According to YouTube, “Thousands of Vaux Swifts gather in Portland every September before migrating to Central America and Venezuela. For the past 30 years, they’ve decided to roost at night in the Chapman School chimney.”
A Marathon Review of a Marathon Year for the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative
It cannot be stated enough times how astounding the efforts of MCSI’s volunteers are each year. Each year we are astounded by the continuing, and in many cases, increasing efforts to get out and watch chimneys, from The Pas to Emerson. A review such as this, will not catch the full magnitude of your achievements, but we will regardless try to capture a sense of what has been achieved over the past few months, from a May, through almost drought-like conditions, to the smoky August skies.
It goes without saying that the season appeared to struggle to get going. A late winter flourish, cool temperatures, and few swifts did not bode well for the season. However, things picked up quickly, swifts arrived, spread out across Manitoba, and even turned up in new places. Below, we summarise what was seen in each town and city.
Baldur
Cal saw a single swift on June 10th. He looked again later in the season, but alas, there were no swifts around. Maybe this was a non-breeder dispersing? Maybe there was a breeding attempt which failed early? We will never know, but thanks Cal for trying!
Brandon
Margaret and Millie continue to watch the breeding site on Princess Street, and continue to get some success. On August 13th, they confirmed breeding, with 2 fledglings in the air. Interestingly, there only ever seem to be two swifts in Brandon.
Birtle
A new town for swifts, Lynnea spotting four on July 20th while waiting her truck to be repaired.
Carman
Matt confirmed earlier in June that the two sites were occupied. Frank, Jacquie and Lewis watched the chimneys on July 4th. There were 8 swifts roosting for the night at the Memorial Hall, and 4 in the private residence. It was possible that the private residence was occupied by 2 adults with 2 helpers.
Clearwater
Frank and Jacquie did visit the two chimneys in Clearwater in May, but alas, there were no swifts around.
Dacotah
Funny one this! Barbara was visiting family in this area on September 8th, and spotted 7-10 swifts in the air. Where they came from, where they went, is anybody’s guess, but still worth noting in-case it triggers a memory somewhere!
Darlingford
Paul watched the chimney at the school twice during the summer, a pair roosting in June, and entry-exits detected during the day in late July. This is a regular breeding site.
Dauphin
Ken and Jan have ploughed this lone furrow for years. One chimney, and one committed pair of swifters, watching this single site. Not in 2018! Two new sites were discovered, and a few new volunteers have come forward to help with monitoring. Brilliant news! The large roost peaked at 34 on the 25th July, an odd date for a peak! The spring roost was slow to pick up, only one on the 31st May, followed by 21 on the 4th June.
Dominion City
Mid-July swift road trip. Tim driving, Chris in the passenger seat and Lynnea in the back. Enter Dominion City, an old town near the US border, and almost immediately a swift is spotted. A drive around the corner, and ‘BOOM’, the swift drops into a lovely old brick chimney on a charming old house. A second entered, and we had our nesting attempt. More swifts were in the air, at least one other pair seem to be in this town. Another one to return to in 2019.
Emerson
A night out in mid July, a single tantalizing glimpse of a swift, but no swifts diving into chimneys. Chris, Lynnea and Tim came close, but did not hit the chimney-entering jackpot. However, all is not lost. A visit in September found a number of possible sites, and we will be back in 2019 to finish the job. Maybe the swifts are in West Lynne east of the river? Maybe they are in Pembina south of the border (enter wall joke at this point), or maybe they are shaking hands in the Emerson Masons Lodge. This is not over!
Eriksdale
Ken was taking a lunchtime break on his farewell tour of Red-headed Woodpecker sites when he came across a wee church in Eriksdale, and a pair exhibiting breeding behaviour. Another new site, another new town, and another success for 2018!
La Broquerie
David, also known as the La Broquerie Bard for his odes to swifts, managed a very impressive 12 visits to the St Joachim Roman Catholic Church. That is a lot of swift data! His highest total was 19 swifts, 15 in the large chimney, 4 in the small, on July 23rd. The church appeared to be used as a roost for migrating birds in the fall. In terms of breeding attempts, there was certainly attempts in both chimneys, and possible fledglings in the small chimney. La Broquerie was also the subject of some early season mystery, with additional birds in the air, but not in the chimney.
La Salle
2018’s greatest swift saga, the La Salle pair fought, argued and fell out throughout a summer of lovers tiffs. At least one helper was on site throughout the season, and Rob and Barb eventually confirmed a successful breeding attempt on August 1st.
Lac du Bonnet
Diann and Cam watched the bakery and the Casey’s Inn chimneys. Another town with more swifts counted in the air than in chimneys. Both chimneys mentioned previously had swifts occupying them in 2018, but not necessarily on the same evening.
Lockport
Tim and Nicole were at an event launch one sunny afternoon in early June when they spotted swifts in the air over the St Andrews Dam. Eventually a swift was spotted through binoculars dropping into a chimney on the east side of the river. Gerald confirmed subsequently that two chimneys on this building were being used, and a breeding attempt was underway.
Lower Fort Garry
Two successful nests, nothing much else happened here. Nia, Linda, Gerald, Frank, Jacquie, Christian and the Parks Canada folk begged to differ.
Manitou
‘tis a mystery Manitou. Seemingly swifts, but seemingly nowhere to be seen. A blitz evening in late June, with David, Lynnea, Frank and Jacquie, turned up zero swifts, although two monitors heard some distant chittering. Another attempt by Paul in late July also ended in a zero, although that was a daytime watch.
Melita
A quiet year in Melita, but Christian and Lynnea did confirm another breeding attempt at the Legion Hall on June 16th.
Morden
What a successful year in Morden! David worked hard at it, and eventually he was rewarded with our first ever confirmed site. This was in Lucky’s Chinese Restaurant, and a breeding attempt was well underway in June and July. David also checked a couple of sites out, as did Paul. One of those sites, the Pembina Arts Centre, drew a number of blanks earlier in the season, until one evening in late June, 10 swifts entered. This is at a time during the season when we would expect non-breeders to begin dispersing to new areas.
Neepawa
Oh Neepawa, why do you tease us so? It was way back in May that Tim first spotted a pair of swifts over the hospital next to a fine specimen of a chimney. Surely they would enter? Well following a few visits by Rick, it was apparent they were going to tease us still. There always seemed to be a single swift in the air during visits, but the crafty swifts were not going to reward anyone with an entry. Oh, and Linda C also saw a pair of swifts in town in August, so they were there all breeding season. The teases….
Otterburne
Frank and Jacquie were joined by Lewis, Roberta, and Cathy, on occasion to watch the chimneys at Providence College. The maximum number of swifts on site were 5, spread between the three chimneys. A late monitoring trip in July suggested that only an adult pair and a helper remained on site, hopefully leading to a successful breeding attempt.
Pilot Mound
Another place we definitely had swifts (two confirmed sightings over the summer), but alas, we still do not know where they are hanging out. The first sighting was taken off eBird, the subsequent was from Katharine on June 16th. Another one to go back to in 2019.
Portage la Prairie
Gord, with help from Cal and Janice, led efforts to monitor the suite of chimneys in Portage la Prairie again in 2018. Cal sent the following season summary:
‘The Chimney Swift season at Trinity United Church could be described as a bit of a roller coaster. It started out promising with four birds present on May 23 and then up to 11 birds seen on May 30 but with only 4 entries noted. However things settled down a bit with between four and eight birds being seen through most of June and only one pair regularly making same chimney entries. We couldn’t figure out where the two to four other birds were roosting. By mid July only the apparent nesting pair were present but that changed with 6 being seen on August 1 and up to an amazing (for us!) 17 birds the following week on August 8. The majority of these birds were obviously migrants but among them were two fledglings from the one nesting pair. Watching their chimney entry skills or rather the lack thereof definitely made the evening trip into town worthwhile! Maybe next year we’ll be fortunate enough to have another nesting pair.’
Swifts were also confirmed using the Rufus Prince Building, Victoria School, Portage Correctional Centre and the MTS Building.
Selkirk
The Selkirk Birdwatchers Club, brilliantly coordinated be Gerald have done it again! What a wonderful group. The peak count at the large stack at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre was 23, on three different dates in spring and fall. On the same site, the Infirmary, and the Powerhouse were both occupied. 241 Manitoba Avenue was never occupied, but the Lord Selkirk Hotel, and the Main Street apartment both received visitors. The Merchant’s Hotel was also used, culminating in a count of 11 on August 15th. Robert, Donna, Nia, Linda, Linda, Ray, Sybil, Winona, Cathy, Bonnie, and certainly a few others were involved in a brilliant effort.
Souris
10 chimneys were watched on 23rd May by 5 volunteers, with 8 being occupied. The most swifts were counted into the United Church (5), the Murphy’s Pub (4), and the Corner Closet (4). A total of 19 swifts were counted, but there were certainly more than this. Katharine dropped by at the end of her Breeding Bird Survey, and confirmed breeding attempts in two chimneys. Lynnea, Christian, Sabina and Tim monitored with Katharine in May.
Southport
Gord managed to get out to Southport, and the aerodrome, twice. A May visit turned up 3 swifts, and a short visit in August determined that a breeding pair were active.
St Adolphe
Barb puts in an extraordinary effort, watching five chimneys from the early moments of nest building to the final throes of breeding. This year, two chimneys, the SE Club Amical, and Main Street, hosted fledglings. Nesting attempts were made in all 5 chimneys. The SE Club Amical fledging date, July 24th, was the earliest recorded since records began, and the Main Street date, July 28th, was tied second earliest. No swifts were in town on August 15th, again, very early.
Saint-François-Xavier
Mike and Michele watched this chimney throughout the summer, and were rewarded with some excellent information. Breeding was confirmed in the church on August 1st. Before this, the maximum number in the chimney, 5 swifts, suggested that there were helpers on site.
St Jean-Baptiste
Luc was confused early season by the disappearance of birds in the air while watching the church. A bit of sleuthing, and we had a new site, the school (also, I believe Luc’s employers). Luc checked the school again, but alas, they were only recorded on May 28th using this chimney. The church however continues to be one of these regular swift sites, with the maximum of 5 swifts noted on June 6th
Stonewall
Another success for the Breeding Bird Survey. Tim stopped off in town after a morning of bird monitoring, and spotted a swift in the air. Eventually he confirmed that a breeding attempt was ongoing in the chimney found by Ken in 2016.
Steinbach
Keelie watched the chimney at the Bethesda Hospital four times, and counted a maximum of 3 swifts. Steinbach was another place where additional swifts remained unaccounted for.
The Pas
Joel watched a swift diving into the chimney at The Via Railway Station in The Pas on June 25th. A second swift was also in attendance.
Wasagaming
Chimney Swifts were back in Wasagaming in 2018. Tim and Sabina confirmed nest building, an entry-exit cycle being detected on June 6th. Alex from the National Park later confirmed, from a couple of dead chicks in the bottom of the chimney, that the eggs had hatched. Interestingly, these nestlings were of distinctly different ages, the first being around 7-8 days old, and the second around 14 days. We will hopefully know if other chicks fledged when the whole nest falls.
Winnipeg – City Centre
Here is a hitherto unknown secret. Downtown Winnipeg provides homes for a lot of swifts! The high count, by John, at 303 Assiniboine was 55 on May 31st. There were though plenty of swifts to go around. John found more sites again, a gospel church on William being his best find. There were also new sites on Edmonton, Kennedy, and in the Exchange, plus Ron confirmed that a pair were attempting to breed in a chimney behind VJ’s on Main, one which has been on the database for eons, with no recorded use.
Winnipeg – The Kildonans
East Kildonan is a happening place, swifts using more sites than previously recorded. Among the new sites were a church on Cobourg, watched by Pat and Dave, and a bowling alley, watched at different times by Meredith, Lynnea and Adam. Garry monitored the chimney on Watt until the brood fledged, and Rudolf finally confirmed use of chimneys on Brazier and Henderson. Further north, the first active site in North Kildonan was discovered by mishap (‘PUT THE SWIFTS BACK IN THE CHIMNEY’), and a site was found in West Kildonan, at the Kildonan United Church.
Winnipeg – Fort Garry
Little monitoring was done in Fort Garry in 2018. Lynnea watched both the Flag Shop and St John’s, and confirmed use in both. Tim also had an incidental exit from the Cambridge Hotel on Pembina.
Winnipeg – Fort Rouge
As with Fort Garry, efforts were switched elsewhere in 2018, following the bonanza of new sites in 2017. Tim found two new sites in chimneys which were meant to be screened on River and Clarke. Lynnea tried to find swifts from her balcony, but alas, no one took the plunge into the several chimneys which she could see. Patricia and Marie-Eve managed to get out a couple of times, and spot swifts into 424 River. Sabina confirmed that the Trinity Baptist Church is still occupied, and Lauren tried, but lucked out at the Fontana Apartments. In Corydon, Leah came in late in the season, and confirmed that the apartment at 915 Corydon were hosting a breeding pair.
Winnipeg – North End
The North End is not an area that many would think to look for swifts, but why not? There are swifts over the Red River in East Kildonan, and there are swifts just to the south in the downtown area. Tim found swifts on Main Street in July and August, and tracked down a late season breeding attempt at the Ukrainian National Federation. There were also some very nice chimneys east of Main Street in the neighbourhood. Well worth a look in future years!
Winnipeg – River Heights and Tuxedo
We tried, but the zoo tower remained unoccupied. The conservatory did host swifts until it met its demise. Kelly-Anne had a consistent pair in the Academy site. Katharine finally managed to confirm use of the Wilton Apartments on Grant, three years after her first, seemingly forlorn sighting!
Winnipeg – South Point Douglas
John was the hero, the only swifter out in South Point Douglas again. He confirmed use of 515 and 527 Waterfront, but also tried a number of other places, but to no avail.
Winnipeg – St Boniface and St Vital
A quiet year in both these areas, Jessica, Lynnea, Wendy, Justin, Anika, Ward and Marlene all checked some of these sites out during the National Roost Monitoring Program evenings, but, alas, not a swift was to be seen. Later in the season, Barbara and Phil, who were staying at a friends house, watched the chimney at 690 Rue St Joseph, and uncovered a nesting attempt with helpers. Blair stepped in, and confirmed fledging around August 8th.
Winnipeg – St James
Starting with the Assiniboine School Monitors, Adolf, David, Anna, Jake, Don and Beth (plus helpers). Our maximum count in 2018 was 114 on May 19th. As ever, there appeared to be two peaks, the second on June 4th of 107. Always intriguing to see the data ebb and flow on this site. The King’s Theatre, Carillon Towers, Viscount Apartments and Marner Apartments were all occupied at some point in 2018. Jenny watched St Ann’s Church on Hampton in May and June, a pair settling in the repaired chimney. Rob would later confirm that this pair bred successfully. Moving west, and the second centre of activity was around the Moorgate Apartments. This roost peaked in the fall, 12 birds entering on August 14th. Bob and Valerie watched the pair in the New Silver Heights Apartment throughout the summer. A surprise occurrence on June 8th, swifts were flying through holes in pest screens into the chimneys at the Thunderbird and Stanley Park Apartments, both on Portage opposite the Moorgate chimney. New occurrences were found in private houses on Moorgate Street and Traill Avenue, plus another new apartment on Traill, and the Foodfare on Portage. Other monitors in this area were Christian, Lynnea, Sabina, Lewis, Jacquie, Adam, Frank and Tim.
Winnipeg – St Norbert
Blaire had terrific successes during the NRMP period, starting with 6 entries at the Catholic Church on May 23rd. Frank and Jacquie confirmed that a breeding attempt was well on its way at the Behavioural Foundation on July 18th, a phenomenal 17 entries and 14 exits in 95 minutes of watching. Wow! On July 31st, Barb confirmed that birds were still feeding young.
Winnipeg – West Broadway
Tim did some poking around in West Broadway, finally finding an apartment with a chimney, and a breeding pair. This was on July 27th at 634 Broadway. There are a lot more swifts to be found in this area!
Winnipeg – West End
The inestimable John was front and foremost of all searching in the West End. It was a strange year, with occupied sites from 2017 being unoccupied in 2018. However, 486 Sherbrook was still active. Sherry lucked out though at the Foodfare in this area.
Winnipeg – Wolesley
Last, but by no means least, Wolesley. Nicole proved that capping a chimney is not the end, working with My Place Realty to unscreen another chimney at the Fleetwood. Champagne corks were popping when swifts were first observed entering the chimney on June 4th. They were doubly popping, when during a plaque presentation, Nicole confirmed that nesting was ongoing on July 27th. The Lothian Block was also occupied, but unfortunately, and despite the best efforts from Francene, Barbara, Phil and Christian, the Old Grace Housing Coop were not ready to welcome all their residents this summer….
Some Summary Stats
Following that marathon we thought we would finish with a few stats to demonstrate the lengths that volunteers went to in 2018.
Total number of communities monitored in 2018 = 26 (actual monitoring data submitted)
160 chimneys were checked
119 chimneys were occupied at least once in 2018
Total number of volunteer monitors in 2018 (est.) = 100
New MCSI codes: 44
Occupied new sites: 34
In addition, 2 sites previously on database were confirmed as being used for first time, plus a second chimney on a building was used (La Salle RC Church).
Communities with Swifts which were not noted before 2018 (bold for those with confirmed sites):
A number of volunteers checked additional towns including:
If you still have some data for us, there is still time to submit it to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com. Please do – every little piece of data helps to draw a picture of the fascinating world of Manitoba’s Chimney Swifts.
Finally, on behalf of the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Steering Committee, thank you to every single volunteer for your help and amazing contributions in 2018. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
— Tim Poole
The final week of monitoring appears to be with us – but these are swifts, so who knows if this really the end!
Following last weeks update, Rudolf in Winnipeg sent the following:
‘I saw 5+ swift over Fraser’s Grove Park around mid-day yesterday (28th)’
Ken and Jan did a final check in Dauphin on August 29th, and reported that:
‘This is to advise you that today we were able to watch 2 of the 3 chimneys in Dauphin and report ZERO counts at both and due to the proximity of the 3rd chimney it would be appropriate to give it also a zero count. For anyone that does birding, around 8:24 PM there were 8+ night hawks flying over the main roost going SE to NW.’
Nothing left, but a fantastic year of monitoring in Dauphin again!
The busiest swifting has been again Lower Fort Garry and Selkirk. There will be more news from here in the coming days, but for now, we have some interesting updates.
On August 30th, Gerald sent the following:
‘No action at the Merchant’s Hotel in Selkirk this evening.’
The same evening, Nia sent the following:
‘Linda and I did the fort Aug 30. 8:05- 1 out, 8:15 – 1 in. Total in chimney = 1. Saw 3 flying at one point. Again we Lost birds.’
Again from Nia:
‘Linda and I did the fort last night (Sept 1) and had a confusing evening. What those swifts are up to we have no idea. We will monitor again on Monday. Here’s the results: Total entries – 6, Total exits – 2, Max in chimney – 4′
Gerald reported that:
‘No activity at the Lockport bridge Monday evening (3rd September).’
On the same evening, Robert did not see a single swift at any of the Selkirk Mental Health Centre chimneys. Linda and Nia put in another heroic evening, counting 2 swifts in at the Fort.
I suspect this will be our final update, and we will soon have a full season summary available for everyone to enjoy.
Thanks you, thank you, thank you for an absolutely wonderful season. We can safely say that Manitoba’s Chimney Swift volunteers are absolutely brilliant!
— Tim Poole
It’s August 29th, and the swift reports continue to trickle in. We do intend to write a season ender summary report soon – but we cannot possibly embark on such a thing when a) people keep seeing swifts and; b) you guys keep obliging us with more reports! We are currently on the way to over 600 separate data lines on our database, significantly more than was reported in 2017, and that is all down to the remarkable efforts of you, our volunteers!
A weekly update is therefore needed, and let us start with the brilliant Selkirk Birdwatchers. At Lower Fort Garry, Linda and Nia monitored on August 19th, recording a bizarre sequence of 11 entries and 11 exits. The final report read as follows:
‘We didn’t see any go into the chimney and stay. Maybe they entered for the night after we left when we could no longer see. 5 were flying at 6:44. ‘
Maybe the next report would clear things up. On August 21st, Nia and Linda sent the following:
‘Linda and I monitored the fort last night and had good results. It looks like the nest has succeeded, and Ma and Pa and the three kids all went to bed for the night in the white chimney.’
Of course, things never seem as simple as they should be. On August 22nd, again it was Nia and Linda:
‘Linda and I did the fort last night and didn’t get the results we hoped for. We hoped all would have left and gone to a roosting site. With only 2 entering the chimney and what we took as the family of 5 flying around tonight and last night we don’t know what is happening.’
Swifts eh, they usually leave us saying ‘we don’t know what is happening’. It’s good that most of us are in the same boat!
The next evening, Linda was joined by Linda E, to check again, and well, there was a brief entry and exit, but little more apart from 3 birds in the air early on. On the 25th, Nia returned with Linda and had 3 entries, 2 exits, and 4 in the air.
Who knows what is going on here!
On a related subject, Gerald reports from Lockport on the 28th August:
‘I spent a half hour at Lockport bridge this evening from 8:10 PM to 8:40 PM. I noted 2 entries at 8:19 PM and 3 entries at 8:21 PM. I did not see any exits. I did not see any flying around, just entries. Maybe this helps with some of the mystery.’
This probably means that they will all return to the Fort this evening!
In Selkirk itself, the group continued to watch at the Mental Health Centre. On the 20th, Nia, Linda and Robert had 2 birds use the Infirmary chimney, and 6 enter the large stack. Robert returned on the 25th, and saw 2 fly into the large stack and zero in the Infirmary. Linda and Nia continued with some major dedication to the cause, watching a single swift use the large stack. It looks as though Selkirk was all but finished for the season (although not Lockport or Lower Fort Garry).
A simpler picture from David in La Broquerie. He reported on the 22nd:
‘A VERY successful watch. The most I’ve ever seen in many years of viewing. 13 in the large chimney and 4 in the small chimney for a total of 17 (if my math is correct…..). No exits were observed.
Early in the watch period there were several birds that flew over ‘examining’ the chimneys to see which or what was better and then several that ‘fluttered’ in as if they were unfamiliar with the chimney. Later the birds appeared out of nowhere and went straight down. I wonder if there were some migrating birds roosting for a pause in their journey.’
Not so exciting for Gord in Portage on the 22nd:
‘I was viewing at Trinity Church this evening. I had no entries this evening and only saw 1 Swift in the air. It looks like the season is coming to an end in Portage.’
In Dauphin, Ken and Jan watched the main roost chimney and reported, again from the 22nd:
‘8:37 – Saw 1 swift flying by twice and on the second pass a swift came out of the chimney.
8:46 – sunset
About 9:04 – 4 swifts flew by going E to W.
9:08 – 2 went down
9:09 – a single went down
9:20 – too dark to see with one swift still unaccounted for (but there are 2 other chimneys it could use)’
Swifts in Dauphin, but as Margaret and Millie reported from Brandon following a zero count at their chimney:
‘It appears that the swifts have started their migration.’
Finally, to Winnipeg. Frank and Jacquie were the only guys to get out, this time in St James (having been doing this since the crack of dawn, I have an excuse). They reported back that:
‘Well, we went to Saint James from 19:50 to 21:05 (sunset 20:32).
28 degrees, 0% cloud cover, no precipitation, moderate breeze.
NO CHSW SEEN OVERHEAD OR NEAR THE CHIMNEYS.’
Tim did have a pair on the 24th in the early evening over his house in Riverview, so they were certainly still around in Winnipeg.
And that it the update. Maybe there will be one more update – it is Wednesday after all!
Finally, if you are sitting on any data, please try to submit it as quickly as possible, we want to get the data summaries completed and posted for your interest as soon as possible.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed data this week!
— Tim Poole
What a wonderful group of volunteers! We are so close now to the end of 2018 as far as swift watching goes, yet still you guys keep going! There are still some swifts around, so Wednesday this week, may well be our last night out. For some, it’s over already, they have recorded zeros, for others, maybe they still want to check.
Here is a reflection of some of the excellent monitoring we have seen since last we reported. It’s been a couple of weeks, so rather than report everything, we will give a flavour of all that has happened (please note that this is a summary, some of these volunteers have exceeded the number of visits described).
Brandon
Margaret and Millie reported a fledging date of August 14th, with 2 young over the chimney! On August 18th they reported that:
‘Looks like we do have two fledglings. Lots of activity overhead last evening – young are now strong flyers with no difficulty entering the chimney.’
Wonderful news!
Dauphin
On August 7th, Ken and Jan reported that:
‘A report on #2 had birds continually circling overhead (10+) with only 2 going down and none seen to come out. The roost chimney (#1 chimney) immediately had an exit and another and an entry with immediate exit and then again 15 minutes later and entry and exit so it looks like we still have feeding going on in this chimney. By the end of the roosting hour it was dark but still birds flying very vocally with 25 entries, 4 exits wo about 21+ in chimney??’
La Broquerie
David reported on August 15th that:
‘I did a watch on Wednesday but got there rather late (8.45) as I almost completely forgot! so I may have missed a few entrie
Anyway I saw 7 go down into the large chimney and 3 into the small chimney
Two things were interesting
Lower Fort Garry
Lots of monitoring here following a late nesting attempt. Fingers crossed! The monitoring has primarily been from Linda, Nia and Gerald, plus a wee bit from Frank and Jacquie.
August 13th:
‘LOTS of action in the white chimney, the West chimney on the east building. I think we had 8 or 9 entries and 2 or 3 exits. We observed no action at all on the West chimney of the West building, the red chimney.’
August 17th:
‘Max in chimney – 1 There may have already been one settled in for the night before we arrived because it was dark so early with the heavy smoke.
August 19th – 11 entries, 11 exits, 1 left in the chimney(???). Nia added:
‘We didn’t see any go into the chimney and stay. Maybe they entered for the night after we left when we could no longer see. 5 were flying at 6:44
Portage la Prairie
On August 15th, Gord reported as follows:
‘At the Trinity United Church Portage, we had a total of 10 entries into the south chimney and two birds that went elsewhere; there was 12 total.’
Saint François-Xavier
Michele and Mike have been out watching the church chimney a number of times this year. On August 15th, they reported as follows:
‘Our last night of swift watching was both very exciting and somewhat disappointing at the same time. We definitely saw a max. of 4 chimney swifts foraging right above us for most of the night. They put on quite a show but unfortunately we only saw 1 enter the chimney before it got too dark to observe any longer.’
Selkirk
The Selkirk Birdwatchers are amazing!
August 12th, Gerald reported:
‘I checked the Merchant’s Hotel from 8:35 PM to 8:45 PM. I thought a young one was trying to enter a chimney. I took some video of it flying around. Then at 8:43, 2 swifts entered the larger north chimney. I left at 8:45 PM. I then parked on the street to watch the Lord Selkirk Hotel and the building at 241 Manitoba Ave. I saw no entrances or exits. As it got dark at about 9:15 a Swift flew at low level over Main Street and Manitoba Ave, then disappeared. I am curious as to where it was going. Being too dark, I went home.’
August 14th, Gerald was the bearer of more good news:
‘Large Stack Selkirk Mental Hospital: Donna and Robert Hempler and I checked Tuesday evening. We counted 20 entering the large stack and 3 entering the Infirmary chimney.’
August 15th, Gerald sent us this email:
‘We had a WOW!! at the Merchant’s Hotel yesterday. Ray and Sybil reported 11 entries and no exits between 8:12 and 9:15 PM yesterday into the larger chimney.
August 20th, Nia, Linda and Robert reported 6 in the main stack at the Mental Health Centre, and 2 in the Infirmary. Robert had 2 go into the infirmary
St Adolphe
Barb reported from August 16th and 17th:
‘My last swift sightings of the year may will turn out to be in Orillia. Thursday over the noon hour, there were no swifts sighting in St A; did a multi-site look around. Friday AM, did a 90 minute session at the Club and then last night did a 70 minute roosting hour session. Not a swift in the sky!!! No Purple Martins about either. It was almost apocalyptic on Thursday, less so Friday, with the smoke filled sky. Kind of reminded me of the scene of the dinosaur march in Fantasia as the world ended.’
Winnipeg – Downtow
John has been doing his usual magnificent rounds of swift monitoring. Here is a summary:
August 5th – 520 William, 2 entries/2 exits
August 5th – 303 Assiniboine, 10 entries
August 12th – 303 Assiniboine, 2 entries
August 18th – 303 Assiniboine, 0 entries
On August 14th, John emailed the following:
‘I looked around the area of 303 Assiniboine between 8pm and 930pm tonight for swift activity hoping for another roost. At 8:58 I saw 6 CHSW flying in a group just west of the Donald bridge north of the river, for about four minutes. I got the impression they were not there to feed but to roost. I saw at least a couple dive down as if entering a chimney. No chimney was visible but they all seemed to disappear in the same spot. At least a couple more appeared and also disappeared in the same spot. I will go back and see if they show up tomorrow if I can and try to find the chimney.
On August 16th, a new site is discovered at 348 Assiniboine:
‘This didn’t seem a likely chimney to see swifts enter. Swifts were entering both side, the screening on the left side didn’t appear open on top but is and the right side appears to have a glazed ceramic liner which I thought would make clinging difficult, maybe that is why they didn’t stay long.’
A strange one here – 14 entries, 11 exits, and only 3 left in the chimney – which you can see here:
Two also entered, one in either flue on August 17
Winnipeg – East Kildonan
On August 7th, Pat reported from Gordon King Memorial United Church
‘Went out Wednesday and managed to see one swift enter at about 9:2
Winnipeg – Fort Rouge
Story of the report comes from Katharine in Fort Rouge. In 2015, Katharine reported possibly seeing a swift drop into an apartment block on Grant from her seat on the bus into work (but was unable to confirm). Following reports of swifts being spied in this area in 2018, she returned to the scene, and reported the following:
‘On another note, I have been dying to tell you that on Friday late afternoon (this would have been late July), after having supper at Applebee’s in Grant Park, John offered to park and let me look at that infamous apartment block at 1055 Grant Ave. at Wilton. Within less than 10 minutes, a CHSW actually emerged and flew off at 8:08 pm! Then one entered the chimney at 8:15 pm and emerged again at 8:17 pm. I have been watching from the bus every morning/afternoon with no luck, so this was the first time that, for absolute certainty, I saw activity in and out of that chimney. Unfortunately, John did not have the patience to let me watch any longer, so I only have those observations for just under one half hour of watching (8:02 pm to 8:27 pm). I’m also anxious to get back there soon to do a longer watch (although I’m hoping that the rain storms these past two evenings did not impact them.)’
Fantastic news, and we will confirm the original sighting as an entry in our databases three years later!
New volunteer, Leah, reported on August 9th (with her friend Carol) from 915 Corydon:
‘Success! Very cool to observe this site (4 entries, 2 exits) – wishing now that I had gotten involved a lot earlier… ah well, next year!’
And with the bug catching, on August 15th:
‘2 entries and several birds fly bys in the general vicinity (not around the chimney). This included one individual that was flying very low, slow and with rapid wing beats..
Winnipeg – St Boniface
Another new volunteer, Blair, reported from 690 St Joseph on August 13th:
‘In summary, I arrived at the site at 8:53, just 6 minutes before sunset and as I was at the corner of the building before I could see the chimney, I heard and could see 8 swifts, circling the building. After getting into a position to view the chimney, I recorded seven entries, may have missed one. I could not tell the age of the birds entering, new at this. The entries occurred at the following times, 9:03.40, 9:12.24, 9:14.06, 9:18.32, 9:19.03, 9:25.06, and 9:25.21. After another 10 minutes without any activity I called it a night.’
Another bug caught, Blair returned on August 14th:
‘I arrived at 8:21 and observed until 9:28; sunset at 8:48.In summary, I saw at most 7 swifts flying around the building and in the end, seven entered the chimney to roost.’
Winnipeg – St James
Multiple attempts have been made to get a handle on these swifts, especially in an area from Deer Lodge to Moray
On August 5th, Adam, Lynnea, Sabina, Tim and Christian did a multi-site check noting swifts into at least 6 chimneys, 2 of them previously unknown to MCSI.
On August 6th, Frank and Jacquie sent the following:
‘On the way, Jacquie thought she saw an entry into the (apparently screened) chimney at the Thunderbird Apartments at 2150 Portage. There was a lot of activity at the Moorgate. We had 16 entries and 6 exits. Looks like 10 CHSW. in the chimney. THe maximum numbr of swifts we saw in the air was 8 at 21:08.’
On August 7th, a multi-site survey was made:
Thunderbird – Christian counted 10, 9 in an open flue, one in a screened flue. 4 birds appeared to drop into an invisible chimney
Stanley – Christian counted 6 birds
Moorgate – Jacquie counted 4 birds
Silver Heights – Frank counted 3 birds
Deer Lodge – Sabina counted 0 birds
Silver Heights west – Lewis counted 2 birds
Foodfare – Lewis counted 1 bird
New apartment – Tim counted 0 birds
Private House – Tim counted 1 bird, but thought he could hear chicks from inside chimney near rim
30 swifts were counted in the air at one stage on this evening, mainly because they were chasing a Merlin!
On August 15th, Frank and Jacquie reported as follows:
‘We staked out the Moorgate and Silver Heights tonight. The skies were virtually swift-less until 21:02 when eight CHSW appeared from the south. Before their arrival, we saw single birds at a distance until the odd chimney entry.
Moorgate: ten entries, 1 exit for 9 CHSW
Silver Heights: 2 entries, no exits.’
Winnipeg – Tuxedo
Paulson reports from Assiniboine Park on the 8th, 9th and 11th August:
‘We did observations last week on the zoo chimney and the old conservatory chimney. Alas, we did not observe and roosting in the zoo chimney. But we did see roosting in the old conservatory chimney! I saw one entry mid-afternoon last week, so we put in a couple evening of observations. One night I saw 2 go in to roost, but on Saturday Stephen saw none.’
I apologise profusely if your report(s) have been missed. As you can see, there has been an absolutely astounding amount of data collected, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone involved.
— Tim Poole
Hello fellow swifters.
Tomorrow, Wednesday the 8th August may well be our final swift night of 2018. The summer is alas, too short, but the fun is still to be had counting swift across our province.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).
On Tuesday, August 1st, Barb was back reporting:
‘Tortuous Tuesday it was. On July 31st, 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 3rd 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.
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 26th.
On the 28th, 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 29th, 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 29th, Margaret and Millie, still had a very active nesting pair in Brandon. Margaret sent an update from the 1st 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 30th 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 30th, 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 31st 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?
The chimney story unfolded nicely tonight. 2 roosting entries in the EAST chimney; multiple entry/exit cycles in the WEST chimney with 2 distinct exit patterns – one of which was N, overhead of us, and that was a juvenile
(multiple sightings); 3 swifts roosted for the night with the last entry a loop back and drop style seen only once.
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 2nd.
Christian checked the zoo tower on the 2nd 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
