STOP PRESS : MCSI are requesting additional volunteer help to watch 2 roost chimneys in Winnipeg regularly over the coming fortnight. These chimneys are:

1. The Moorgate – 2187 Portage, St James, Winnipeg
2. The Newcastle Apartments – 303 Assiniboine Avenue, Smith/Donald Bridge, Winnipeg

If you are able to help, please contact Tim Poole at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com

 Another week of Chimney Swift action, and we are nearing the home strait, and the times of skies devoid of the familiar chittering and chimneys merely full of smoke and fumes as winter closes in. Fortunately for us, our swifts are now beginning to fledge, and in the coming days we will see more flocks of pre-migrant swifts readying for their long journey to the south.

So what of this week?

I promised a St Adolphe update, and here it is from Barb. Let’s start with her July 26th report:

 ‘Today it took over 4 hours, 3 car parking spots, 2 sessions at Brodeurs, and 1 momentous trip to the RM facilities to decode the week down south.

 Tuesday, I had 1 entry/exit per hour at Main St but watched in amazement at 4 cycles per hour at Brodeurs (it had been unoccupied for since June 30th during the daytime). No entry/exit events were seen at the SE Club.

 Wednesday, I saw the similar 1 cycle per hour at Main St and saw nothing at Brodeurs. Two swifts dropped into the SE Club and stayed over ½ hour and were inside when I left in the rain at noon.

 Thursday = today, I still had 1 cycle per hour at Main St and 3 cycles at Brodeurs. Over to the Club and as Tuesday, no entry/exits at the SE Club. So back to the Church lot to focus on the Brodeur rim…lots of action from 12:45 through to 2 PM. I was watching moulting adults and trying to get under the birds leaving Brodeurs. On a couple of occasions, I was sure there was a juvenile – black and sleek and no obvious feather gaps but they weren’t perfectly aligned over my head to be 100% sure. On the final walk back to the car after being in the RM, a swift popped out of Brodeurs really low, got masked by the tree to the north, but I sprinted to get under it and I am sure it was a juvenile.

 So the “something” happened on Tuesday and I am calling fledging at SE Club Amical on Tuesday July 24.

 This is a record for earliest recorded fledging date in St Adolphe (2007-2018).

• This is also the first record of a successful breeding attempt at the SE Club chimney.
• There was a helper involved in this breeding attempt and I had no idea fledging was imminent as I can’t
  interpret the activity pattern with a helper yet.
• A group of 5 low flying birds that continually absorbed swifts leaving the Brodeur chimney was flying about today – but no flock that did flyovers or peer ‘n’ veer’s or fast group flying; the group of 5 is possibly 2 adults, 1 helper, and 2 fledglings?’

  On Tuesday, August 1^st, Barb was back reporting:

‘Tortuous Tuesday it was. On July 31^st, the St Adolphe swifts went off script…

 It was cool in the morning and few swifts were seen in town – a group of 4 was seen once (down from 10 the previous day). A juvenile and an adult had a turn in the Main St chimney. The SE Club was not used at all and one 13 second visit was made to the NE Club chimney.

 For the extended roosting hour, Rob and I headed to the parking lot at the Church to watch the Brodeur Bros. chimney in hopes of getting a fledgling head count for the relocated SE Club birds. I was going to sit strategically to head-snap-watch the Church chimney also. After the Church birds nest failure, no daytime activity took place. We wondered if the resident pair was still in town or if perhaps the local birds were setting up a pre-migratory group which has been seen in previous years.

 It was a long and chilly watch until sunset. Two swifts dove into the Church. Ok, the resident pair is around. Minutes later an absolutely warp speed flying display was put on by 4 swifts. Low careening passes low over the Church roof, circling the rim before flying over to the rectory, swooping around the Brodeur chimney before speeding back to the Church. Those swifts reminded me of migratory birds seen in late August – ones not familiar with the territory and looking for a place to hang their feathers for the night.

 One swift took the plunge into Brodeurs. Then another body was ½ way in before Rob recognized the entry. I was watching another of the speedsters when it flew low over the front of our parked truck & carried on over my shoulder to the tops of the Japanese Maple row east of us. Then there was a flaring ‘n’ flapping descent right over the artificial tower. That’s when I lost sight of the swift! Intriguing to say the least. I said more. We have never had a confirmed entry into any of the artificial Manitoba towers.

 So Wandering Wednesday (August 1) started early. It was a lovely morning to sit the vigil at the tower… ½ hour before to ½ hour after sunrise it was. Two mugs of coffee in hand and one hour, and a few bonus minutes, of monitoring later, there was no exit from the tower. The crazed swift had not entered. But you have to ground truth these things…’

 Moving ahead, here is her report from this morning (the 3^rd August)

‘Fortunately, Lewis & Frank & Jacquie & Rob responded to Barb’s distress call  of “need help monitoring”, so we did a multi-site session last night.

• Main St. – no activity in 90 minutes other than 4 late roosting entries (the last caught nicely by Lewis as I dropped my head to record the previous 2 entries). If this is the intact family group, a behavioural estimate = 2 fledglings.
• Church – Frank had 4 entries then shortly afterward an exit (see the NE Club) for a total of 3 roosting.
• Brodeurs – no activity; on Tuesday, there were 2 entries made by frantic fliers (“from away” birds likely).
• Club Amical – Rob started watching shortly after 8 PM. At the NE chimney, an exit was made ~45 minutes after the start of observations followed by an entry 10 minutes later. Then there was a cluster of activity in both chimneys –  2 roosting entries were made together in the SE chimney (cue the “who are you?” music from CSI); 2 entries and 1 exit and 1 entry in the NE chimney. Then the air space went quiet before 2 frantic fliers approached (shortly after Frank’s exit at the Church) – there was a feigned entry and lots of under the eave fast flying. These 2 roosted in the NE site also and are likely “from aways”.

 Going from the Club chimneys, over Brodeurs, north to the Church then to Main St., the total in town was 2 + 4 + 0 + 3 + 4 = 13.

 Local swifts have departed and “from away” swifts were seen (as Tuesday night indicated too).’

 Linda and Nia counted swifts into two chimneys at Lower Fort Garry on July 26^th.

On the 28^th, John,, watched an entry and exit cycle on a new site on Bannatyne, but saw nothing enter another new site on William. Both sites were in and around the Exchange District in Winnipeg.

On July 29^th, Ken and Jan in Dauphin reported that:

‘Chimney #2 had 3 swifts go down but the chimney is nestled between the building and several large spruce which makes it almost impossible to see an exit. The entries were 8:03, 8:35 & 8:38 so there could have been an exit between, the main thing is however that the this was not the roosting hour and, there were lots of “veer and peer” flights overhead so I would say YES to a nest.

 The roost chimney #1 was during roosting hour but had an exit just as we got there and a ½ hour later there was an in & out 3 minutes apart which would indicate YES another nest even thought a ½ hour later there were another 26 swifts go down for the night!!

 The #3 chimney Jan got to watch also had 2 in& outs with less than a minute between and only 4 minutes between the two cycles so 2 birds at least feeding here also, YES another nest.’

 On the 29^th, Margaret and Millie, still had a very active nesting pair in Brandon. Margaret sent an update from the 1^st of:

‘We are monitoring more frequently so as not too miss the fledging, and hoping that they will be successful.’

The pair were still active that evening.

Garry had a strange event on the 30^th at his regular monitoring site in East Kildonan. Watching the birds to fledging, he reported that:

‘I found it kind of strange that the 2 swifts that exited at 21:03 were in the chimney for at least 40 minutes after I arrived, since I saw no entries during that first 40 minutes. I would have thought they would be foraging continuously at that time of the evening.’

 Never fear, Barb is here with some answers, suggesting:

‘I am wondering if you have had fledging from this site and the youngsters could be hunkered in the chimney and the parents were resting with them. The adults may have been the exits and roosting entries.’

 So we think we have a successful nest here. Huzzah!

Nia and Linda  were back out on the 30^th, and back to the Selkirk Hospital sites. 12 roosting swifts entered the large stack, and 1 the Yellow Brick chimney (I am sure there’s a song about this chimney in the Wizard of Oz).

On the 31^st July, Christian got, what one now calls, ‘a swifting’, that is he got completely baffled and buffeted trying to watch too many swifts at once. 21 swifts in the air, 7 into the Moorgate, activity at Silver Heights, and birds into a new adjacent site. Phew!

On Wednesday, Frank, Jacquie, Lewis, and a rumoured few others, returned to Assiniboine School to have a look. Here is Frank’s report:

‘ASSINIBOINE SCHOOL   NO ENTRIES OR EXITS (only one CHSW seen close to the chimney and only a handful seen in the area)

 KINGS THEATRE  NO ENTRIES OR EXITS

 178 PORTAGE AVENUE APARTMENTS  THREE ENTRIES (and I think you will have a report from another observer)– we had an obscured view

 CARILLON TOWERS THREE ENTRIES (20:55, 21:02, 1nd 21:23  NO EXITS’

We await the other reports, but it looks like Assiniboine School, amazing in the spring, empty in the fall.

A site that is not empty in the fall is 303 Assiniboine. Tim, reported 12 entries, 2 loitering Peregrines, and even a friendly passerby.

 Barb and Rob’s Excellent Adventures to La Salle continued:

‘Got to La Salle a bit late as we attended the discovery of a freshly rolled, totally mangled car, upside down but straddling the ditch on 247 W. Nobody was there other than the good Samaritans; another fellow called it in and it had not been reported. The car was being towed away as we came home. Stolen
and abandoned after a joy ride?

All this = estimate of 2 fledglings as a helper has been on site.’

 Another happy swift family!

David continues to find a whole lot of swifts in La Broquerie:

‘Last night, Wednesday there were 12 entries in the large chimney and 3 in the small, making a total of 15.  Lots of exits but the final tally is 15.’

 Michele and Mike continue to report and do I hear the sounds of baby swifts in eh air here as well (Barb will confirm):

‘Last night’s activity in SFX was quite different than last week. Entries and exits were at a “not quite so frantic” pace, with individual birds spending more time in the chimney before exiting again. Also, to our great delight, we spotted 4 to 5 swifts appearing suddenly over the roof-line of the church then disappearing again just as suddenly. I am 90% certain there were 5 in total but we counted only 4 entering the chimney for the night.’

Cal reported a similar story in Portage, and this has again winged itself to the MCSI brains trust. Another successful nesting attempt appears to have happened here as well. Woohoo!

Gerald observed some nice daytime activity at the nesting site in Lockport on the 2^nd.

Christian checked the zoo tower on the 2^nd to no avail, but there are certainly lots of swifts in this area. Fingers crossed!

New volunteer Leah  checked the site on Corydon and reported that she:

‘Saw two entries and one departure in about 10 minutes of viewing.  Saw at least 4 in the air at one time.

Finally, Tim made it a lucky 13 new sites for the year, catching an entry/exit at a Ukrainian National Federation building on Main. He is currently seeking funding to have our factsheets translated to Ukrainian!

And there we go, this week has seen some very happy swift families, and leaves us with only a week or two of swifting to go. Keep going, we are almost there, and we have had some incredible success (again)!

— Tim Poole

“Team from Winnipeg’s My Place Realty Step up to Save Manitoba Chimney Swifts”

On Friday July 27th, Nicole Firlotte, Christian Artuso and Tim Poole attended a plaque presentation with staff of My Place Realty, a Winnipeg-based company. The plaque was presented in recognition of conserving Chimney Swift habitat on an apartment roof in Wolseley.

The story below was written by Tom Haughton, Vice President of My Place Realty, who attended the presentation with members of his team explains below what happened, and the successful outcome of their endeavours, making our latest, very worthy Swift Champion plaque recipients.

Earlier this year, contractors working for My Place Realty (MPR) had to replace a boiler in one of their Winnipeg buildings (at 129 Lenore) and subsequently capped a chimney in the building, unaware that chimney swifts had used this as their home in past years.

Using twigs and their own sticky saliva, the swifts construct a cup-shaped nest well down inside brick chimneys. Once the eggs are hatched, the young birds spend about 30 days in the nest, before heading south for the winter (usually by late August) to South America. They are the only species of swift that breed in eastern North America as far west as Manitoba.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has listed the chimney swift as a threatened species, and it is now listed on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. The chimney swift is also listed as a threatened species under the Manitoba Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act.

Not surprisingly, the contractors working for MPR knew nothing of the nests, let alone the swift’s threatened species status. In April, Nicole Firlotte, a manager with Manitoba Sustainable Development, contacted the site’s construction manager, explaining that two swifts had been seen entering and exiting the chimney in 2017 and previously, suggesting that it was used as a nesting site.

Manitoba Sustainable Development explained that the company was required by law not to disturb the habitat of a threatened species. As a fix to the problem, the construction manager suggested that they uncap another chimney on the same building that they had just capped off. That chimney could be the new home for the swifts’ nest.

As migratory swifts typically return to Manitoba in mid-May, this proposal came just in time to provide a suitable alternative for the birds. Construction manager, Ken Defoort said Nicole Firlotte was very happy with MPR’s “swift” response.

The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative (MCSI) is a program of many partner organisations, lead by Nature Manitoba, with over a hundred volunteers who have found chimneys used by swifts across southern Manitoba, which are monitored annually. MCSI is dedicated to finding stewardship opportunities to prevent the loss of swift nesting and roosting sites and was delighted with the clever solution at Lenore. MCSI wants to work with the company on other buildings MPR owns that may have old chimneys, and possibly nesting chimney swifts.

“We support initiatives like this,” says Tom Haughton, Vice President of MPR. “At the core of our business is a commitment to corporate social responsibility. This includes philanthropic projects like this one – working in partnership with organizations like the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative to ensure the survival of our natural neighbours. We embrace this project wholeheartedly and are encouraging other companies to take on similar projects.”

MCSI has prepared a plaque for MPR, calling the company “Chimney Swift Champions.”

— Tom Haughton, Vice President of My Place Realty

Another week of excellent monitoring has come to a close, and we have some really fascinating reports from Dauphin to Brandon, from La Broquerie to St Francois Xavier.

Where to start ?

On July 23rd, Robert and Donna attempted the Selkirk 3 chimney watch at Selkirk Mental Health Centre. They reported 12 swifts entering the large stack, and multiple entry and exits at the infirmary and yellow brick chimneys.

Moving to Ken, Jan and the fast growing Dauphin crew. Here is July 25th’s swift news:

‘Well, we got ourselves organized to watch all 3 Dauphin chimneys with walkie-talkies to share our instantaneous observations. As I (Ken) was filling in my data sheet at the roost there was a sudden swift showing up and straight down the chimney (8:27) and shortly there after another went down (8:50) followed by an exit (8:51) and another exit (9:05), this type of turn around is not what we are used to in Dauphin.

Meanwhile at chimney #3 there was an in & out within a minute (9:10) and at chimney #2 there was also an in & out (9:13/9:14). Is it possible that all 3 chimneys have nests? Later chimney #3 had another in & out (9:30) while #2 had “veer and peers” about every 5 minutes.

Right on sunset, the roost chimney airspace was suddenly alive with swifts and within a few minutes 29 flew down the chimney followed by 4 more over the next few minutes.

In summary there were 34 in roost chimney (#1); only 1 spotted(?) going down #2; and finally 3 in chimney #3.’

Ken also sent an update from July 29th:

‘Chimney #2 had 3 swifts go down but the chimney is nestled between the building and several large spruce which makes it almost impossible to see an exit. The entries were 8:03, 8:35 & 8:38 so there could have been an exit between, the main thing is however that the this was not the roosting hour and, there were lots of “veer and peer” flights overhead so I would say YES to a nest.

The roost chimney #1 was during roosting hour but had an exit just as we got there and a ½ hour later there was an in & out 3 minutes apart which would indicate YES another nest even thought a ½ hour later there were another 26 swifts go down for the night!!

The #3 chimney Jan got to watch also had 2 in& outs with less than a minute between and only 4 minutes between the two cycles so 2 birds at least feeding here also, YES another nest.’ 

Great news from Dauphin, and congratulations to everyone involved in the effort to confirm these sites.

Veering south and east, David, was back in situ at the church in La Broquerie, one of Manitoba’s most intriguing stories for 2018. Here is his report from July 25th:

‘After subtracting the exits (4) from the entries (23) I made it 15 birds in the large chimney for the night and 4 in the small chimney, making a grand total of 19 compared with 9 seen on earlier counts.

It is very hard to watch both chimneys simultaneously so I concentrated on the large chimney and may have missed some activity at the small chimney.

I arrived at 8.30 and there was an exit almost immediately afterwards, so there may have been entries before that time too.  AS you know it was cold, windy and heavily overcast with rain spots occasionally so early to bed was the order of the day.

There were a lot of Purple Martins sharing the same airspace so it was impossible to count swifts in the air.  Strangely the Martins disappeared at 9pm almost exactly.’

Gord in Portage reported form the same evening that:

‘I had a total of 4 entries at Trinity United Church with 15-30 minute intervals between entries. It was a very poor evening, as there was an overcast and it was cold and windy. The birds were having difficulty finding insects to feed their young, but the upside is that they haven’t abandoned their nest.’

In Brandon, Margaret and Millie still have a very active pair (or is there a helper?), 8 entries and 6 exits was a very good evenings work on the 25th.

Michele and Mike in Saint François Xavier reported on the 25th that:

‘We were really expecting to see more than 2 individual chimney swifts at our site in SFX last night but on the bright side, they were very busy with multiple entries and exits at regular intervals….first time I’ve had a 2 page night! ‘

Another pair feeding – excellent!

Barbara and Phil in St Boniface managed a magnificent 10 entries, and 7 exits on their watch. This controversial watch has given rise to estimates in the chimney from 3 to 4 to 6! Yes, swift experts cannot agree how to count. We will be sending the data to an arbitrator to decipher the actual results soon! The important thing though is there is an active nesting attempt still going, and there are helpers on site.

Back down in Morden, and David has a nice update:

‘ Consistent entries and exits by 2 different birds.  8 entries and 6 exits over the course of the hour and a half Paul and I observed the Lucky’s chimney.  Except for the final entries of the night right at sunset, every entry was followed by an exit within a minute.  Final entries were right at sunset.’

A new site doing well then!

Talking of new sites, Tim, was back on his bike this week having to check on a brood of swifts found in North Kildonan on Valhalla Drive. As ever, there is more to the story than we can fit here, but needless to say, we were delighted to discover our first active site north of Chief Peguis. On the same day (the 24th), he also picked up a new site in West Kildonan at the Kildonan United Church. The 26th, a wedding anniversary, some ice cream, and a coffee at Starbucks on Pembina resulting in a brief watch of the Flag Shop where 3 swifts were hanging out. Nothing happened for a while, they left for home and Tim picked out a new site while driving (honest officer, my eyes were facing forwards at all times), as a swift tumbled out of the Pembina Hotel on the corner of Pembina and Jubilee. A fourth new site was found on Friday on Broadway, at number 634 on the way home from a presentation in Wolseley (subsequently confirmed later in the evening as a breeding site). In other news, he also confirmed the breeding attempt on Kennedy as ongoing. Phew!

Again on the 26th, Meredith completed her first ever swift monitoring session. She reported from East Kildonan:

‘I checked out Roxy Lanes last night and there is a pair of Chimney Swifts using the chimney!! They were entering and exiting every few minutes so they must be feeding young.’

More happy families!

Lynnea checked a few sites out, confirming the Valhalla site on the 26th, but still finding a chimney (seriously weird this site). She did also on Fridayhave a successful evening at the 105 Clark property, recording multiple entries and exits.

Frank and Jacquie begin their update with the important matters before moving onto a swift update at Otterburne on the 26th (an attempt on the 25th ended a bit mistily):

‘We did not stop for Timmies…

All entries and exits were to the south side “skinny” chimney. There was no soaring above the campus– just direct arrivals and departures from/to the forested river side. 

It appears that some birds returned late (I don’t think we missed their return) with three CHSW confirmed in the chimney. At one point where we confirmed three in the chimney, a fourth CHSW was seen near the middle chimney.

So, at least three in the skinny chimney with a likely fourth CHSW in the vicinity.’

Exhausted, we come to La Salle. Barb and Rob have their usual tales of stroppy swifts:

‘Just a quick update to say that the La Salle swifts were a bit weird last night. Should have gone out on watery Wed. when it could all be blamed on the weather…By the end of the evening, we had an exit, entry – long duration in, exit, and final roosting entry at the EAST chimney. While the alleged helper was in the chimney, all sorts of entry/exit events were going on at the WEST chimney. The final count in the WEST was 1 swift and that was shortly before curfew. It was strange though as there were two exit styles from the WEST chimney – one to the southwest and one to the north. But, you have to go with the numbers and keep the hunch by your side…so no helping helper, and no absolute indication of the pair. Insert a frustrated bad word. The nest site in the WEST chimney is active though.’

We have a longer St Adolphe update from Barb to come – the week was very exciting and we need a full blog to report on all the weird and wacky swift activities.

It’s August tomorrow and there are fledglings in the air. For many of you, this might be the last opportunity to watch ‘your swifts’ before they move on, so lets get out and enjoy them while we can!

— Tim Poole

Swift housing crisis

We are in the midst of a potential housing crisis for some young swifts who have fallen from their nest. They have been re-placed in the nest,  but they may not be re-visited and fed by their parents. (We’re monitoring the chimney now.).

We may need to take the birds out and place them in rehab for a few days. In this scenario, we may want to place the birds in multiple chimneys where they might be “adopted” by new parents.

If we take the birds to rehab to recover for a few days, can we then find suitable locations with feeding adults and accessible clean outs and friendly owners?

If anyone in the Winnipeg area knows of a suitable active chimney with an accessible clean-out and sympathetic homeowners, please let us know.

Frank M for the MCSI

Wednesday 25th July will be our latest monitoring challenge. This week, we are asking if folk can do a one and a half hour roost monitoring session at sites for which we have evidence of a breeding attempt in 2018. We have included a list of possible sites at the end of this post.

‘logically, in times of poor feeding, it would seem that a nesting attempt where the breeding pair are tolerant of a helper would just fare better compared to non-helper nest sites.’

We have been trying to keep volunteers and interested folk alike abreast of Chimney Swift activity throughout the summer. One of our target activities this year has been to go out and find swifts in new places. To this end, it is high time you were given an update as to where we stand on this, and a friendly reminder that there is still time to find more swifts.

A number of you have checked out towns in Manitoba, from Gilbert Plains, Ste-Rose-du-Lac in the northwest (ok, northwest of Chimney Swift range), to Baldur, Pilot Mound and Rivers in the southwest, Eriksdale in the Interlake and Emerson in the south. In total, we must have had folk look at over 20 towns in addition to the usual spots we watch. That is some effort. Here is a summary of where we stand, including a trip report from the Emerson/Dominion City trip earlier this week.

Towns Where We Have Swifts (Hurrah)

Baldur (report by Cal Cuthbert) Also today (June 10) at 9:53 AM I spotted a lone CHSW flying among a myriad of Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, some Cliff Swallows and Purple Martins over Baldur, specifically 2 blocks W of the Baldur United Church (over Oak Creek Road). The previous evening I had spent about 30 minutes walking slowly along Carrie Avenue in the vicinity of the Baldur United Church but didn’t see any swifts in spite of the good looking chimney there which had been earlier noted. Therefore today’s bird was a surprise. Maybe our next visit down there will come up with more than one bird and that this one wasn’t just a transient.

Pilot Mound (report by Katharine Schulz) I was not able to link the two Chimney Swifts in Pilot Mound to any specific chimney, although they appeared to spend most of their time above a two street by three street area with the majority of potential chimneys that I had noted. There was also a potential chimney on an old house east outside Pilot Mound (south side of #3 Hwy just east of the intersection of Hwy 34).

The potential chimneys in this area included:

• 128 Moffat Ave ~26 bricks high x3x3
• 138 Moffat Ave. ~42 bricks high x 3.5 x5.5 rectangle
• 125 Stanley Ave. (corner at Anderson St.) cinder blocks
• 137 Stanley Ave. ~21 bricks high x3x2 with metal around top edge
• 215 Railway St. (on section between Stanley Ave. and Victoria Ave. ~30 bricks high x3x2

Eriksdale (report by Ken De Smet) ‘It’s from 1:20 pm on June 29. After many sail overs one of the pair went down the small church chimney on Railway Avenue.  No affiliation or sign on church and doors locked. It’s between Coop and New Horizons Club.’

Neepawa (report from Rick) ‘I went there today(June 22nd) and the one is flying continuously around the hospital and mainly staying mostly around the large chimney. I am not sure but it feels that the other is on the nest.’

​Lockport (report by Gerald Macnee)  ​’This evening (July 11th) when we were returning from Winnipeg at about 8:15 PM I noticed a couple of Swifts near the bridge. So parked for a few minutes and saw several flying around. I saw up to 10 flying from 8:20 PM until 9:45 PM. Then they started going in and out of the north chimney. One came out of the south chimney.’

Birtle (report by Lynnea Parker) ‘I’ve got 4 CHSW flyover in Birtle, Main Street (June 19th)’

Morden (report by David Charriere) ‘This evening (June 23rd), I saw 2 entries, and 1 exit.  Not being overly familiar with the nest duties of swifts, the timing of the second entry/exit surprised me.  Is it normal for a entry/exit to be only 10-15 seconds apart?   If the birds swapped places on the nest this quick change makes sense to me.  And if it is a normal turnaround time, this explains why I missed a likely exit at or near 7:57 (as soon as the entry happened I took time to jot it on my worksheet).’

Dominion City (report by Tim Poole, Chris Meiklejohn and Lynnea Parker) ‘Last evening (July 18th), Lynnea Parker, Chris Meiklejohn and I took a road trip to the south on a mission to eek out some Chimney Swifts in new places. Our first stop was Dominion City. I had recently found a record from Luc Blanchette of swifts in the town in around 2014, so a follow up was very much needed.

Having managed to make the town (I very nearly took us on a detour around St Agathe), we began our search. Within about one minute a swift was spotted
over the road. We followed it around the corner and set our eyes on a very nice looking brick chimney on a private household. At this point I think we had 2 swifts in the air. One swift dropped into the house. Success! Soon after we could see 3 swifts in the air, then the second swift dropped. The other two swifts disappeared for a bit only to be seen intermittently for the next 20 minutes or so. We noted a couple of other possible chimneys and headed to Emerson.’

Emerson (report by Tim Poole, Chris Meiklejohn and Lynnea Parker)  ‘Emerson was not so lucky to begin with (this is the same day as the Dominion City report). We drove around for quite a while and did not see swifts or any really good chimneys. One private house looked out best bet and Lynnea staked it out for a while. Around sunset, and with still no swifts we decided that it didn’t look promising. I decided to drive to the railway bridge over the river, call it a hunch, and immediately spotted a more promising bird in the air. Walking onto the bridge (there’s a pedestrian path), I spied at least one swift heading north over the river, possibly with 2 others (they flew away before I could get a good look). Back to town! Apart from a brief glimpse that I had of a probable swift near the post office after sunset, we did not get to see a swift enter a chimney (Barb Stewart found a picture of the masonic lodge on First Street after our trip which looks to have a very nice masonry chimney). On the way back to the 75, via a detour to nowhere, we saw at least one good looking chimney east of the Red River in an area we had not explored. This was by the border crossing (stop press, a look on Streetview suggests a number of possible chimneys in this area).

Anyway, needless to say it was ultimately a successful trip! If anyone wants to head down that way on a second swift search, let me know and I can provide details of possible locations.’

Manitou (monitoring done by Lynnea, Frank, Jacquie and David) 4 sites were watched with no success. Frank and Lynnea both though heard brief swift chattering.

Other towns watched – but with no swifts (yet)

We cannot just give credit to those who found swifts. A number of folk took the trouble to look elsewhere for swifts with less success. Below is a list of places checked this year without swifts:

• • • • • • Rivers (Margaret and Millie), no suitable chimneys found
          • Gilbert Plains (Ken), some suitable chimneys but no swifts seen
          • Grandview (Ken), no suitable chimneys found
          • Laurier (Ken), possible chimneys, no swifts
          • Ste Rose du Lac (Ken and Jan), one possible but unlikely chimney
          • Ochre River (Ken and Jan), one possible but unlikely chimney
          • Valley River (Ken and Jan),  no suitable chimneys found
          • Sifton (Ken and Jan),  no suitable chimneys found
          • Minnedosa (Tim and Sabina), some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Erickson (Tim and Sabina), no likely chimneys
          • Boissevain (Katharine),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Crystal City  (Katharine),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Cartwright  (Katharine),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Minto (Katharine and Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          •  Deloraine (Katharine)  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Virden (Katharine),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Dunrea (Katharine),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Ninette ( Katharine and Frank and Jacquie ),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Miami (Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Mariapolis (Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Belmont  (Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Wawanesa (Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts
          • Glenboro  (Frank and Jacquie),  some suitable chimneys, no swifts

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        If I have forgotten to include anywhere else in this list, please let me know and I will update the blog to be more accurate.

        It it important to note that, just because there were no swifts noted on these visits, this does not dismiss these towns as possible locations for swifts, especially in those places where searches were made during the day.

        A huge thank you everyone who has gone out and checked these places. As you can tell, there are some places which need more looking to get those all important swift residences identified. Please feel free to go and find these, and if you need some pointers, we will be happy to help!

        — Tim Poole

Most breeding Chimney Swifts are likely to be at the stage where they are feeding non-brooded young – chicks which no longer require an adults warmth to survive inside the chimney. In the last week of July and early August, we will start to see young birds leave the chimney, and these birds will start to migrate in mid-August. For a full summary of swift dates in Manitoba, you can read an excellent summary from Barb and Rob Stewart on our website at https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/monitoring_guide2011.pdf. With this in mind, sit back with a cup of coffee, a glass of water, or something stronger, and read the latest interesting swift news from Barb Stewart in St Adolphe.

— Tim Poole

The following comes to us from Barb Stewart based on recent observations from  the Chimney Swift capital of Manitoba, Saint Adolphe.

All monitoring data collected are useful but some sessions are just more fun than others. Tim sent news of Margaret and Millie’s fabulous pair in Brandon who had 13 entries and 11 exits in the roosting hour on July 15. There was a report from a Winnipeg site, on July 17, documenting 7 entry/exit events in 40 minutes prior to roosting. That is excellent activity at both nest sites – reflecting big patches of local insects? – and very enjoyable swift watching experiences.

Sadly, there is another end of the spectrum. Zero, zip, nil, nada. And that is what happened (or didn’t) during a 120 minute monitoring session Wed. morning, July 18, at the St Adolphe Church. I saw a group of 5 swifts feeding in the cemetery, so there were adult survivors of the recent heat wave. That may not be the case for all nestlings. Even with the recent trend of low feeding rates, adult no-shows for over 2 hours is too long to keep juveniles alive. This site will be followed closely over the next few days for ongoing signs of a nest failure.

Checking in on other sites on Tues., July 17, a single swift flew really low over the Main St chimney 50 minutes into the mid-morning monitoring period. An audible chitter came from the passing bird. Then, a swift flew quickly out of the chimney – it had been inside for a very long time. It is remarkable how these breeding pairs communicate and keep connected.

After Tuesday’s Main St session I moved over to the Club Amical. The feeding activity in the SE chimney continued nicely. On Sunday the pair was also active and “veer and peer” behaviour was evident. So, the young are non-brooded now.

At the NE chimney on Sunday, an adult left the chimney 50 minutes into the session. Then on Tuesday, an adult entered the chimney while a second swift flying with it flew off. Incubation is not indicated so this pair will not have a successful secondary nesting attempt. Time has run out for this season.

Still no sign of flyby’s or activity at the Brodeur Bros site.

Moving along to Thurs. July 19, the morning monitoring started at Club Amical. And what a session it was. All was revealed. Five swifts were flying low to the roof and around the general area making all sorts of sounds when I arrived. Within minutes, an entry was made into the SE site as 7 swifts were flying about. Then 8 noisy swifts flew by, then 9 were counted. Two swifts approached the SE site and 1 dropped in; minutes later another entry was made. Brilliant! With 3 swifts inside the SE chimney a helper was confirmed. Within a minute, a swift left the SE chimney so that left 2 inside.  Then a whole lot of noise broke out – swifts and martins were mobbing a hawk (Sharp-shinned or Cooper’s). As the birds clumped together to drive off their foe, it seemed that 9-10 swifts were in the group. Then a swift popped up from the NE chimney. Ok – that made for 1 in the SE and 1 in the NE when 9 swifts were spotted; and there were 2 in the SE and 1 in the NE chimney when the mob scene took place. So this morning, 11 swifts for sure and possibly 12-13 swifts were in town. For over an hour, low feeding flights with stall ‘n’ nabs were seen along with group flying, peer ‘n’ veers at the SE rim, racing with body bumping, “V” displays between close flying pairs ~ all with a wide range of conversations that only the swifts could understand!

Swifts are highly social birds and the St Adolphe flock was certainly engaged this morning. Unfortunately, there was no activity again at the Church chimney for over an hour. Perhaps the nest failure which seemed apparent on Wed. resulted in a renewed social connections on Thurs.

At the time of writing Thurs. night, the rain was pouring in torrents and an electrical storm danced about the sky. Sheet wash on the inside surface of chimneys is a risk to nests. So the vigil will continue at the chimney-sides Friday to check on nesting progress…

To wrap things up, here’s a point to ponder ~ the Kyle’s who wrote the bible “Chimney Swifts, America’s Mysterious Birds Above the Fireplace” say that young in Texas get fed on average every 30 minutes for 7 days; then they are fed on average once an hour. Based on 11 years of observations in St Adolphe, non-brooded young usually are fed 3-4 times an hour. So why are the St Adolphe swifts behaving more like Texas birds this year with 1 X hour feeding rates? Whatever is driving the seemingly low Manitoba feeding rates may be contributing to unsuccessful nesting outcomes. Something to think about as you stare at a chimney rim waiting for action…

— Barb Stewart