, even had its chimney repaired thanks to John’s eagle eye. 

John continued to monitor in 2018, taking on the challenge of watching the new large roost at 303 Assiniboine just off the Donald Bridge in Winnipeg. Even though his health was starting to deteriorate, he still maintained his watches, carrying out 45 separate monitoring sessions throughout the season. This included finding three completely unknown active chimneys. John’s dedication was such, that we had no option but to present him with a ‘Swift Champion’ plaque for his contributions.

John was still keen to continue nest site monitoring this summer. Unfortunately he passed away earlier this month before he could continue his swift quests.

His obituary describes a ‘kind and gentle man’. Anyone who met John would agree wholeheartedly with this. He was courteous, dedicated, and will be sorely missed. We will certainly miss his regular monitoring reports this summer. 

We extend our condolences to John’s family and friends during this hard time.

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

Following windy, rainy National Roost Monitoring Program Night 1, we have a lot of information to recap on. We will cover reports that came in to us too late to be included in our first update, we will cover NRMP night 1, and we also have a very thorough update from St Adolphe.

A number of weeks ago, long-term La Broquerie volunteer, David Dawson, posted a piece on our website about a tower that he had constructed. His goal was to find someone who might be able to attach it to a building in a place where swifts regularly hang out, and see if swifts might nest in it.

Rhonda Smith, a resident of Carman stepped up. A few years ago, the Elementary School chimney in Carman had to be demolished, and Rhonda, who works for the Prairie Rose School Division, knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to get a replacement structure attached to the building. Thus Rhonda contacted David, and David agreed that this would be a great opportunity. 

Rhonda collected the tower, and Claude Plante and Bernie Chambers from the School Division worked out where best to place it. They decided on a location close to the old chimney at Carman Elementary School, a logical decision!

Over the past few days, they worked on fixing the tower to the school. From the following photos, you can see how they did it. 

So now we wait, the tower is in place, and we will be doing some follow-up with the students in the hope that maybe they will be the first to spot a swift entering the new structure.

This is an excellent project and would obviously not be possible without the generous donation from David, the determination of Rhonda and the willing participation of Cecile (Principal), Claude and Bernie (School Division Facilities staff). Many thanks to the Prairie Rose School Division for their commitment to making this project work.

The relocated tower is re-born…

–Tim Poole

As the long weekend disappears in the rearview mirror, we are able to report on an excellent start to the season for swift monitoring. There were many reports, and although there were a number of zero’s, there were also a surprisingly good number of occupied chimneys.

For our report, we being in Carman, and are delighted that Matt has been able to pick up the mantle of swift watching this year. Matt first spotted swifts on the 9^th May in town during the day. On the 18^th he reported:

‘I Saw two Swifts enter the chimney. First bird at 2040 hrs approaching suddenly from South and made a very fast wing-over into chimney, 2nd bird at 2110 hrs. Bird also suddenly appeared  from the South hovering directly over chimney and made a winnowing flutter entry into chimney.‘

On the 19^th, he did a second monitoring watch, and reported:

‘At 2100 hrs, I saw a single swift flying high, foraging over the town…no other activity until 2126 hrs. At this point a small swift madea fast dive into the chimney. A minute later a larger swift made a winnowing approach into the chimney. Probably the same pair as seen on Saturday night. ‘

Finally, on the 20^th, Matt went out again and reported two birds in the Memorial Hall, plus a further two birds in the skies. Numbers are obviously building in Carman.

On the 16^th, Irene and Scott made their ways for a first ever swift watch at La Salle. Unfortunately it was probably too early in the season for this site, no swifts were seen. Hopefully they will have more sightings next time. On the same evening, Rudolf spotted 10 swifts in East Kildonan. Bob and Valerie also lucked out at New Silver Heights in St James. Better luck was had by two other new volunteers, Colleen and Mark, ably assisted by Frank and Jacquie at Providence College in Otterburne. In total, 5 swifts were shared between 3 chimneys.

Marshall sent in his report, in typically humorous fashion:

‘I’m scoping out some sites in Osborne tonight. I found a good spot where I can watch 5 chimneys on 3 buildings at once and I saw two entries at St. Augustine’s Church, and there’s been no exits in 15 minutes since. I also saw 4 others circling chimneys on a building on Stradbrook. I’ve forgotten how much I feel like I’m lingering about in an alley to sell drugs when I do this, hah.’

On that note, if anyone would like an official MCSI lanyard, please let us know, and we will get one mailed to you as soon as possible.

Frank and Jacquie were first out the block on the 17^th. They watched the Moorgate and gave a classic MCSI report full of questions marks:

‘On Friday night ten CHSW were seen in the vicinity of the Moorgate around 20:00. There were six entries and three exits from the Moorgate chimney. Where did the other swifts spend the night? Why did some swifts choose to vacate the Moorgate?’

Barbara and Phil got off to a flying start on their Osborne Village swift adventures, recording 2 entries at a site on Clarke Street. There were 10 swifts in the air in this area, a busy highway for swifts.

Luc on the otherhand had a puzzling evening. The best chimney in St-Jean-Baptiste has always been the church. So when he saw 3 swifts in the air it must have felt that normal service had resumed. Unfortunately that was it, 3 in the air, none in the chimney. There were swifts observed in the school chimney in 2018, so we can only surmise they headed over there.

Onto the ‘official’ evening on the 18^th. St Norbert tied together nicely. Blaire reported:

‘Behavioural Health Foundation had 2 chimney swift entries tonight; one right after the other at 8:58 p.m. Didn’t see any other activity. The two swifts were seen individually off and on a couple of occasions before that but not together.’

Why did it tie together nicely? Well, because Rob and Barb and this to say:

‘Just home and trying to thaw – wow, what a cold wind tonight! We had a few sightings of a single swift and one brief sighting of what seemed to be 3 swifts. Generally a quiet night in the ‘hood. So we had a single fast entry at 9:16:31 PM – very low to the rim from the ESE; no vocalizations heard at all.’

Mike and Michelle continued where they left off watching the Saint Francois Xavier church:

‘They’re baaaack!! I do not have much activity to report but more than I expected this early on a chilly/windy day. One entry and three in the air is a very good start.’

Great news, although interestingly, we only have one chimney on the database here. There must be another chimney in the area…

David accounted for all his swifts in La Broquerie, a good sign following some fun and games from the swifts in 2018. Here is his report:

‘I saw three birds enter the chimneys though I thought I saw four at one point flying in the air. Surprisingly, as they cannot be nesting yet, 2 went in the small chimney and only one in the large chimney, the large chimney being higher, larger and presumably easier to enter and exit.’

Gerald and the Selkirk Birdwatchers sent an unofficial tally of 21 entries, 5 exits, net 16 in the chimney. Ken and Jan reporting in from Dauphin had a similar number:

‘We had a FROST WARNING for tonight so I was not surprised when neither of last years nesting chimneys (2018-14 & 15) observed any use by swifts. The roost chimney (#600) however had 16 swifts go down starting right at the assigned start time till sunset. Most birds were flying in close pairs but, there were 2 individual birds that showed up alone and went down alone. It felt like we should have on hat, mitts and parka, no shorts and flip-flops tonight for sure! There is talk on the weather network of rain for the next observation night.’

Swifts obviously didn’t get the message that it was counting time in Lac du Bonnet, Diann and Cam had zero activity in town, and very little bird activity in general. To add to this list, Kirsten had no luck at the Flag Shop on Pembina, Lynnea and Adam watched a colossal chimney in South Point Douglas to no avail, and Peter hit a zero at the church on Hampton Street in St James. Gary at St John’s Ravenscourt was more in luck, a first ever watch, and one swift in for the night. Blair at 690 St Joseph Street in St Boniface also counted 2 entries. Debby and Carl were also out of luck, zero swifts seen at the Old Grace Housing Coop.

Finally, Tim finally made it out on the 19^th following a weekend of IBA activities elsewhere in Manitoba. Tasked with counting the large roost in downtown Winnipeg, he sent the following report to Frank, Rob and Barb:

‘Well that was bizarre. Nowt, zero, empty. A roost which hit the heights of 50+ swifts in 2018 wasn’t used tonight.’

Guess even those expecting a large number of swifts can be left puzzled by these birds!

Barb is also keeping us updated on progress in St Adolphe. On Monday the 20^th, she reported that there were 5 swifts in town during the day, 2 are nest building in the church, 2 are in the southeast Club Amical, and 1 is, well, a spare swift for now.

If you have swift reports and have not been able to submit them yet, no worries, we take them at any time, and endeavour to add them to the next update.

Our first National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) evening starts tomorrow, Wednesday 22^nd. Official counting starts one hour before sundown. That will obviously vary around the province. We are looking forward to hearing about your findings.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted reports so far – and happy swifting everyone!

Tim Poole
Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator

The swifts are well and truly back. Gord has seen two in Portage la Prairie, and Blaire two in St Norbert. There have also been swifts in St-Jean-Baptiste reported by Luc on eBird.
This segues nicely to the first monitoring night of 2019. This is our MCSI early season roost count. It is officially happening on Saturday May 18th, although due to the long weekend, we have suggested a bit of flexibility, and you can also go out on the 16th or 17th to get that first monitoring point. As ever, try to begin one hour before sunset, and end thirty minutes after sunset. For example, Winnipeg sunset is 9:12 on the 18th. So start time will be 8:12pm, and end time at 9:42. This first watch can be hit and miss, but by the time we get to nights 2 and 3 of the National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP), you should be hoping to see swifts enter the chimney.

Once you have your datasheets completed, send them to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com. We also love to hear of any anecdotes you have as we try to get a report out on this website before the first NRMP night on May 22nd.
For those who have not seen them yet, here are the protocols for 2019, and here is the Word version of the datasheet.

Good luck swifting!.

— Tim Poole

Further to the last blog, Matt in Carman emailed us to report:
‘On Thursday, May 9th at about 1045 hrs, while I was at the Carman Post Office  I heard  then saw two Chimney Swifts circling about 100 feet overhead They drifted  back towards the Memorial Hall site. However,  I did not see them again even though I stopped at the Memorial Hall for about ten minutes to see if they were using the chimney> I suspect they were transient birds as the weather was quite cold and windy, though sunny.’

Jump forward and Barb was back in St Adolphe on Sunday the 12th. She reported with great excitement:
‘First sighting of the season ~3:11 PM = 3 swifts over the Church. A short time later, 2 swifts were seen flying close together over Main St – both with the classic “V” displays.’Back in St Adolphe on lucky Monday the 13th, Barb and Tim watched a swift drop into the chimney on the church at around 2pm, and exit a few minutes later. There were still 3 swifts in town.

All this is gearing us up for the weekends first big roost count. Saturday 18th is number 1, but if you are unable to do it, we would be very happy for any data coming two days either side of it. This will give us an early season idea of where the first swifts are coming to.

–Tim Poole

Sounds like we have a couple of swifts back in Manitoba!

Barbara Barnett reported seeing swifts in Winnipeg on the 9th May. Her report came as the following:
 ‘I am almost certain that I have just watched two Chimney Swifts swooping over the River between the  Osborne Bridge and our condo building for 5 minutes.’  

Ryon Johnson also reported seeing a couple of swifts on Wellington Crescent the previous week. We will keep you posted on more sightings, but now is the time to begin watching the skies, and the chimney tops for the coming swifts!

–Tim Poole

We are going to be hiring a summer student to help out with our programs. The position will be based at the Nature Manitoba office in Winnipeg for 300 hours from May to August and help with our programs (IBA and Chimney Swift).

You can see more details on the IBA website at https://importantbirdareasmb.ca/2019/04/30/we-are-hiring-for-a-summer-student/ and feel free to pass it on to anyone who might be interested and post to social media, etc

Thanks!

Tim Poole

Frank has updated the website with the 2019 National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) Protocols and our new 2019 datasheets. Here are the direct links:

NRMP protocol https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/NRMP2019.pdf

Monitoring report sheet pdf version https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/datasheet.pdf

Monitoring report sheet Word version https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/datasheet.doc

Ahead of the weekend, here is the latest eBird update. There is certainly a shift on the western edge of Lake Michigan, with more swifts being spotted north of Green Bay. Closer and closer they come!

— Tim Poole