News and posts

Our final official monitoring night was a bit of a turgid affair for many, a fair few sites were not watched in favour of avoiding the possibility of being struck by lightning. But hey, some folk managed to get out where the weather was better, and some folk also got out on other days. Here is our latest swift monitoring update.

First, to business though. This Wednesday is the first of our ‘Wednesday Night Swift Night’ of the summer. To mark this, we are encouraging all monitors in and around Winnipeg to turn up at Assiniboine School to watch the large roost. We may even recruit a few folk to look at the surrounding chimneys in the area before descending on the school for the main event. We will be there from 8:30, so please come along and meet us!

We cannot avoid this first piece of news any longer. On Friday, Laura  from the Assiniboine Park Zoo sent us this message:
‘Good news! Our students were checking out the Zoo chimney this afternoon to see if the data loggers were still recording, and saw 2 swifts exit the chimney! I sent them out to continue observing for ~ 1 hour, and they did not see any more entrances or exits.’
This is the first ever use of an artificial chimney in Manitoba, a very significant moment, and huge credit must go to a number of people, not least Nicole at Manitoba Sustainable Development for making this happen.
The story didn’t end there. This needed following up. Avoiding the downpours on Saturday, Tim popped up mid-morning and watched for an hour. Here are the results:
https://youtu.be/yvs2t9nysWs

Nicole and Cain tried later in the day, but alas they teased, weaved and didn’t enter. Not to worry, Barb and Rob went on Sunday and sent the following:

‘Rob and I landed at our observation site ~4:50 PM today (Sun. June 9) – facing north toward the tower, with chairs set up on the broad sidewalk due east of Gate E 10. We started officially at 4:54 PM and saw 2-3 swifts feeding over the tower many times.

Patience was rewarded with observing a meteoric dive entry at 5:50:31 PM – the swift dove in on an angle from an easterly approach. This was a confident, experienced bird using the site.

Kamikaze Pete left the tower at 6:01:21 PM with a low, quick rim-blip exit to the west; duration in the chimney ~11 minutes.

So the site has had at least three consecutive days of use. It looks like the swifts are using the tower as a nest site.’
Amazing news for 2019!
And the news keeps coming.

In 2018, St Vital and St Boniface appeared relatively quiet for swifts. Not so in 2019! We may just be fortunate that Blair has come along as a volunteer. But there seems to be something in the air around here. Here is another new site, the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre on Provencher, also known as the home of Nature Manitoba Discovery evenings:‘It was a dark and stormy evening, when I arrived to watch the chimney at 340 Provencher – Centre Culturel Franco Manitoba.  It was so dark I expected I could have missed all entries.  At 9 PM, the sky had cleared significantly and at 9:02, two Chimney Swifts flew by coming from the North and going South.At 9:04 and then 9:07, a CHSW, exited the chimney.  They returned and entered the chimney at 9:16 and 9:18 PM. Another pair (two swifts) in this chimney.’

Blair followed up with a follow-up at an old favourite, Springs Christian Academy:
‘I was able to check out the small chimney at the north end of 261 Youville recently. On June 9, I checked the chimney but not from a good vantage point.  I caught one CHSW dropping in the chimney at 9:21, with no more activity.  So, I went out for a short period on June 10th to confirm if I missed a second entry.On June 10, I saw two shifts circle the building and then both entered at the same minute 16 minutes later. A fourth chimney with two chimney swifts in St. Boniface.’

Tim also got in on the act in St Vital, this time from the comfort of his own neighbourhood in Riverview – a bit of a home boy apparently! On the 6th, he spotted two swifts sweeping around the Riverside Billiard’s on St Mary’s, a site which has sat on the database for 13 years, with no record of a swift entering. Well, no more! Later that afternoon, while taking his sick child out on a tricycle ride, Tim spotted the same pair of swifts over the chimney through his binoculars. He watched the swifts from the far side of the red River, eventually seeing one drop into the chimney.

The success in that area is in stark contrast to Fort Garry, where volunteers have really struggled to find any swifts. The folks at the Old Grace Housing Coop, on this occasion, Debbie and Carl were left empty handed, zero swifts spotted (although birds were seen in the air earlier in the week).

On the 6th, Justin and his family  decided to watch the Assiniboine School and were rewarded by the following:‘I did note that 3 swifts went in around 9:27 and the rest (between 65-70) went in between 9:49-9:51.The Friday night monitoring was certainly patchy this week. Thunderclouds gathered over Winnipeg, lightning flashed, and some very sensible folk decided not to chance it outside. Certainly Gerald in Selkirk tried:
‘I did a short survey yesterday, June 7. I spent 10 minutes at Lower Fort Garry. There were no Swifts or Swallows flying.
I was at the large stack at the SMHC from 9:20 to 10:00 PM. Zero Swifts 
sighted. The rain had passed through Selkirk by about 9-9:15 PM. I expect that the Swifts had entered the chimneys very early.’

Linda tried the Moorgate, covering for Frank and Jacquie who were in Churchill (not sure why, there’s no swifts in Churchill). Here is her report:
‘We had a severe weather watch but fortunately was almost finished passing through just as I was leaving home. We had had high winds and high temps 36C throughout the day and then came the calm before the storm! Thankfully it missed our end of town but not sure how others fared. Anyway, I did see at least 2 Chimney Swifts, but not entering or leaving. Hope this doesn’t give me a failing grade! LOL’.

On Corydon, Leah and Donald were left disappointed, not a single swift, and the only some lightning for company.

Ken, Jan, Pat and Marilyn in Dauphin reported:

‘The final count night for Dauphin went quit well, despite what the Watson Art Centre observers said:

Lots of chatter we could often hear them but not see them. Flew mostly in groups of 2 or 3 but did see a group of 4 once in a while and one group of 6. We had one entry at 9:09 but non after that time. Did not witness any exits.

When they were packing up they think a 2^nd swift went down their chimney which is shielded somewhat by a large spruce. The old Scott’s Hardware chimney had 2 swifts go down and the roost chimney had several exit and entries and got a final count of 8. It would seem the migrants have headed off but it is possible all 3 chimneys have birds setting up nests. Now to have a short break and then do some impromptu counts over the next few weeks to few months.’

Rhonda in Carman also managed to get out:‘Last night was a hot and steamy night in Carman.  Temperature was still around 30 degrees into the evening.  The thunderstorms had missed Carman entirely but gifted us with spectacular clouds tinted with the an ever-changing kaleidoscope of the colours of the sunset…pinks, purples and oranges.  What a gorgeous  backdrop for watching the swifts.  And, I’m sure the swifts were loving it, too.  At one point, I tracked 9 swifts careening around the Town Hall and the rental house.  One swift entered the rental house early, around 8:30 and stayed put.  I moved down the street to the Town Hall and watched another 4 swifts enter singularly at staggered intervals.  No exits from the chimney.  I packed it in just before 10 pm with 2 swifts left circling close to the chimney at the Town Hall.  That accounted for 7 of the 9 that I saw at once.  Where do the others go?  It’s the mystery of the disappearing swifts.  I sure do love a good mystery.’

Michele and Mike had more luck as well:
‘I didn’t think that monitoring would be possible this evening but the weather system blew by in time for us to arrive at the church just a few minutes late. The air was dead calm at first and the temperature had dropped an astonishing 12C in the past hour. This seemed to have quite an effect on our pair of swifts with very little activity to report other than the last 2 entries a bit earlier than usual. On another note, this was the first time this year seeing dragonflies…there were quite a few flying around above us this evening.’
In La Salle, Irene and Scott observed at least 10 swifts in the air, although only 2 came down to roost in the church. Mysterious swifts again…

Colleen and Mark had a great night in Otterburne, 4 swifts in one chimney and one in the other. This lot do appear to be settling down now!

David had a good evening in La Broquerie:
‘Another interesting night of observation and in spite of the strong wind the birds seemed to fly ‘normally’ as if there was no wind.  Straight down the chimneys as usual.At 9.37, immediately after the last one went down the small chimney there were 4 birds in the air in a quick fly through.  I never saw any more entries after the 9.37 one and by 9.55 it was getting too dark with numerous lightning flashes and black clouds so I quit about 5 minutes early. I saw no exits, so from the above there were 5 birds in each chimney with 4 more unaccounted for.’

In Brandon, Margaret and Millie watched the usual spot, and were rewarded with 4 flying swifts. Unfortunately they disappeared and did not roost in the usual chimney. Never fear though, on Sunday they returned, and the pair settled for the night in the Orange Block once again. There seems to be a second pair in town, so Brandon folks, keep a lookout for more swifts!

Barb did her St Adolphe recce on Saturday morning:
‘As the sky was darkened to end-of-roosting-hour conditions and lightning strikes were flashing, an outing for Friday night swift watching was cancelled. Even with my compulsive-obsessive swift disorder, I draw the line at electrocution.So Saturday morning, off I went to St Adolphe to check on the local flock. A major electrical storm blew the sky apart ~ 0530 H and drenched the area with much needed rain. It is always a concern though that nests get washed off the wall of the chimney by heavy deluges.As I parked the car near the Main St site, a swift was low overhead and I watched it fly directly to a dead tree and bang – the dead branch end was hit – the swift circled and dropped into the chimney, with it’s partner nearby. All seemed well.Shortly after the Main St entry, a pair of swifts made entries into the Brodeur Bros. chimney after fluttery alignment. Yes, all was very good.A trio of birds raced down toward Club Amical. Several swifts were swirling around the Church. All around, the local Chimney Swifts seemed active and on task for nesting.’

Finally, we end in Souris and our Sunday evening swift watch. 21 people from as far away as Darlingford and Brandon joined a group of locals from the town for a roost watch with MCSI Coordinator, Tim Poole. A minimum of 8, possibly up to 10 swifts roosted in the church, 5 in the Whistling Donkey Pub, 3 in the nesting chimney at Kowalchuk’s, one in the brilliantly named ‘ducktaped chimney’, and finally there seems to be a nesting attempt in the Specialty Shop. Big thanks to Terry,Glennis and Gillian for the extra watching.
This is the end of the ‘official’ roost monitoring nights. but the swifts do not stop, we do not stop, and we are encouraging as many of you as possible to keep the momentum going throughout this summer. more suggestions will follow over the coming weeks of things you can do to help.

—Tim Poole

A Terrific Night of Swift Watching
Certainly in this writers experience, this was the most entertaining night of swift watching in 2019. There were some excellent reports, and as ever, you guys have challenged us in trying to condense all these into a short blog. We will try though!

Firstly though to business. We will be back out this Friday, the 9th, for our final MCSI roost monitoring night. After that, there will be some swifting in Souris on Sunday, and a Wednesday night open roost watch at Assiniboine School, our first Wednesday night swift watch event of 2019 (more to come on this).

And tomorrow is also INTERNATIONAL SWIFT DAY, and no, we did not make that up! 

We will begin in La Broquerie. David had to go out a night early, but did have plenty of fun even so:
‘It was interesting because I never saw more than 8 in the air at any time thus the mysterious 6 that flew past last time and never showed up again, didn’t show today either.  However letting exits cancel entries my final count was 6 in the large chimney and 6 in the small one.’Keelie in Steinbach had some interesting observations:
‘I only saw one sadly. And couldn’t stay long enough to see him go into the chimney. I have been noticing less swifts this year. I feel like last year there was a maximum of 7 or 8 in the sky from what I could observe and this year I have only seen a maximum of 5 at a time!’

A segue then to Lac du Bonnet and Cam and Diann:
‘No swifts seen or heard! We generally get to Lac du Bonnet early to scope things out at various locations where we have seen swifts and not a one anywhere! Near the end of the monitoring the smoke haze, while it wasn’t thick , did make seeing the chimney’s difficult ( dark sky/ dark chimney) but I don’t think there were any swifts to see.’Luc in Saint-Jean-Baptiste turned in an epic evening, 4 entries, 2 exits, and 2 in the chimney at bedtime. A total of 7 swifts were counted in the sky, a great number! The patterns of entry and exits points very much to a nesting attempt.

Speaking of nesting attempts, in Morden, David could not make it out to monitor at the roosting hour. Never fear, he went out regardless and did an excellent daytime watch, sharing these results:
’10:44 Start monitoring10:47  1 exit (I assume I just missed a entry)10:57  1 Entry  (2 birds in air chittering, only 1 entered)11:02  1 Exit11:21  1 Entry (single bird, silent entry)11:28  1 Exit11:53  1 Entry (2 birds in air chittering, only 1 entered)12:00 1 Exit’We asked MCSI’s resident nesting sequence expert, Barb Stewart to comment on the patterns David observed, and she didn’t disappoint:‘This is classic nest building behaviour. Often a pair socialize together in the air, flying close to each other, sometimes with those classic “V” displays, vocalizing, and perhaps flying broad circles in their territory around the chimney. Sometimes the pair enters together and sometimes they both approach and 1 enters while the other peels off.A swift was in the chimney at the start of David’s session. As two swifts were seen in the air (I am ASSuming close to each other), the entry/exit sequence suggest no swifts were inside at the end of the session.The time chosen to monitor is really excellent. The birds feed after leaving the site in the morning, then they get busy with breeding chores. When the heat of the day forces insects high in the sky, the frequency of activity declines (say 2 PM to 5 PM -ish) on really stinkin’ hot days.’In Otterburne, things also took a turn for the hectic. Colleen and Mark had an impressive count of 12 swifts in the chimneys, split as 7, 3 and 2 respectively in the trio of chimneys.

Blaire in St Norbert sent an email entitled ‘oh what a night at the Behavioural Health Foundation’:
‘I’m not sure if I’ve been in a different world but tonight was hectic at the health foundation.Numbers make no sense to me but here’s the break down.Today there were 4 swifts flying around over head all day9:11 pm 4 swifts flying around and 1 swift entered chimney9:11, 1 swift attempted but flew off9:22, 2 entered chimney9:24, 2 entered chimney9:24, (seconds later) 2 exited chimney9:26, 3 swifts flying near chimney9:27, 4 swifts flying around chimney9:42, 3 swifts flying around chimney9:46, 1 swift attempted to fly in but took off9:46, 2 swifts entered chimney.No activity after that.I noticed when they exited they skimmed the top of chimney and went straight down and in a blink would be missed so I’m not sure how many exits there may be. I was closer than normal so the chimney was higher from this point of view and tougher to see the top. Anyway, it was quite exciting and strange at the same time. I saw 0 entries last night too BTW. ‘

Nicole and Cain were also completely up to their eyeballs with a swift party over in Wolesley:

‘The swifts were loud and proud in Wolseley tonight.  As I enjoyed the evening on the deck there were swifts overheard chittering.  I counted 4.  As Cain and I walked to the Fleetwood he counted as many as 15 flying over and making a ruckus. I had one entry at 8:49, followed by a really graceful exit at 8:55.  Then we were treated to quite the show overhear with birds circling in chittering so loud I thought there were a hundred birds…alas only 8…then 4. We finally had entries at 9:29 and 9:32 to close out the night.  Good thing it was getting dark!’
Unfortunately, Hardo and Evelyn were unable to see any swifts at the Old Grace Housing Coop.

Kelly-Anne was at her site on Academy and watched the pair safely roost for the night, a quiet night by some standards!

Janice and John continue with the epic Lanark swifts:
‘We saw swifts but didn’t have many enter the chimneys that we were watching. I’m not sure if 2 ravens in the area were a deterrent as 1 raven stayed on the ground while the other stayed close to it. The raven on the ground appeared bright but never attempted to fly. There was a lot of noisy conversation between the 2 ravens which then seemed to attract a couple of crows. We counted 15 swifts overhead but only saw 4 enter the chimneys we were watching – there must be another chimney or 2 in this area. This was another enjoyable evening of swift watching but has left me with many questions! Where did the other swifts go to roost???’

A few blocks east, Leah and Carol reported a dumpster diver and a few swifts at 915 Corydon:‘Quite an active night – probably all over the place! We had a max count of 8 birds in the sky at once, lots of activity in smaller groups… but only 2 went into 915 Corydon – while 6 others headed off in a tight group to the WSW right after sunset.  Where to?!?!’

Where to indeed! This segues to Tim in Osborne Village trying to locate a roost in the area (patterns described by other monitors suggested that a roost must be present in this area). Alas, no roost….BUT that was one crazy evening! At least 12 swifts could be seen at various times, but this was clearly an undercount. There were aerial copulation’s, gangs of swifts chasing each other, courtship flights, and a lot more! There was an entry early on in the small chimney at 424 River. A bit later, a pair of swifts were spotted dropping into a new site on Bell. Then a pair roosted at 321 Stradbrook. Finally, a swift exited 375 Stradbrook after sunset, joined another swift, whizzed around the chimney twice, and flew off, probably to the mystery roost! On the 5th, Tim also found another new site:

‘This year continues to be crazy. Driving along Portage Ave with the window down (and Radiohead on the radio), I heard a swift above a building west of all our known chimneys. I turned around, parked up, and watched an apartment with a broken pest cage called Essex House. Within a couple of minutes a swift almost seemed to climb out the cage.’

Back to Osborne Village. Barbara sent the following report:‘Phil watched 94 Roslyn, while I watched 395 River.  The birds he saw circling may well be the same as the birds I saw. We both did a little passer-by education, a good deal of curiosity and interest. No twig collecting – HOWEVER,at 5:50, when we were stopped at lights at Osborne and York, I saw 1 CHSW swooping through the dead twigs at the top of one of the grass on the west side of Memorial Park.’
In total, Barbara counted 2 entries for the night, and Phil lucked out with zero.

Across to St James. Beth and David counted 111 swifts enter the school. This is down a few on the previous count, but that’s a good thing, suggesting that our swifts are now redistributing to nest sites. 
Frank and Jacquie sent the following:

‘A night of appropriate behavior from our CHSW for a change. Perhaps my change to decaf has helped somehow. At the Silver Heights, three CHSW went in and they stayed in. A little bit of entry/exit action at the Moorgate, but four CHSW were there at closing time. During the observation period, we had six CHSW circling near the Moorgate, but only two in the vicinity of the Silver Heights.

Anecdotally, we heard some chittering behind us (to the SW) when all of “our” birds were accounted for (21:30-ish). This has noted by us in past years, perhaps there’s another site in the vicinity.’

Ooh, extra swifts, more new sites out there to discover perhaps!

Peter continued to see no swifts enter the chimney at St Anne’s Church on Hampton, strange as this has been an excellent breeding site for swifts in recent years. BUT then on Wednesday he sent this report:

‘Between some other jobs this evening, I stopped by St. Ann’s Church.  Your breeding pair may indeed be setting up house this year. Two birds appeared at 9:20 and after some coming and going; one bird entered the chimney at 9:35.  I don’t think the other slipped in unnoticed; and I only stayed another ten minutes.’

Kelsey also reported a strange evening, her two swifts in two chimneys at the Foodfare and Mount Royal chimneys in St James now reduced to one swift between two chimneys.

Garry had an easy 2 swifts at the Watt Street site in East Kildonan. In the same area, we received an excellent summary of reports from Jessica watching the Gordon King Memorial United Church:

‘May 18 – No swifts

May 26 – two swifts entered chimney

May 30 – one swift entered chimney (five in total seen in sky)

June 3 – two swifts entered chimney (three seen in  sky)

I spotted two chimney swifts flying overhead at my house, in Elmwood. I leave near the firehall on Talbot. My neighbor twice removed (couple houses down) has a chimney that looks like a suitable location for swifts. I don’t know if it is capped. I will keep an eye on it!’

Still in Winnipeg (we promised an epic), Blair in St Boniface sent the follow-up form his Sunday night discovery:

‘Tonight I arrived an hour before sunset at 188 St. Mary’s.  I had a pair of swifts fly by the chimney, first at 8:44 and again at 9:12.  The two entered the chimney at 9:15.  Later, a single swift flew by going north at 9:24 but did not come back to enter.  Hopefully, it is a pair who are going to nest here.’

Justin and Melodie at the nearby Good News Fellowship saw 3 swifts in the air, but alas they did not enter the chimney, flying off to the SE. 4 days earlier, it was Cathy who lucked out, but interestingly saw a similar patter of behaviour. Maybe there is another explanation, as the 3 swifts seen in Windsor Park last week did not show for Jenny again. Indeed, on the same theme, Kirsten has still not seen a swift at the Flag Shop, and Gary and Marj were left empty handed at St John’s Ravenscourt.

Leaving Winnipeg breathlessly behind, next to St Francois Xavier. Michele and Mike write:
‘This evening we were joined at various times by a couple of friends who live in town and stopped in for a visit while we were monitoring the chimney at the church. They were delighted to witness some entries and exits, something I have been enthusiastically describing to them for a few years now. We had a few more entries and exits than last week.’

Hurtling north up the Red River, Gerald’s watch at Lower Fort Garry was promising, until 3 swifts decided to disappear, leaving him alone, with no one to count. Seem to remember the swifts at this site doing unusual things previously! So to Selkirk, Donna and Robert had a pair in the Mental Health Centre Infirmary, Winona had a pair at the Yellow chimney, and Linda and Nia had a net 19 swifts at the large stack. In town, Ray and Sybil continue to count a consistent 4 at the Merchant’s.
Another nesting attempt is going here then. Diving south to Rhonda in Carman:
‘I was a little late at getting out tonight.  I arrived shortly after 9 at the Carman Elementary School yard.  There were 8 swifts circling and cavorting but I saw no entries at the two chimneys at the school and across the street.  I did go over to the Town Hall chimney after 9:30 but there was no activity, either. It looked like all the swifts took off in an easterly direction on their last fly by and I couldn’t locate or hear a single swift after 9:25 pm.  They are my type of swifts…they like to go to bed early, too.  I will keep trying to be in four places at once and maybe I should start earlier next time, too.’

More heroics from Rhonda there. Talking about heroic, Gord continues to watch the United Church in Portage la Prairie, counting a pair in the nesting chimney on Monday.
Margaret and Millie finally set eyes on a pair of swifts in Brandon:
‘2 swifts in the air circling fairly high came low and continued circling above the bldg. doing a couple of low swoops and flew to the north area of the building in the direction of the N chimney not visible from our observation site.’

After all these years, they may have to move their observation spot if the swifts decide to switch chimneys on them. Said they were crazy….
The final epic reporting is from our Dauphin group, with Ken sending in the report:‘The weather wasn’t looking very favourable with almost 100% heavy cloud cover over Dauphin this evening. Swifts were out and about in 2’s and 3’s until we got a light sprinkling of rain and then they seemed to group together but then they had trouble deciding where to spend the night with 3 chimneys to choose from.

Pat and Marilyn reported this while observing the Watson Arts Centre chimney:

“There was lots of chatter tonight. At times we couldn’t see them but could hear them. The most we saw in the air was 5 but usually they flew in twos or threes.  Not as many chimney fly by’s as there had been last Thursday, and at 9:41 there were (2) entries and then it started to rain.  We heard some chatter about 10 minutes later saw 2 more fly overhead and that was it for the night.”

Jan’s observations at the old Scott’s Hardware chimney were similar but Jan faces the west so has the advantage of the brighter sky as the sun sets. Birds were again in small groups of 2 and 3 and when it started to rain (1) bird went down her chimney and she could see the others flying towards the large roost chimney.

The roost chimney had larger groups overhead with 10-12 at times. When it started to rain 1 swift went down almost immediately followed ever minute by another single until 5 were in the chimney and then 1 decided to leave as the rain stopped. The sky was very dark and lightning was seen to the south when 7 swifts went down leaving a few unaccounted for in the dark but (12) in the chimney. The overall swift count seems stable over the last observation nights.’
And that is us up-to-date. As Blaire stated way back, somewhere near the start, ‘oh what a night’. It truly was a fantastic swift watch evening. Thanks to everyone who took part!

We look forward to the next, and final spring reports after Friday. We will not stop there though! There are lot’s of possibilities and we will be sending an email out next week to encourage you in continuing to watch for swifts in the coming months.

— Tim Poole

After the lunchtime thunderstorm in Winnipeg, we are hoping for brighter weather to watch and count swifts this evening. As ever, we will begin one hour ahead of sundown, and go right through to 30 minutes after. If the weather does though make a turn for the worse, and you are threatened by a lightning storm, please act with caution – safety is paramount. We will obviously do the monitoring a day later in these circumstances.

As a little bit of lead-up, we have some more reports from May 30th and the weekend.

Beginning in Selkirk, on the 30th, Robert, Donna and Winona watched the Selkirk Mental Health Centre and counted 10 swifts enter the large stack and 2 enter the yellow brick building. Ray and Sybil have been watching the Merchant’s Hotel. They have now counted 4 swifts enter the main chimney on two occasions, the 28th and 30th. Winona had also counted 4 swifts on the 21st at this location. All seem to be roosting, with no demonstrable evidence of nest building.

Gerald has been watching chimneys in Lower Fort Garry and Lockport. On the 28th he observed 2 swifts using the southeast building at the fort. On the 29th, he watched the two chimneys at the St Andrew’s Lock and Dam Compound in Lockport. There was clearly an active breeding attempt in one of the chimneys, with a pair on site. There was a single swift in the other chimney.

Unfortunately, Cam and Diann are having a quiet few days in Lac du Bonnet:
‘No swifts seen or heard in Lac du Bonnet. Diann had one moment of excitement at Grans bakery when at 20:42 she thought a swift had gone down the chimney, but it turned out to be a swallow had landed on the edge! Several birds did some sneaky flybys but these were also probably swallows which were more numerous and vocal than previous nights.’

Back to Winnipeg. Peter reported from the Hampton Church in St James, observed on the 31st:
‘NO swifts at St. Ann’s RC Church. A nice fly-by of a Nighthawk tonight was reward enough for me.  I heard a couple of others that were either too high … or too low behind the trees … for me to see.  Also, because I was about two blocks away from Assiniboine School, I could watch the birds circle that chimney.’

Kelly-Anne observed a pair using the chimney at 44 Academy on the 30th as well, the first time they had been observed here in 2019.

Francene and her team at the Old Grace Housing Coop are still to see a swift.

Rudolf in East Kildonan reported the following:
‘I spent from 8:55 to 9:40 at the Northdale Shopping Centre. Initially there were at least 8, but probably 10 birds ripping around. At 9:12 two birds entered the chimney at 1010 Brazier together and I did not see them reappear. It must be said that I did not look in that direction constantly, as I was also keeping an eye on other birds and other chimneys. Two to three birds continued to fly over on occasion, but no entries in other chimneys were noted.’

Lynnea and Adam went on a freestyle swift outing on the 31st along Archibald. Having first seen a pair into a new site, the magnificently named Niakwa Park Plaza at 1310 Archibald, they went onto finding a second new site at 223 Archibald, the Archibald Storage Building. 2 entered the chimney on the latter.

Blair took the search for swifts to a new level, discovering a single bird entering the Nelson MacIntyre Collegiate on St Mary’s on the 2nd. This was a significant moment, this being a chimney that was first watched in 2007, yet before this summer, no one had ever recorded use by swifts. 

In Osborne Village, Barbara sent an interesting report from her balcony on Saturday evening:
‘Sitting at my balcony window just now: Between 9:20 and 9:35 : 11 CHSW circling high over Osborne Street bridge.  9 eventually flew east downriver, 2 disappeared just west of us, potentially at Augustine, or the chimney at 395 River, or 94 Roslyn.’

From the same area, Tim  recorded a daytime entry this very morning at 395 River.
That should bring us to date, apart from a short update from Barb in St Adolphe:‘Saturday, I waited until early afternoon to monitor and watched Main St/Brodeur’s where nothing happened save for one exit from BRODEUR’s! First time all week…over at the Club, there was strong activity in the SE and activity in the NE but still no confirmed pair.Sunday = game on! I watched the Club for 2 hours (another late morning start with another near freezing beginning to the day). The SE pair was in and out together and a single swift used the NE chimney; so all was continuing status quo. Over at Brodeur’s, I saw another entry/exit cycle but didn’t catch a glimpse of Church birds. So back last night for an epic head snapping session – had daytime activity then a pair roosting at the Church. Also, another round of daytime activity took place at Brodeur’s. During the roosting hour at Brodeur’s, it was like watching a popcorn maker toss up swifts out of the chimney – after flitty in and out and in and out activity, 2 swifts seem to have settled for the night as dark plunged the rim into “that which an observer cannot see” territory.Suzanne has sent news that they saw 2 noisy swifts entering together at 6 PM on Friday night. How much fun is it to kick back in the yard and enjoy that spectacle as dinner is cooking on the bbq!’

So stay dry this evening, and hopefully we will look froward to seeing a plethora of (dry) swift reports in the coming days!

— Tim Poole, Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator
c/o Nature Manitoba401-63 Albert StreetWinnipeg, MB R3B 1G4
Office: 204-943-9029
www.mbchimneyswift.com

This is the first part of our National Roost Monitoring Program results for May 30^th, and what a crazy night of monitoring we had! If you have not sent your report in yet, no worries, we plan to do an update and reminder on Monday, and we will include all the remaining and weekend reports in that.

We start our roundup in a new place for Chimney Swifts. Cory and Scott took a drive out to Pilot Mound to check for swifts. On two occasions in 2018, swifts were noted in town. Here is a snippet of their report:

‘8:00 pm – Scott and I arrived at Pilot Mound.  We drove slowly through neighbourhoods with documented chimneys

8:15 pm – spotted one swift flying over Railway Street.  We parked and decided to stay for awhile.  Within five minutes we saw two swifts flying together and vocalizing.  The pair began flying in a tight circle over a chimney at above address

8:30 pm – one bird dropped into chimney feet first.  Second bird continued to fly over chimney, some passes were just a few inches over the structure and this bird appeared to begin entry but changed course.

8:55 pm – bird in chimney exited and rejoined the mate.  Both birds continued tight circle over the chimney’

This is excellent news, our first ever documented Chimney Swift use of a chimney in Pilot Mound!

Staying in western Manitoba, Glennis checked a new chimney on the New Era School in Brandon. She may have seen a distant pair of swifts, but was unable to confirm this, leaving with a zero in the chimney. Margaret and Millie did though have a very late single entrance at the regular Orange Block site – almost after dark in fact. Dan has also not seen any swifts in Virden, despite his best efforts.

Further north, and Christian has eBirded a swift at the east gate area of Riding Mountain. Intriguing, as this is the area they were traditionally observed nesting in trees.

In Dauphin, Ken, Jan, Pat and Marilyn sent this report:

‘Well, in Dauphin the theatre gets in new movies for Friday so if we have been stalling and still want to see a movie, it’s Thursday or nothing and that’s what the case was for us tonight. Yup, we went to a movie. I had been commenting to Jan that I always thought the heat of the day was around 2:00 to 3:00 PM but noticed the weather channel had us going to be at +30ish come 5:00 PM. When we came out of the theatre and dashed to our vehicles, we started to shiver! It was very overcast with dark clouds, windy and cool, no I’ll call it cold! We had some sort of cold front come through. Despite the weather, the swifts did not let us down however with every chimney having at least 1 go down (roost had 14; nesting one had 2 and nesting 3 had 1) so we had a total of (17) swifts accounted for which is a 3 bird increase over night #3 and the highest count this spring. The temperature was now down to 13C but was to feel like 8C. All swifts went down their respective chimneys between sunset and 10 minutes after with no unaccounted birds.’

Gord  reported 11 swifts in the air in Portage la Prairie, and reported from Trinity United Church as follows:

‘2 entries into the south chimney at 21:30 and 2 entries in the north chimney (small north chimney) at 21:52.’

Over to Mike and Michele. This time they avoided the RCMP – but had a good chat with the church caretaker. The report was more straightforward as well this time:

‘Not much activity to report this evening in SFX but one pair of swifts is still in the area, although foraging much further afield than usual. They both entered the chimney to roost for the night.’

Swinging south, Rhonda came up with a bonus, a new site in Carman:

‘Carman had a great night, last night.  At one point, there were 12 swifts spotted circling in a group at the Carman Elementary School.  That’s up from our previous 4.  I did see one swift enter a private house (east of the elementary school) chimney at approximately 9:30 pm… comparatively early. I watched the Town Hall at 10 pm and saw 3 go in but 1 popped back out and never returned.’

12 swifts, one person, Rhonda needs some volunteer help. If you live in the area and would like to help, please let us know and we will pass your details to her.

And in Morden, David reported that:

‘Coffee was replaced by a Slurpee and up to 5 Swifts (and multiple Common Nighthawk) where seen foraging at the same time.  “My” chimney had 3 entries and no exits so my next quest is to find where the other 2 birds are roosting/nesting.  Morden isn’t that big….how hard could it be….right?’

It took several trips for David to zone in on the one chimney in Morden, for some reason these swifts are elusive!

Over in La Salle, Irene and Scott finally had some swifts to see. We make the total in the air as 5, with one entering each chimney on the church. Here again, we ended up with extra birds, and no known chimneys for them to roost for the night.

In Otterburne, Colleen and Mark  had a strange start to the evening. At 8:25, they reported:

‘Couldn’t see the birds! There seemed to be no action.’

The summary then stated:

‘we saw Chimney Swift periodically through the evening. However, they were hard to see and I think they were further south much of the time and quite high up most of the time.’

Eventually they noted entries in all chimneys, accounting for 5 swifts between the chimneys. They also had several unaccounted swifts in the air after the others had gone in for the night.

In Steinbach, Keelie watched on the 29^th and 30^th. On the 29^th she noted 5 swifts in the air, but on the 30^th only 3. On each occasion 3 swifts entered the chimney.

David over in La Broquerie had an excellent evening,, with 2 swifts in the small church chimney and 5, possibly 6, in the tall chimney:

‘I think this was the best and most interesting viewing night since I have been doing it.

For most of the evening there were 6, then 7 and then 8 in the air.  (Possibly even 9 counted by an ‘inexperienced’ spectator.)  There were lots of ins and outs such that I completely lost track as many exited on the far side behind the chimney and dropped out of sight below the roof line.  Anyway, 8 is a good number.

But, at about 9.35 I counted 12 in the air and my spectator counted 13.  Thirteen certainly did not enter the chimney and I stayed until it was too dark to see, so the extra ones possibly up to 6 must have another roost nearby.’

Into the ‘peg. Marshall sent this report from Fort Garry:

‘I’ve done the Cambridge (on Pembina) (two entries) and the Lord Roberts Leisure Centre (nuthin).’

Kirsten and Doug unfortunately still have no sightings from the Flag Shop on Pembina. This is a regular spot for swifts, and the lack of activity is a bit baffling.

Into Fort Rouge, Barbara and Phil watched two apartments, one on Clarke had no entries, with 6 swifts circling over the area, and one on River had 2 entries and 5 swifts circling.

Leah and Maya watched 915 Corydon and noted 2 entries, strangely both were far apart in terms of time, and very quick.

Jenny watched the possible new Windsor Park sites. There may have been an exit at one stage, but unfortunately the bird came from a strange angle and she was unable to confirm. She will try again though!

Blair revisited the Marion Hotel, the scene of a 3 swift roost a couple of evenings earlier:

‘It seems like the 3 swift I found at this location on May 27, were passing through as there were no entries for this location tonight.’

Blair also checked out another site on Tache earlier this week, again with no success.

Nicole and Cain continue their watch at the Fleetwood in Wolesey. Nicole recounted:

‘I had 2 swifts enter last night at Fleetwood and I had an exit as well!

1 entry 9:05

1 exit 9:10

2 enter at 9:25

4 others seen in the air’

Looks like some nest building is happening at the Fleetwood.

Lynnea and Adam did two sites. They began at the Nordale School in Norwood. 2 swifts entered the chimney for the night early. Brilliant news, another new site in Winnipeg! Not content, they decided to go elsewhere for more swift thrills and visited 303 Assiniboine Downtown. 2 swifts entered the tall nesting chimney. 11 swifts circled overhead looking like they were going to roost for the night, then at 9:38 they flew south. This suggests a possible roost somewhere south of the river.

Exciting news from Lanark Gardens on Corydon. Janice and John managed to observe swifts enter 3 different chimneys! At least 1, possibly 2 have never had confirmed swift observations before:

‘We had success tonight! We were originally watching 2 chimneys but decided to include a third chimney as there seemed to be activity in that area so we probably missed a bit of data from 465 D. There were about 11 chimney swifts above us flying but the various buildings and trees obscure the view as they fly overhead. The group of chimney swifts was definitely flying closer to the Corydon Ave. end of that building complex. 

That was a totally enjoyable experience – their calls are so distinct and it was amazing how they silently drop into the chimneys. Look forward to June 3rd.’

Great to hear!

Down at Assiniboine School, Beth, Bill, Laura and Tim counted 120 swifts, with 55 entering within a few seconds of each other. A single swift also entered the King’s Theatre and two took the plunge into Carillon Towers.

Frank and Jacquie counted a net 4 at the Moorgate on Portage Avenue. We were lucky enough to have 2 pairs of eyes on Silver Heights as this can be seen from the Moorgate spot. Bob and Valerie had the pitchside view. Both sets of observers confirmed daytime activity and a pair of swifts onsite = an active nest site is underway before the June 3 deadline! Laura still had no swifts use the zoo tower, but there are still a few days for someone to decide to make good use of it.

To the south. Blaire had one of ‘those’ evenings:

‘Other than the five-sneeze fit at 9:02 pm my eyes never left the chimney tonight until it was too dark. Saw 3 swifts flying around and near the foundation a couple of times tonight at around 8:45 and then about 8:53 p.m.. But ZERO swifts entered. Not sure what is going on or if I am losing it. I’m still watching but can’t see anything anymore. 

There were 4 swifts in town yesterday so I had expected to see something tonight.’

Barb and Rob also had an evening in St Norbert, but Barb sent a longer report with a St Adolphe update, so here it is in it’s full glory:

‘What a difference a couple of days make. A short shoulder season seemed to transition us rapidly between a lingering chilly spring to summer-like conditions. Monday morning was a whiteout with frost on the roof and lawn – a male Scarlet Tanager was grounded on the road in a beam of sunshine trying to warm up. Fast forward to Thursday and the temperature soared to 30 C by mid-afternoon before “cooling” to ~23 C at the end of the roosting hour. 

Thursday morning, conditions were perfect for Chimney Swifts in St Adolphe. Local feeding was seen regularly and there were a lot of social interactions – trios racing by, courting “V” displays between pairs, and group discussions heard as swifts moved overhead. The swifts at Main St were in and out of the chimney twice in an hour. Over at the Club Amical, the pair in the SE chimney had 4 entry/exit cycles in an hour; once both swifts flew in and out together. The NE Club chimney was used twice in an hour, similar to the Main St birds, BUT that necessary confirmation of a pair using the site has eluded me…will have to check it out at roosting hour if the daytime “reveal” doesn’t happen soon. 

Wednesday, the Church swifts were active in their chimney too.

Wednesday and Thursday, no activity was seen at Brodeur Bros. Last week’s investigations doesn’t seem to have culminated in a breeding pair settling in.

Just a reminder that June 3rd is the all important date for predicting the possibility of a successful breeding attempt. A pair of breeding Chimney Swifts must be nest building at a site by this date to have a chance for completing their parental duties and launching fledglings. It is a very short breeding season in Manitoba for these birds and every successful breeding attempt has started on or before June 3. 

Back to the St Norbert Parish Church for NRMP-3 and the night was a pleasant change from Sunday’s frigid conditions. It was absolutely balmy at 26 C, the winds were calm, and the bonus was the heavy perfume of flowering trees. Chimney Swift activity changed altogether. Shortly after set-up, about 8:30 PM, a swift blew out of the chimney. Then a second swift made an exit. A perfect recipe for a nest site = two adults using the chimney during the daytime! Two swifts roosted for the night – 1 swift entered just after the roosting hour began and 1 swift followed 15 minutes later. All the quick action was over before sunset.

Thursday morning at my favourite organic garden centre, I had an engaging chat with Shane who is a new volunteer at the Beer Store on Portage. Here’s a shout out to him with the hopes that swifts were about last night. The world of swifts changes dynamically and the warm weather sure has shifted activities.’

And that is the end of this, er, brief update. We will send a reminder out on Monday for the evening monitoring session, and include, no doubt, a few remaining reports. It really was an excellent night of intrigue and swift fun, and let’s hope for good weather on Monday, and even more of your excellent reports and stories.

— Tim Poole

How about volunteering for the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative ?

Last night (Wednesday the 29th, May), 3 Chimney Swifts were spotted over two apartments in Windsor Park in Winnipeg. These apartments both have open chimneys. The sighting was at 9pm, during the roost hour, and the birds disappeared quickly, possibly into the chimneys. 

We are looking for someone living in the area who might be willing to do a formal roost count at these chimneys on Elizabeth Road. Although we have a formal roost monitoring night this evening, we would be happy for someone to watch them on any other night.

Please let us know if you are interested in helping out by emailing mbchimneyswift@gmail.com

— Tim Poole

Firstly, a reminder that tomorrow evening, the 30^th May, is our next monitoring night. Let’s hope for more birds than before, I certainly feel it will be a very good evening judging by the sudden rise in temperatures.

As ever, try to start one hour before sundown.

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