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End of July Update: Nest failures, fledglings, and everything in between! 

I want to start off this week’s blog post with a moment of appreciation for the incredibly community we have supporting the Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative. I am constantly amazed and so thankful for the enthusiasm, patience and dedication shown by so many volunteers! It’s heartwarming and inspiring. Thank you for continuing to brave the heat, the humidity, the bugs, etc. in the name of swift conservation! It really does make a difference.

We have a loooot of monitoring updates this week! Last week, we had another blitz night. Overall, over 13 volunteers participated. We managed to monitor at least 13 chimneys/towers, in 8 different communities! Thanks to everyone who participated.  

As we approach the end of July, the swifts are at a variety of different stages – some sites are showing signs of nest failure, some are showing signs of late nesting attempts (still incubating), some are showing signs of feeding young, and some sites are showing signs of fledging. At some sites, there is even the arrival of large groups of adult swifts who weren’t there during the rest of the summer, already forming pre-migratory groupings! Spoiler alert: A large “swarm” of these newly-arrived swifts has been causing drama in St. Adolphe.  I am sure that the next few weeks will continue to be interesting.

A quick note – throughout these monitoring recaps, in an attempt at brevity, I will often use “entry/exit” as a way of indicating an entry followed by an exit within one or two minutes. This pattern of an entry followed by an exit is often referred to as a “classic exchange” or with additional context, an “incubation exchange” or “feeding exchange” depending on the frequency of these exchanges per hour. For more details on these nesting dynamics, you can check out these old blog posts: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/mcsi-canada-day-blog/
https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/st-adolphe-in-2021-and-more/

Brandon

We will start this week in Brandon. As we’ve mentioned many times on the blog, this summer’s swift situation in Brandon has been downright confusing. On July 24, the Westman Naturalists led “Operation Chimney Swift” – they split up into 4 groups and watched 4 different areas (yellow x on the map), nearby to where Louanne spotted 3 swifts the previous morning on July 23 (blue x on the map). 

Here’s a part of the recap shared by Gillian in a post-event email:

“Ken and Colleen saw a swift at Louise and 2nd at about 9:20pm, it flew off to the SW. This is very close to where Louanne saw swifts. Also, Sherry Punak-Murphy has seen swifts near New Era School. Our possible chimneys are 208 Louise Ave (S side), another down 2nd St to the South. We looked on the S side of Victoria and found a couple more possible chimneys: 510 Victoria (SW corner of 5th & Vic); 534 5th (I think). Glennis has spotted several possible chimneys near New Era School.”

A massive thank you to the Westman Naturalists for organizing this event (on top of their regular monitoring efforts) and for not giving up on the swifts this season!

St Adolphe

Last week, Barb did some intensive monitoring at all 5 of the St Adolphe nest sites that get monitored annually. Unfortunately, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys as well as the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and the Main St private residence chimney all showed signs of nest failure.  Thankfully, all was well at the Church. Barb reports: “The Church: ah, my number one ranked chimney in town is holding all the hope for fledglings this year! A pair of breeding swifts and a confirmed helper (3 consecutive entries seen on Sunday) are feeding non-brooded young at a rate of 5-6 times per hour. That is excellent!”

More from Barb, for some insight on how the nest activity progresses and how to estimate fledging dates: “Hatching at the Church took place July 1-2, so that started the clock at Day 1 of feeding brooded young. The juveniles are now wing flapping and strengthening their flight muscles – this is when the nests tend to start to slip if they aren’t securely fastened to the inside wall of the chimney. Day 20-21 brings about the precarious transfer of the juveniles as they move out of the bowl of the nest onto the wall of the chimney. You want to see continued feeding through those days…that should be this coming Sat./Sun. Then we hold our breath again as the juveniles approach Day 28-30 (July 28-30 if they hatched July 1; July 29-31 if they hatched July 2) and get ready to fly out of the chimney for their first flight. There is no cleanout trap at the Church, so it becomes a daily task to monitor for changes in site activity that suggest fledglings are airborne. 

Throughout the season, there has consistently been a group of 12 adult swifts in the St Adolphe area. Despite the nest failures, this number didn’t dramatically decrease, so the failed breeders have been sticking around.

However, there was a noticeable change in swift numbers in St Adolphe on July 19. While monitoring the Church site, Barb saw a group of about 16-17 swifts which is a higher count than has been accounted for this year. She has dubbed this group of swifts “The Swarm”. She knows they are adults (and not fledglings from the local nest sites) because of the easy-to-see moulting happening in the wings. She describes “big gaps in the trailing wing margin plus very frayed wing tips”. It’s the time of year when adult swifts are replacing their feathers, while fledglings will have brand new feathers that aren’t yet in need of replacing.

This new influx of adults must be a “pre-migratory grouping” – swifts that have arrived into St. Adolphe, on their way out of the breeding grounds and towards their wintering grounds down south. This pre-migratory grouping is noteworthy because of how early it is – the local nest site has not even fledged yet. Very interesting!

“The Swarm” brought some drama. On July 20, Barb was monitoring the Church and saw some typical feeding exchanges and the usual count of 3 swifts entering and exiting (breeding pair + helper). However, “The Swarm” then arrived, with a lot of low level flyovers and “peer ‘n’ veers” at the chimney. They then began entering the chimney! She saw 12 consecutive entries within 90 seconds. Over the next 8 minutes, she counted 19 consecutive exits. This mass use of a chimney with an ongoing breeding attempt, by non-breeding swifts during the daytime, is an unprecedented observation for Barb and was certainly worrying – how might this impact the breeding pair + helper + young that have yet to fledge? A monitoring session on Sunday with a lack of typical feeding patterns led Barb to fear a nest failure.  

On July 24, Barb completed 3 monitoring sessions to try and understand what was happening here.

Here is her executive summary:

“Session 1 – 05:20 to 7:20 AM: three birds were accounted for; max seen was 2 exiting the Church chimney together; the activity pattern included three consecutive entries and three consecutive exits, suggesting that the breeding pair and helper were onsite feeding. Some juveniles have survived 🙂

Session 2 – 10:20 to 12:00 noon: The Swarm was active – 13+ swifts were accounted for; Drop ‘n’ veer, tilt ‘n’ veer flyovers etc. telegraphed interest with something(s) inside the chimney; small groups of 3-4 dropped into the chimney from the swarm and exited into the swarm. Single entry/exits took place = likely feeding events but the swarm activity tends to mask this.

Session 3 – 8:36-8:52 PM (daytime) then 8:52-9:52 PM (roosting hour; sunset 9:22 PM): single entry/exits during the daytime. Roosting entries began at 9 PM – the total for the night =14! Rob was instrumental in doing sky counts as I did rim watching…our “swifts in + sky counts” totalled 14 during the roosting hour, so we feel confident all the birds flying about roosted in the Church.”.

And a summary of swift count timeline: “The baseline count in St A was 12 before the influx of from-away birds on July 19th; the peak count was 19 last weekend; yesterday the max count was 14, so 5 swifts have shuffled along. There are at least 3 ST A birds still in town = breeding pair and helper. The other 11 could be some combo of St A swifts + from-aways.”

This situation is fascinating and unprecedented. I can’t wait to hear how things evolve over the next week!

Winnipeg

Blair has been making daytime monitoring visits to all the sites in St Boniface that showed promising nesting activity earlier this summer. On July 8, he monitored 531 St Mary’s Rd (Riverside Billiards) from 10:46am-11:30pm, and saw 1 entry at 11:03am, 1 entry at 11:07am, 1 exit at 11:18am, and another exit at 11:20am. He then monitored 1310 Archibald St from 12:34-1:34pm and saw 1 entry/exit at 12:42pm and 1 entry/exit at 1:13pm. On July 12, Blair monitored 790 Elizabeth Rd from 9:44-10:44am, and saw 1 exit at 10:24am. On July 15, he monitored 314 St Annes Rd (Fernwood Apts) from 11:06am-12:06pm. He saw 1 exit at 11:36am, and 1 entry at 11:54pm. On July 18, Blair monitored 690 St Joseph St from 10:07-11:43am and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:11am, 1 entry/exit at 10:18am, 1 entry/exit at 10:19am, 1 entry/exit at 10:30am, 1 exit at 11:05am, 1 entry/exit at 11:22am, 1 exit at 11:27am, 1 entry at 11:41am, and 1 exit at 11:43am. Lots of action, with up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once.

Over the past few weeks, Tim has gone on some very productive bike rides. On July 13, after 5 minutes of watching 260 Wentworth (a priority site), he saw 1 entry at 11:18am. Priority site confirmed!  He then stopped to watch 890 McMilllan, but instead caught an entry into 915 Corydon at 11:41am.  On July 14, he saw 1 entry (10:56am) at 105 Clarke St within a minute of arriving. He also saw 1 entry into 843 Sherbrook (Bardal Funeral Home) at 12:13pm, and 1 entry/exit at 481 Corydon at 1:50pm. On July 23 at 8:02am, Tim saw 1 swift exit the chimney at 526 Walker Ave (Clarence Court Apts). This site was also a priority site, so we can now cross it off our priority list!

There has been a lot of monitoring at the Canadian Mennonite University chimney. Paul monitored on July 13 from 7:55-8:40pm, and saw 1 entry/exit at 7:57pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:07pm, 1 exit at 8:30pm, 1 entry at 8:33pm, and 1 more entry/exit at 8:40pm. The next day (July 14), John watched the CMU chimney from 4:20-5:20pm and saw 1 exit at 4:34pm, 1 entry at 4:46pm, 1 exit at 4:50pm, 1 entry/exit at 4:57pm, 1 entry/exit at 5:08pm, 1 entry/exit at 5:19pm. The multiple entry/exits per hour point to ongoing feeding young at this site. On July 18, I (Marissa) visited CMU to join Graham, John, Paul, and Hilary for a morning swift watch. The group usually does a weekly bird walk around the campus, but this week we watched the chimney instead. From 8:32am to 9:32am, we saw 1 entry at 8:45am, 1 entry at 8:48am, 1 exit at 8:50am, 1 exit at 9:06am, and 1 entry at 9:13am. At 9:24am, 2 swifts flew low above the chimney but did not go in.  On July 25, Graham and Richard watched the chimney again from 8:28am to 9:32am and saw more classic feeding behaviour – 1 entry/exit at 8:29am, 1 entry/exit at 8:31am, 1 entry/exit at 8:48am, 1 entry/exit at 8:53am, and 1 entry at 9:27am. Nice!

On July 17, Rudolf watched the chimneys at the Curtis Hotel and 1010 Brazier from 7:06pm to 8:16pm. At least 6 swifts were present. He saw 1 entry into the Curtis Hotel at 7:37pm. He also saw 1 entry into 1010 Brazier at 8:14pm, followed by an exit within seconds.

Kevin and Evan have been helping with priority site monitoring. On July 12, Kevin watched the Essex House on Portage Ave during the daytime and did not see any entries/exits. On July 19, Kevin watched 272 Cockburn St (priority site) for 60 minutes in the morning. While he saw 5 swifts in the sky, there were no entries or exits at the chimney. On July 19, Evan watched 834 Grosvenor (priority site) and while 4 swifts were seen flying overhead throughout the hour, none were seen using the chimney. In the afternoon, Evan watched the Mont Royal Apts (2265 Portage Ave) from 11:40am to 12:40pm and saw 2 entries at 11:40am followed by 1 exit at 11:44am. He also watched the Food Fare (2285 Portage Ave) but did not see any entries or exits.  On July 24, Evan monitored the chimney on the North side of the McBeth House from 11:18am to 12:18pm. He saw 1 exit at 11:18am, 1 entry at 11:49am, 1 exit at 11:53am, 1 entry at 11:54am, 1 exit at 11:58am, 1 entry at 12:18pm, and 1 exit at 12:22pm.

On July 17, I (Marissa) started off the blitz day with a 60-minute morning monitoring session at 385 Henderson Hwy (formerly Roxy Lanes), which hadn’t been monitored since 2022. There was some activity at the red chimney, including 1 entry at 8:37am and 1 exit at 9:04am. There were crows near the chimney for part of the monitoring session which may have impacted entries/exits. Later that evening, I saw 1 entry at 9:47pm into the Viscount Apartments (1794 Portage Ave). 

Photo by Marissa Berard: A swift entering the chimney at 385 Henderson Hwy.

On July 24, I did an impromptu roost hour monitoring session at the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower (in other words, I convinced a friend to spend some time watching the tower with me while we were on a walk in the area). We watched the tower from 9:14pm to 9:51pm. At 9:15pm, we saw 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:17pm (and 6 swifts flying together overhead). At 9:19pm, 4 swifts flew low over the tower but did not enter. There was then 1 exit at 9:28pm, 1 entry at 9:28pm, 2 entries at 9:36pm, and 1 entry at 9:42pm (4 swifts roosting in the tower). At the time of the final entry, there were no other swifts seen in the sky. I returned for a daytime monitoring session the next day (July 25) from 2:12pm to 3:12pm. Up to 4 swifts were seen flying overhead at the beginning of the session. There was 1 entry at 2:37pm, 1 entry at 2:43pm, and 1 exit at 2:47pm. I wonder if I may have missed some exits at the start of the session – I noticed that the swifts at this site seem to exit low towards to the south which is tough to see from the clearing to the north of the tower. About 10 minutes into the session, I moved to a spot along the paved path to the west of the tower which offered a better view of the south side of the tower. I would recommend this spot for future sessions.

Aynsley and Dennis visited this site this morning (July 26) from 10:55am to 12:00pm. There was 1 exit at 11:01am, 1 exit at 11:19am, 1 entry at 11:26am, 1 entry at 11:28am, 1 exit at 11:38am, and 1 entry at 11:57am. The max number of swifts seen in the sky was 12 individuals at 11:08am. Hard to know what is going on here – there is daytime activity, but not really any classic entry/exit exchanges.

Aynsley has been busy checking out different sites across the city. On July 18, she spent some time at 245 Bell Ave, 141 River Ave, and 444 River Ave but did not see any activity. On July 19, she watched a private residence on Balmoral St as well as 625 Osborne St (Fort Rouge Leisure Centre) but did not see any activity. On July 23, she visited 394 Academy Rd, a private residence on Dorchester Ave, and a private residence on Kylemore Ave but once again did not see any activity. On July 25, she visited the St. Avila School and saw 3 exits and 1 entry during the daytime. She also visited the St. Norbert Parish but did not see any activity.

Selkirk -Selkirk Mental Health Centre

Thanks to Tim, Tim’s students, and the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club, there has been some intensive monitoring at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre this past week which has provided us with valuable information on the site’s six nesting attempts. Buckle up, here goes a recap of the goings-on!

On July 15, Evan did some daytime monitoring. From 10:45-11:45am, he watched T01 and saw 2 entries at 11:12am, and 1 exit at 11:27am. He notes there may have been an exit at 11:25 as well but that it may have been a swift doing a fast low-fly over the chimney. From 11:50pm-12:50pm, he watched T02 and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:08pm.

On July 17 during the roosting hour, Nia and Linda watched these two sites again. At the Yellow Brick chimney, they saw 2 entries around 9:00pm, 1 exit at 9:06pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:16pm, 1 entry at 9:27pm, 1 exit at 9:32pm, and 1 entry at 9:58pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney). At T04, they saw 1 entry/exit at 9:09pm, 1 exit at 9:21pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:30pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 1 exit at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 entry at 9:56pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney). Patti and Denis watched T02, and saw 1 entry/exit at 9:15pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:20pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:32pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:35pm, and 3 entries between 9:49pm and 9:58pm (3 swifts confirmed in chimney).

On July 18, Gerald monitored T01, T03 and the Infirmary chimney during the roosting hour. At the Infirmary chimney, he saw 1 entry at 9:46pm. At T01, he saw 1 exit at 9:11pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, 1 entry at 9:39pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 exit at 9:51pm (up to 4 in the chimney at once, but 3 in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour). At T03, there was 1 exit at 9:05pm, 1 exit at 9:17pm, and 1 entry at 9:46pm.

On July 24, Tim organized a mini blitz of the SMHC sites to try and get a better idea of what is happening at these sites. Linda and Nia watched the Yellow Brick chimney and T04, from 9:25am-10:36am. At T04, there was 1 exit at 9:53am, 1 entry at 10:10am, 1 entry at 10:28am, 1 exit at 10:31am. At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:37am, 1 exit at 9:43am, 1 entry/exit around 9:44am, 1 entry/exit around 10:11am, 1 entry/exit around 10:29am. Linda and Nia note that 2 of these exits were weak, and the swift “dribbled out” of the chimney – a possible indication of fledglings. Patti watched T02 from 9:03am to 10:32am, and saw 1 entry/exit around 9:23am, 1 entry at 9:28am, 1 entry/exit around 10:18am, and 1 entry at 10:23am. These seem like a few classic feeding exchanges. At the end of the session, there were still 10-12 swifts flying overhead. Kevin watched T03 and the Infirmary chimney from 9:32am to 11:02am. At T03, there was 1 entry at 9:50am, 1 entry at 9:53am, 1 exit at 9:57am, 1 exit at 10:25am, 1 entry at 10:26am, 1 exit at 10:32am, 1 entry/exit around 10:38am. At the Infirmary chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:56am, 1 exit at 9:58am, 1 entry at 10:32am, and 1 exit at 10:34am. Harry watched T01 from 9:32am to 11:02am and saw no entries or exits at all.

So, other than T01 which had zero activity and indicates nest failure, there seemed to be some feeding behaviour but with a lot of variability, so it was still a bit unclear what the activity at the other sites meant.

To further investigate, Tim organized a mini monitoring blitz the next evening, on July 25. Nia and Linda watched the Yellow Brick chimney from 8:45pm to 9:52pm. There were 2 entries around 8:51pm followed by 2 exits around 8:52pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:07pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:15pm, and 1 entry at 9:39pm. It seems that feeding is ongoing at this site.

At the T04, there was 1 entry at 8:58pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:00pm, 1 entry/exit at 9:12pm, 2 exits at 9:16pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:35pm, and 1 entry at 9:37pm and 1 entry at 9:39pm. That’s up to 4 swifts in the tower at once. The combination of a higher number of swifts using this chimney along with messy entries/exits supports that this site has fledglings. Patti watched T2 and once again saw feeding activity as well as 3 swifts roosted in the chimney at the end of the night (which means there could be a helper at this site). At T1, there was still no breeding activity, but 3 swifts entered to roost for the night. At T3, there were at least 4 entry/exit exchanges within an hour, and 2 swifts entered the chimney for the night which seems to show that feeding is ongoing at this site. At the Infirmary, there was lots of activity. There were 7 swifts roosting in the chimney by the end of the session, 2 of which were fledglings (possibly more because of this high count of 7 swifts). It’s hard to confirm if these additional birds are more fledglings, or other adults coming to roost in this chimney. 

So, to recap: Based on the incredible monitoring efforts by Tim and his students and the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club, it seems that of the 6 initial breeding attempts at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre, 5 of them are either ongoing (still feeding) or complete (have fledged). That is great news!

Selkirk – Other sites

On July 15, Gerald watched the 367 Main St Apartments. He saw 1 entry at 9:03pm followed by an exit at 9:05pm. He notes seeing 10 swifts flying in the sky, which is more than usually seen in this area. He saw 1 entry at 9:20pm and 1 exit at 9:29pm. This chimney has two flues, and the swifts typically enter/exit in the south flue. This is important information because at 9:33pm, he saw something interesting – 1 swift entered into the north flue of the chimney! He then saw 1 exit from this north flue at 9:46pm.  Interesting.

On July 23, Gerald watched the Merchants Hotel. He did not see any swifts flying around until he saw 2 swifts enter the chimney at 9:30pm.

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald watched the Lower Fort Garry sites on July 11 during the roosting hour. At the Fur Loft, he saw 1 entry at 8:56pm and 1 entry at 9:15pm. At the Men’s House, he saw 1 entry/exit at 9:04pm, followed by 1 entry at 9:17pm.

On July 24, Evan watched the Fur Loft from 9:15am to 10:45am. Over the 90 minute session, he saw 1 entry/exit around 9:56am. The rate of one exchange over a 90 minute session seems to be an incubation exchange which would indicate a late breeding attempt.

Aynsley watched the Men’s House and saw regular feeding exchanges.

Lockport

On July 14, Jackie monitored the St Andres Lock and Dam from 7:47pm to 10:02pm. At the north chimney, she saw 1 entry at 8:27pm, 1 entry at 9:03pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, and 1 entry at 9:45pm. There were no entries/exits observed at the south chimney.

The Pas

Joel along with a few other observers have been keeping an eye on the sky in The Pas. While there have been swift sightings (up to 3 swifts) in a few different places, swifts have only been confirmed in one chimney this year (Loraine Apts on 3^rd St W). On July 8, Joel watched the Loraine Apts from 8:48am to 9:19am, and saw 1 entry at 8:53am and 1 exit at 9:17am. On July 15, Matt watched the Loraine Apts and saw 1 entry at 1 pm, and did not see an exit within the next half hour of observation. Meanwhile, Joel, Danica and Grace spread out and watched Bignell St but did not see any swifts. On July 17, Joel watched the Loraine Apts from 8:36am to 9:06am, and saw 1 entry at 8:58am.

La Broquerie

On July 17, Lewis and Frank made a trip to La Broquerie to monitor the two chimneys at the Church, from 7:45pm to 10:00pm (135 mins). There were 6 swifts circling over the area at the beginning. What follows is a whole lot of action at that large chimney! I will list it all here, for full effect: 1 entry at 7:57pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:04pm, 2 entries around 8:31pm, 2 exits around 8:33pm, 1 entry at 8:48pm, 2 exits at 8:49pm, 1 entry/exit around 8:55pm, 1 entry/exit at 8:59pm1 entry at 9:06pm, 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 entry at 9:08pm, 1 entry at 9:09pm, 2 exits at 9:10pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:24pm, 1 exit at 9:33pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:47pm.

Wow, that’s a whopping 15 entries and 13 exits! I wish all monitoring sessions were that exciting. While up to 4 swifts were in the chimney at once (4 entries in a row between 9:06pm and 9:09pm), only 2 swifts were in the large chimney at the end of the roosting hour. At the small chimney, there was 1 entry at 9:12pm, and 1 entry at 9:23pm. Barb mentioned perhaps the 2 swifts roosting in the small chimney could be helpers at the large chimney.

Frank returned to this site on July 24 and watched from 8pm to 9:50pm. This time, there was still some activity but there were no group flights. At the large chimney, he saw 2 exits at 8:18pm, 1 entry at 8:19pm, 1 exit at 8:25pm, 1 entry at 8:45pm, 2 exits at 8:50pm, 1 entry at 9:05pm, and 1 entry at 9:30pm. There were up to 3 swifts in the chimney at once, but only 2 at the end of the roosting hour. At the small chimney, there were 2 entries at 8:40pm followed by 1 entry at 9:30pm.

St Adolphe

This week, Barb did some intensive monitoring at all 5 of the St Adolphe nest sites that get monitored annually.

Unfortunately, both the SE and NE Club Amical chimneys as well as the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and the Main St private residence chimney all showed signs of nest failure. 

Thankfully, all was well at the Church. Barb reports: “The Church: ah, my number one ranked chimney in town is holding all the hope for fledglings this year! A pair of breeding swifts and a confirmed helper (3 consecutive entries seen on Sunday) are feeding non-brooded young at a rate of 5-6 times per hour. That is excellent!”

More from Barb, for some insight on how the nest activity progresses and how to estimate fledging dates: “Hatching at the Church took place July 1-2, so that started the clock at Day 1 of feeding brooded young. The juveniles are now wing flapping and strengthening their flight muscles – this is when the nests tend to start to slip if they aren’t securely fastened to the inside wall of the chimney. Day 20-21 brings about the precarious transfer of the juveniles as they move out of the bowl of the nest onto the wall of the chimney. You want to see continued feeding through those days…that should be this coming Sat./Sun. Then we hold our breath again as the juveniles approach Day 28-30 (July 28-30 if they hatched July 1; July 29-31 if they hatched July 2) and get ready to fly out of the chimney for their first flight. There is no cleanout trap at the Church, so it becomes a daily task to monitor for changes in site activity that suggest fledglings are airborne. 

Throughout the season, there has consistently been a group of 12 adult swifts in the St Adolphe area. Despite the nest failures, this number didn’t dramatically decrease, so the failed breeders have been sticking around.

However, there was a noticeable change in swift numbers in St Adolphe this morning. While monitoring the Church site, Barb saw a “swarm” of about 16-17 swifts (more than have been accounted for this year). She knows they are adults (and not fledglings from the local nest sites) because of the easy-to-see moulting happening in the wings. She describes “big gaps in the trailing wing margin plus very frayed wing tips”. It’s the time of year when adult swifts are replacing their feathers, while fledglings will have brand new feathers that aren’t yet in need of replacing.

This new influx of adults must be a “pre-migratory grouping” – swifts that have arrived into St. Adolphe, on their way out of the breeding grounds and towards their wintering grounds down south. This pre-migratory grouping is noteworthy because of how early it is – the local nest site has not even fledged yet. Very interesting!

St Francois Xavier

On July 17, Mike and Michele watched both sites in St Francois Xavier during the evening (pre-roosting hour). They started at the Church and saw 1 exit at 7:07pm and 1 entry at 7:25pm. They then moved to the private residence on Paul St, where they saw 1 entry/exit around 7:54pm, 1 entry at 8:07pm, and 1 exit at 8:12pm. They were also treated to 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers!

Portage la Prairie

On July 10, Gordon watched the two chimneys at the Trinity United Church during the roosting hour. He saw 2 entries into the south chimney (1 at 9:50pm and the other at 10:02pm).

On July 17, Gordon monitored 329 Duke Avenue (former Portage Correctional Centre) from 8:45pm to 10 pm and saw a lot of activity in the small north chimney. He saw 1 exit at 8:57pm, 1 exit at 9:11pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:13pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:25pm, 1 entry/exit around 9:27pm, 1 entry at 9:33pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm and 1 entry at 9:44pm. This looks like feeding behaviour, with a possible helper! Jana briefly monitored this site on July 19 from 1:00pm to 1:25pm and saw 1 entry/exit around 1:23pm, with around 15 swifts in the air. 

Updated Priority Site List (July 26): 

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site	Observer
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Ave	St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum
La Salle	–	27 Beaudry St	Ste Hyacinthe Church	Ron B.
Morden	–	352 Stephen St	Pembina Hills Art Centre	Marvin & Evelyn K.
Swan River	–	518 Main St	Commercial building
The Pas	–	380 Hazelwood Ave	VIA Rail Station	capped
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Dr	Dragonfly Delights Tea Room
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide St	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	172 Edmonton	Ladywood Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert St	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Hwy	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	118 Scott St	Apartment	Ron B.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Ave	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Ave	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	260 Wentworth Ave	Lady Wentworth Apartments	Tim P.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn St	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Ave	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	526 Walker Ave	Clarence Court	Tim P.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor Ave	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	1400 Rothesay St	Chief Peguis Junior High School	Meredith S.
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Dr	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	415 Edison Ave	L&B Towers	Capped
Winnipeg	River Heights	1025 Grant Ave	Grant Arms Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	555 Lanark St	Lanark Tower	Cam T.
Winnipeg	River Heights	394 Academy Rd	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	790 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Ave	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St Vital	531 St Mary’s Rd	Riverside Billiards	Blair R.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Ave	Foodfare
Winnipeg	St James	2400 Portage Ave	St Paul The Apostle Parish	Donna M., Eugenia G.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Ave	Essex House (broken pest cage)
Winnipeg	West Broadway	198 Furby St	Harvard Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral St	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West End	803 Erin Street	Elan Designs and Upholstery	Jeff H.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (A) middle chimney

Thanks,

Marissa

Monitoring Recap & July 17 Blitz Announcement

Happy Friday!

As we approach mid-July, swift nesting attempts continue to move along at different paces. Some nesting swifts are still incubating, while others are now feeding young. It’s been an eventful few weeks, full of reminders that swifts can be hard to predict and that we should never jump to conclusions too fast. Thanks to everyone who has continued to monitor and share with us your observations.

Before jumping in, I would like to announce another MCSI monitoring blitz on Wednesday, July 17. If you are free during the day or the evening, we’d love if you could check out your usual site or another site on our list! Please send us an email if you would like some chimney options.  

Keep reading for a jam-packed monitoring update, including a new site, and some crow drama.

Selkirk Mental Health Centre

It’s been very interesting to follow along the Selkirk Mental Health Centre updates. The combination of Gerald and the Selkirk Bird Watchers (SBWC) doing regular roosting hour monitoring sessions and Kevin and Evan doing regular daytime monitoring sessions has been providing a wonderful depth of information.

Last week, there was some crow drama chimney-side at the SMHC. 

On July 4, Evan and Kevin monitored for 1 hour during the daytime. Evan watched T04 and saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:15pm, followed by another entry/exit cycle at 12:54pm. Evan also watched the Yellow Brick chimney, where he saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 12:07pm.

Over at T1 is where the drama started. A few minutes into the monitoring session, Kevin noticed a crow sitting in the top of the T01 tower. Half an hour later, the crow was sitting atop T03. The crows finally left for the final 22 minutes of monitoring, but no swifts entered the tower (though they were diving and veering away on several occasions). This observation set off a bit of a panic – where the crows now going to start perching in the towers regularly and become a major disturbance to the swifts?  

Later that evening, the SBWC did a roosting hour watch. Things were normal at T04 and the Yellow Brick chimney – Nia and Linda saw 2 entries into each chimney. At the Infirmary however, Gerald saw a family of 5 crows north of the Infirmary building. They moved around a little bit and eventually went to an antenna around 15-20 feet away from the Infirmary chimney. They finally left the area at 9:27pm. Gerald did see swifts circle around throughout the evening, but he did not see any entries or exits at the Infirmary chimney, T01, or T03.

Kevin and Evan returned the next day, July 5, for another daytime watch (9:45-10:45am). This time, Kevin saw no activity at T02 or the Yellow Brick chimney. Fortunately, there was activity at two of the “crow drama” chimneys. At the Infirmary, Evan saw 1 entry at 9:49am, 1 exit at 9:59am, 1 entry at 10:15am, and 1 exit at 10:21am. At T03, he saw 1 exit at 10:17am, and 1 entry at 10:38am.

On July 7, Patti and Dennis watched T02 saw 2 entries during the roosting hour.

On July 8, Kevin did another daytime morning session from 10:10-11:10am. At T03, Kevin saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:38am, and another entry/exit cycle at 11:14am. At the Infirmary, there was 1 exit at 10:16am, followed by 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:40am, and another entry/exit cycle at 10:56am. These observations seem to indicate feeding exchanges at both T03 and the Infirmary.

Later that evening, Gerald did a roosting hour watch at T01. He saw 1 entry at 9:07pm, 1 exit at 9:13pm, either a dive or a rapid exchange at 9:59pm, and 1 high speed entry at 10:08pm.

On July 9, another daytime monitoring session by Kevin. At T01, there was 1 entry/exit at 10:10am, 1 entry/exit at 10:12am, and 1 entry/exit at 10:35am (seems to be typical feeding exchanges). At T04, there was 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:03am (seems like an incubation change).  At the Yellow Brick chimney, there was 1 entry/exit cycle at 11:58am (seems to be an incubation exchange). At T02, there were 2 entry/exit cycles within an hour (typical feeding exchanges).

So, to recap – despite last week’s crow scare, there are six ongoing breeding attempts (some still incubating, some feeding young) at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre! This is the first time we have had breeding attempts at all 6 sites. Very exciting!!!

Selkirk

On July 3, Fred and Nettie watched the Merchant’s Hotel during the roosting hour. They saw 1 entry at 8:43pm, 1 entry at 9:10pm, 1 exit at 9:13pm, and 1 entry at 9:57pm (2 swifts confirmed in the chimney).

Lockport

On July 2, Gerald watched the St Andrews Lock and Dam and saw 2 entries into the north chimney during the roosting hour.

Stonewall

Kevin did a 60 minute daytime monitoring session in Stonewall on July 3, watching the chimney at 336 Main St. He did not see any swift activity.

Ste Agathe

New site alert! On June 28, Tim was in Ste. Agathe. At 11:57am, he saw 1 entry into the chimney at 223-225 Chemin Pembina Trail. This site is our first confirmed site in Ste. Agathe – woohoo!

St Adolphe

Now for some more exciting, in-depth nest monitoring updates from St. Adolphe.

On July 2, Barb did a 60 minute daytime monitoring session at the Church. She saw 2 classic exchanges (entry/exit cycles) within the hour, so the swifts are now feeding brooded young.

On July 3, she spent 70 minutes at the Club Amical chimneys (9:45-10:55am). . At the SE chimney, she saw 1 entry/exit cycle at 10:55am (classic incubation exchange). At the NE chimney, she saw 1 exit at 9:59am, 1 entry/exit at 10:34am.

Barb returned to the Club Amical chimneys on July 4, to watch from 10:37-11:42am. At the SE chimney, there was a classic incubation exchange around 11:39am. At the NE chimney, she witnessed repeated flyovers and “drop ‘n’ veers”. Things began a little bit chaotic – She saw 1 entry at 10:47am, followed almost immediately by an exit 3 seconds later. Barb comments – “Was that a short snoopy visit by one of the local flock members?” She then saw 1 exit at 10:49am, and 1 entry at 10:54am. Things then settled down, with a classic exchange at 11:08am and another one at 11:37am. The two classic exchanges within the hour point to feeding brooded young.

On July 5, Barb checked out the Brodeur Bros./Daycare chimney and saw 2 classic exchanges within the hour, showing that they are feeding brooded young at this site as well.

On July 7, Barb returned to the Club Amical. At the SE chimney, she saw 1 classic exchange, suggesting that incubation is ongoing. She saw no activity at all at the NE chimney, which is quite different than the 2 feeding exchanges within the hour that she saw 3 days prior…

Barb returned the next day (July 9) to further investigate this strange change in activity. This time, she saw no activity at both sites (though she does point out it was late morning and it was getting pretty hot and humid out). In Barb’s words, “I feared a double down disaster with two nest failures”.

The next morning, July 9, she made an earlier visit from 8:36-9:36am. Much to her (and our) relief, she saw 3 exchanges at the NE chimney, and 1 exchange at the SE chimney. So, it seems the NE chimney swifts are still feeding young, and the SE chimney swifts are still incubating, despite the lack of activity in the previous sessions.

Barb also pointed out that there seem to be extra swifts around town (more than the breeding pairs accounted for at the nesting sites): “How they are partitioned for roosting is a mystery…no obvious sign of “helpers” at any site so far this year.”

Darlingford

On July 5, Frank returned to the Darlingford School Heritage Museum for a 2 hour session, from 8:05pm to 10:10pm. He saw 1 entry at 9:43pm, 1 entry at 9:48pm, and then 1 exit at 10:01pm followed by an almost immediate return and entry at 10:01pm.

Morden

On July 5, Marvin and Nicholas watched the Pembina Hills Art Centre chimney. There was a concert happening just below the chimney.  No swifts were observed.

Carman

On July 7, Rhonda watched the chimney during the daytime at the Memorial Hall in Carman. She saw 1 exit at 9:48am, 1 entry at 10:39am, and 1 exit at 10:43am. She mentions there is also another pair of swifts that do fly overs of the hall at about 4 hour intervals, though she isn’t sure which chimney they are using.

Brandon

The swift situation this year in Brandon continues to be a hard puzzle to decipher. To refresh your memory, no swifts were seen or heard on June 19 at the Orange Block. On June 26, Glennis, Sandy and Louanne decided to check out other areas near to the Orange Block chimney. They did hear swifts a few times, but did not see them.

On July 3, they decided to split up into groups and cover a few areas. Sandy, Glennis and Louanne stayed in the downtown area, visiting various locations. They saw 2 swifts around Princess Ave/13^th St at around 8:46pm and 8:54pm, and 3 swifts at 8:56pm. Of the 3 swifts, 2 left the area towards the NE, and 1 went the opposite direction. Carson and his group were around the north campus of the Assiniboine Community College, and saw 3 swifts at around 8:40pm. It is hard to know if both groups saw the same 3 birds, or different individuals.

Gillian and Gwyn spent some time over the past few days scouting around downtown, but they did not see or hear Chimney Swifts. Sandy, Glennis and Louanne were at the ACC North Campus last night and also did not see or hear swifts. While there, they looked around for suitable chimneys around the campus and while there are several chimneys, it seems they are all capped or screened.

The swifts must be hanging out and roosting somewhere in Brandon, but where that is remains a mystery!

Hartney

On July 5, Katharine monitored the Hart-Cam Museum (a new site Katharine discovered last year). Unfortunately, she did not see any signs of Chimney Swifts.

Here are some thoughts Katharine shared about the swift situation in Hartney:

“It is difficult to know if CHSW ever returned to Hartney this year or whether they attempted to nest again in the Hart-Cam Museum. Although I was in town briefly in the third week of June, I was not able to do a monitoring session until this one on July 5. In the weeks prior to this monitoring, there were a number of rainstorms, thunderstorms, some hail and a severe windstorm in the area with several occasions of very heavy downpours, including one the previous afternoon. Even if CHSW had been present earlier and had attempted to nest again here this year, I fear the nest may have failed due to the extremely frequent wet weather this season. At this point, I have seen no evidence of their presence.”

Souris

Katharine did some daytime monitoring in Souris on July 7. At a private residence on 5^th Ave W, she did not see any entries/exits or any swifts in the immediate airspace (though she did see 3 swifts flying around in the distance). She then briefly stopped by another private residence on 5^th Ave W and saw 2 swifts fly over the house relatively low but did not see any entries/exits.

Melita

Cory and Scott were in the Melita area on July 4 and decided to stop by the Legion Hall to look for swifts. They saw up to 8 birds in the sky at once, and saw 2 entries into the chimney.

Swan River

Janine and Madeline watched the chimney at 518 Main St E during the roosting hour on July 7. They did not see any swift activity.

Winnipeg

There’s been lots of activity at the Canadian Mennonite University. On June 25, a 5 minute daytime observation by Graham yielded 1 entry at 9:57am followed by an exit within the minute. On June 29, John and Kayden watched the chimney and saw 1 entry at 3:15pm followed by 1 exit at 3:16pm. On July 2, John and Richard found themselves chimney side once again. In John’s words: we were forced to go outside because a fire alarm went off in one of the buildings. While we were outside it began to rain. Almost immediately a swift dropped into the chimney and in about 30 seconds, a swift popped out of the chimney”. It seems incubation is ongoing at the site.   

On June 29, Jennifer was at the CCFM (340 Provencher Blvd) and saw 1 entry just before 9pm, as well as 2 other swifts swooping close to the chimney but flying off. She returned around 9:15pm to further investigate, and saw 1 exit at 9:25pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, and one more entry at 10pm. So at least 2 swifts are using this site, and we’re not sure if that third one is also part of this chimney group or if it went to roost somewhere else.

On July 5, Rudolf saw 2 swifts around the chimney at 1171 Kildonan Drive, including one entry.

On July 7, Garry watched the chimney at 722 Watt St for a morning observation session. 61 minutes into the session, he saw 1 entry followed by 1 exit a minute later, indicating the swifts are likely still incubating at this site.

On July 5, Evan and Kevin did some daytime monitoring at a few sites in Winnipeg. Evan watched the St. James Foodfare (2285 Portage Ave) and while he saw 4 swifts in the air, he did not see any activity at the chimney. Kevin watched Essex House (2415 Portage Ave) and saw 1 swift in the sky but no entries/exits. Afterwards, they headed to 465 Lanark St and watched the “A” and “D” buildings but saw no swift activity.

On July 8, Donna monitored 525 Lanark and did not see swift activity, but she did see 1 entry at 555 Lanark at 9:32pm.

Updated Priority Site List (July 12): 

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site	Observer
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Ave	St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum
La Salle	–	27 Beaudry St	Ste Hyacinthe Church	Ron B.
Morden	–	352 Stephen St	Pembina Hills Art Centre	Marvin & Evelyn K.
Swan River	–	518 Main St	Commercial building
The Pas	–	380 Hazelwood Ave	VIA Rail Station	capped
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Dr	Dragonfly Delights Tea Room
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide St	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	172 Edmonton	Ladywood Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert St	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Hwy	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	118 Scott St	Apartment	Ron B.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Ave	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Ave	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	260 Wentworth Ave	Lady Wentworth Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn St	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Ave	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	526 Walker Ave	Clarence Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor Ave	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	1400 Rothesay St	Chief Peguis Junior High School	Meredith S.
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Dr	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	415 Edison Ave	L&B Towers	Capped
Winnipeg	River Heights	1025 Grant Ave	Grant Arms Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	555 Lanark St	Lanark Tower	Cam T.
Winnipeg	River Heights	394 Academy Rd	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	790 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Ave	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St Vital	531 St Mary’s Rd	Riverside Billiards	Blair R.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Ave	Foodfare
Winnipeg	St James	2400 Portage Ave	St Paul The Apostle Parish	Donna M., Eugenia G.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Ave	Essex House (broken pest cage)
Winnipeg	West Broadway	198 Furby St	Harvard Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral St	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West End	803 Erin Street	Elan Designs and Upholstery	Jeff H.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (A) middle chimney

Thanks again for being here,…

and stay cool!

-Marissa

Presenting MCSI’s new factsheet – “Chimney Swifts: Cities, Forests & Beyond!”

Some exciting news to start off the week… MCSI has a new factsheet! You can access it now on our website:

“Chimney Swifts: Cities, Forests & Beyond!”  – English version

“Martinets ramoneurs: Dans les villes, les forêts, et bien plus!” – Version française 

This factsheet, which was created with funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program, highlights the use of forest habitat by Chimney Swifts for roosting and nesting.

When it comes to Chimney Swifts, we spend a lot of time talking about chimneys (for obvious reasons). However, despite their name, Chimney Swifts were here long before the advent of chimneys. In the past, they lived in old growth forests, roosting and nesting in hollow trees. As the number of chimneys increased and the amount of trees and old growth forests decreased, swifts adapted to their changing environment by shifting their habitat use. 

While most Chimney Swifts now roost and nest in chimneys, some Chimney Swifts do still nest and roost in trees. However, we know almost nothing about where and how often this occurs. As most of you may know, Chimney Swifts are a Threatened species and one of the big threats affecting this species is habitat loss (both chimneys and trees). Learning more about which trees are being used by swifts is important for guiding habitat protection and other conservation efforts.

That is why we created this factsheet – we want to know more about Chimney Swifts in natural areas in Manitoba. We hope that by spreading the word about Chimney Swifts in forests and asking folks to report any sightings of Chimney Swifts (both in urban and forested areas), we’ll be able to piece together more of the puzzle.

As we mention in the factsheet, there have been some reports of Chimney Swifts near large forested areas in western Manitoba such as Riding Mountain National Park, Dauphin, the Duck Mountains, Porcupine Hills, and The Pas. We suspect that swifts might be using hollow trees in these regions. We are hoping to do some targeted outreach in these areas to raise general awareness of Chimney Swifts and ask folks to keep an eye on the sky. The more people who know about Chimney Swifts and how to identify them, the more likely we are to find out more.

In this factsheet, we also mention several ways in which you can get involved. Here are a few examples (spoiler alert): In addition to reporting your Chimney Swift observations or volunteering as a swift monitor, you can also help by avoiding cutting down trees, preserving wetland areas, and letting us know if you come across any old hollow trees that might be suitable swift habitat (including GPS coordinates and a photo).

To view and/or download the factsheet, please visit the Resources and Links page of our website or click here: https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/factsheet5.pdf

If you’d like a printed copy, please send us an email (mbchimneyswift@gmail.com) or call us at (204) 943-9029 and we can make arrangements.

Thank you to Luc Blanchette for translating the factsheet into French (https://www.mbchimneyswift.com/Documents/factsheet5_fr.pdf)

– much appreciated!

We’ll be back soon with monitoring updates.

Cheers!

-Marissa

End of June Update: Hatchlings on the horizon

Hello!

Well, it’s been a pretty cold and rainy summer so far. As we approach the end of June, we’re hoping that the swifts’ nesting attempts continue along successfully despite the challenging conditions.

During the past several weeks, nesting swifts have been in the incubation stage of the nesting process. During this stage (which lasts 18-21 days), the eggs in the nest must be kept warm by one of the parents. The parents take turns covering the eggs, and the switch-off is what we refer to as an ‘incubation exchange’ – an entry, followed by an exit within a couple of minutes (both of which are usually silent and sneaky). This switch-off only happens about once per hour, so it’s not the most exciting or eventful nesting stage from a monitoring perspective.

Fortunately, more ‘eventful’ monitoring is on the horizon!  Once the eggs hatch and there are young swifts to feed, there will be a lot more in and outs by the swift parents. It’s hard to predict exactly when hatching will occur. Barb explains that “July 1^st is the rule of thumb date subtle transition from 1 quick, classic incubation exchange per hour to the increased rate of 2-3 times an hour which characterizes the feeding brooded young stage. After 6-7 days, when the juveniles are non-brooded, the feeding rates go even higher to 3-4 times per hour. “

More context from Barb: “In 2022, which was similarly wet ‘n’ cold at the start the breeding season, hatching took place at the NE Club Amical chimney on July 1, while other sites had eggs hatch out between 11-17 of July = the latest clump of hatch dates in 17 years of monitoring!”

Thanks to everyone who’s continued to monitor, despite the lower activity levels. Since last week, we’ve confirmed three more priority sites (updated list at the end of this post). As hatching begins and entry/exit rates increase, July will be a great time for checking for occupancy at our priority sites!

Lower Fort Garry

Gerald watched the chimneys at Lower Fort Garry on June 23 during the roosting hour. He saw 2 entries into the Men’s House, and 2 entries into the Fur Loft. He did not see any diving at other chimneys, like he did last week.

Lockport

Gerald monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam in Lockport on June 21, and saw 2 entries into the north chimney during the roosting hour.

Selkirk

Patti and Dennis watched T02 during the roosting hour on June 23, and saw 1 exit at 9:13pm, 1 entry at 9:27pm, and 2 entries at 10:01pm for a total of 3 swifts confirmed in the chimney.

Kevin and Evan visited the SMHC the next day, June 24. They monitored from 1:05pm to 2:05pm. At T03, Kevin saw 1 entry at 1:48pm and 1 exit at 1:57pm. At T01, he saw 2 entries at 2:02pm, 1 exit at 2:03pm, and 1 exit at 2:04pm. Evan watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 1:33pm. He also mentioned that while walking to the site, he saw 1 swift exit T04.

With the help of his camera, Gerald checked out 3 of the SMHC sites on June 26. During the monitoring session, Gerald saw at least 10 swifts in the sky at once. At the Infirmary chimney, there was lots of activity – 1 exit at 9:02pm, 1 entry at 9:35pm, 1 exit at 9:45pm, 1 entry at 9:52pm, 1 entry at 10:04pm, and 1 exit at 10:05pm (up to 2 swifts in the chimney at once, but only 1 at the end of the observation period). At T01, there was 1 entry at 9:02pm, 1 exit at 9:16pm, 1 entry at 9:36pm, and 1 entry at 10:06pm (2 swifts in the chimney). At T03, there was 1 exit at 9:17pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, 1 exit at 9:28pm, and 1 entry at 9:46pm. Hard to know what’s going on at these sites at the moment – time and more monitoring visits will (hopefully) reveal how what is going on in terms of nesting attempts at the SMHC.

St Adolphe

On June 24, Barb watched the two chimneys at the Club Amical (which each have a nesting pair), and she saw classic incubation exchanges at both chimneys. On June 27, Barb watched the Brodeur Bros/Daycare and the Church chimneys and saw classic incubation exchanges at both these sites as well. So as of now, it seems we’ve got incubation ongoing at all four of these sites!

Darlingford

Frank and Jacquie monitored the Darlingford School Heritage Museum on June 24. The conditions were not great for monitoring – it was extremely windy and hot, so the expectations were low. However, within a few minutes of their arrival, they saw 1 swift enter the chimney at 1:48pm! They then saw another entry at 1:50pm and 2 exits at 1:51pm. Frank mentions that he possibly heard another swift chittering high up in the sky.

Morden

Marvin returned to the Pembina Hills Art Centre for a roost hour watch on June 26. Last week, he saw 4 swifts enter this chimney. While he did see 2 swifts in the sky, he did not see any entries or exits into the chimney this time.

Pilot Mound

Evan and Kevin were in Pilot Mound on June 25 and took a look around for any swift activity. While they did see 2 swifts in the sky around some promising chimneys, they did not see any chimney use. We have yet to figure out which chimney the swifts are currently using in Pilot Mound – hopefully we are able to solve this puzzle eventually!

The Pas

Joel has spotted swifts at a few spots around The Pas. On June 13, he reports 3 swifts over the Bignell Road area around 12:54pm. On June 14, he saw 1 swift over Hazelwood Ave at 7 am, and 3 over the same area a few hours later at 8:56am. On June 20 at 6:30am, he saw 1 swift over the Apartments at 114 3^rd St W (the site that was confirmed last year) and 1 over the Uptown Mall. He went back to watch the Lorraine Apts later that afternoon from 2:57pm to 3:27pm, and saw 1 entry at 3 pm and 1 exit at 3:10pm. On June 21, he saw 5 swifts over the Church opposite the Uptown Mall at 6:40am.  

Portage la Prairie

Ron was in Portage la Prairie on June 25. Within 1 minute of arriving at Olina’s Jewels, he saw 1 swift exit at 9:42am. He also checked out the Portage Correctional Centre which has 2 chimneys, but he did not see any entries or exits.

Winnipeg

Ron checked out lots of priority sites in Winnipeg this week. On June 24, he watched 1025 Grant Ave and success – he saw 1 exit at 5:55am! He was less lucky at 465D Lanark St and at a private residence on Kylemore Ave– no swifts seen. He was able to confirm swifts at private residence on Avonherst St. At the Augustine United Church (444 River Ave), he saw 2 swifts in the area but he did not see entries/exits into the chimney. He mentioned that they seemed to be trying to enter a different chimney on the same building that appeared to be capped. Mysterious!

On June 26, he continued his quest. He was able to confirm swifts at 198 Furby St (Harvard Apts) and 118 Scott St! He also saw swifts using the chimneys at 803 Erin St and at 1310 Archibald St. He did not have any luck at Ludlow Court Apts (141 River Ave) and Home Street Mennonite Church (318 Home St).

On June 27, Juniper, Richard and Sheila watched the chimney at the Canadian Mennonite University (which was confirmed as a new site earlier this year). They saw 2 entries during the roosting hour.

Updated Priority Site List (June 28): 

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site	Observer
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Ave	St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum
La Salle	–	27 Beaudry St	Ste Hyacinthe Church	Ron B.
Morden	–	352 Stephen St	Pembina Hills Art Centre	Marvin & Evelyn K.
Swan River	–	518 Main St	Commercial building
The Pas	–	380 Hazelwood Ave	VIA Rail Station
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Dr	Dragonfly Delights Tea Room
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide St	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	172 Edmonton	Ladywood Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert St	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Hwy	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	118 Scott St	Apartment	Ron B.
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Ave	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Ave	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	260 Wentworth Ave	Lady Wentworth Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn St	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Ave	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	526 Walker Ave	Clarence Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor Ave	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	1400 Rothesay St	Chief Peguis Junior High School	Meredith S.
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Dr	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	415 Edison Ave	L&B Towers	Capped
Winnipeg	River Heights	1025 Grant Ave	Grant Arms Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	555 Lanark St	Lanark Tower	Cam T.
Winnipeg	River Heights	394 Academy Rd	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	790 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Ave	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St Vital	531 St Mary’s Rd	Riverside Billiards	Blair R.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Ave	Foodfare
Winnipeg	St James	2400 Portage Ave	St Paul The Apostle Parish	Donna M., Eugenia G.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Ave	Essex House (broken pest cage)
Winnipeg	West Broadway	198 Furby St	Harvard Apartments	Ron B.
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral St	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West End	803 Erin Street	Elan Designs and Upholstery	Jeff H.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (A) middle chimney

Thanks, and until next week!

Cheers,

-Marissa

Hello, and happy Friday! 

I hope you are all enjoying the official start of summer. It’s an important week! Yesterday was the summer solstice. Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and tonight is a full moon. The June full moon is often referred to as the Strawberry Moon because of its pink/reddish tones – a beautiful sight indeed, and I am looking forward to seeing it rise! 

Thanks to everyone who got out on Wednesday, June 19 to participate in our monitoring blitz! Based on the reports I’ve received so far, at least 25 chimneys were monitored, with the help of at least 37 monitors!

In this week’s blog, we will share results from the blitz as well as the other monitoring that’s gone on in the past few weeks. A lot has happened!  A lot has happened! We’ve crossed 5 more sites off our priority list, and we’ve also discovered a new site.Keep reading for details.  

St. Adolphe

Let’s start with Barb’s latest report from St. Adolphe. Barb’s reports are always fascinating because of her deep knowledge of swifts and their nesting dynamics. I always learn a lot reading her analyses of what she sees while monitoring – I have included some of her comments in this recap. On June 17, Barb visited the Club Amical from 11:15am to 12:20pm, and saw 1 entry into the SE chimney. On June 18, she returned to Club Amical from 12:20pm to 1:35pm, and saw 1 entry into the SE chimney at 12:54. The NE chimney had no activity for most of the session, but finally Barb saw 1 entry at 1:24pm, and 1 exit at 1:30pm. Barb’s recap of these few visits so far: “Bottom line = I went from gloomy guarded optimism in the blink of an eye…the 6-ish minute duration-in interval at the NE Club could reflect a mid-stage indicator of incubation…[progressive] steps to confirm incubation = 50% attendance; duration-in interval <10 min; then observation of a classic incubation exchange = entry followed by an exit within 1-2 minutes.”

On June 19, Barb watched the Club Amical again from 10:55am to 11:55am. At the NE chimney, she saw 1 entry at 11:11am, and 1 entry at 11:13am, followed by 2 exits at 11:25am. At the SE chimney, there was 1 exit at 11:48am, so that swift was in the chimney for at least 53 minutes before exiting. Once again, here are Barb’s thoughts on what she saw this week: “All in all, the swifts are not tight on eggs, but nest building-egg laying and early days incubation are being reflected in the activity pattern. The activity patterns vary day to day and are all likely to be bogged down a bit with the poor feeding conditions. I’m not needing a heat dome, but some slightly warmer and steadier temp’s would go a long way to support the swifts!” 

Selkirk/Lower Fort Garry/Lockport

Now over to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. On June 12, Aynsley swung by the Selkirk Mental Health Centre for a quick morning observation session. During the 20 minutes she was there, she saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney, and 1 exit from T03. That evening, the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club did their weekly monitoring. Gerald watched the infirmary chimney and saw 1 entry at 8:42pm, 1 exit at 8:54pm, 2 entries at 9:34pm, and another entry at 10:09pm. That’s 3 swifts in the chimney. He also watched T03 and saw 1 entry at 8:46pm, 2 entries at 9:23pm, 2 exits around 9:32pm, and 2 entries at 9:54pm (3 swifts in chimney). Fred and Nettie watched T01 and saw lots of activity – 1 exit at 7:55pm, and then 6 entries between 9:10pm and 10:10pm. They note that there was another possibly entry at 9:59pm, but they aren’t sure. So that’s a total of 6 swifts confirmed in the chimney, maybe 7! Linda watched T04 and saw 5 entries into the chimney between 9:22pm and 10:06pm. Lots of swifts at the SMHC! Recap of June 12 at end of roosting hour: 3 swifts in infirmary chimney, 3 swifts in T03, 6 swifts in T01, 5 swifts in T04 (yellow brick chimney and T02 were not monitored). 

Kevin and Evan did an hour of daytime monitoring at SMHC on June 17. At T04, Kevin saw 1 entry at 2:14pm, and 1 exit at 2:24pm. He saw no activity at the yellow brick chimney. At T01, Evan saw 1 exit at 2:05pm, and 1 entry at 2:11pm. At T03, he saw 1 entry at 2:31pm, 1 exit at 2:39pm, and 1 entry at 2:47pm. That evening, Patti and Dennis watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 9:37pm. 

On June 20, Nia and Linda watched the yellow brick chimney and T04. At the yellow brick chimney, they saw 1 entry at 9:14pm, and 1 exit at 9:35pm. At T04, they saw 1 exit at 9:09pm, 1 exit at 9:27pm, 1 entry at 9:37pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, and 1 entry at 10:02pm. That’s 3 swifts confirmed in the chimney. 

As for the other sites in Selkirk, Gerald watched 367 Main St on June 18 and saw 1 entry. Fred and Nettie watched the Merchant’s Hotel in Selkirk on June 19 and saw 2 entries at 9:03pm, 2 exits at 9:24pm, 1 entry at 9:38pm and 1 entry at 9:57pm, for 2 swifts total. 

In Lockport, Gerald monitored St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound on June 10. He saw 2 entries into the north chimney. 

Now over to Lower Fort Garry. Gerald watched the chimneys at Lower Fort Garry on June 14. He saw 3 swifts enter the Men’s House and 2 swifts enter the Fur Loft during the roosting hour. He also had another interesting sighting – At 9:48pm, 2 swifts began making repeated dives at a chimney on the west side of the Museum building. The diving ended at 10:03pm, and he did not see any swifts actually enter the chimney. 

Brandon

On June 1, Louanne watched the Orange Block building and saw no swifts at all. On June 5, Louanne, Glennis and Sandy saw 1 entry at 9:20pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, 1 exit at 9:34pm, 1 entry at 9:42pm, 2 exits at 9:45pm. After this set of exits, they did not see the swifts again. On June 12, Louanne, Gwyn, Sandy, Glennis, Gillian and Carson watched the site again and did not see any swifts at all, though they mention that there were a few raindrops throughout, and a storm was rolling in. On June 19, Louanne, Sandy, Glennis, and Gwyn again did no see any swifts at all. This is strange given that this chimney has consistently had swifts for several years now. Louanne mentioned that a building in the vicinity of the Orange Block building burnt down last year – we don’t know if this would have impacted the swift chimneys. Louanne also mentioned that swifts had been heard in other parts of downtown Brandon, so they are still around, but where they are nesting and/or roosting remains a mystery.  

St Francois Xavier

Michele watched the Church in St Francois Xavier on June 12 around 1 pm. During the 30 minutes she was there, she did see a swift circle the chimney a couple times and then fly away, but otherwise there was no activity. 

Eriksdale

Brent and Shirley watched the chimney at the former church inEriksdale on June 13 and saw no swifts. 

Saint-Jean-Baptiste

As part of our blitz, Luc watched the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church on June 19 and saw 5 swifts enter the chimney between 9:44pm and 9:55pm. 

Morden

Ron visited the Pembina Hills Art Centre in Morden on the evening of June 18, and the morning of June 19. While he saw 4 swifts flying “tantalizingly close to the chimney”, he did not see any entries. Marvin and Evelyn returned to this site later during the roosting hour of June 19 and at last, the swifts finally cooperated! 2 swifts entered around 9:39pm, followed by another 2 swifts around 9:56pm for a total of 4 swifts confirmed inside the chimney. Woohoo!

A whole bunch of other towns visited by Ron!

Ron has been busy this week monitoring sites around the province. On June 17, he monitored St. Hyacinthe Parish in La Salle (which is a priority site) and saw an exit at 6:24am. Confirmed! That same morning, he also saw 1 exit and 1 entry at a private residence in St Francois Xavier, and 1 exit from the church at 5:26am. Ron also stopped in Carman but did not see any swifts. 

On June 20, Ron visited Dominion City and saw 1 swift exit at private residence. He then went to Emerson, and while he saw some suitable chimneys, he did not see any swifts. In Miami, same thing – nice chimneys, but no swifts. 

Ron also checked out the Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach. Frank had checked out this site on June 17 and though he saw a lot of construction, he did not see any swifts. Ron had more luck – hesaw 1 exit at 10:36am, and 1 entry a minute later at 10:37pm. He then saw another exit at 10:45am, and 1 entry at 10:48pm. These do seem like classic incubation exchanges, so it seems that nesting is underway despite the heavy construction! 

Winnipeg

We’ve got a new site in Winnipeg. On June 11, while on a walk, Cain noticed 2 entries into a private residence on Ruby St, in Wolseley. It is always exciting to get to add a site to the database!  

On June 13, Frank visited the Arundel Apartments (780 and 790 Elizabeth Rd), which are both priority sites. He did not see any activity at all for almost the entire session, until 1 single entry into the chimney at 790 Elizabeth Rd at 9:29pm. Sneaky! Blair then visited this site on June 15 to focus on 780 Elizabeth Rd, but he also did not see any swifts around this chimney. On June 19 (blitz night), Blair returned to monitor 790 Elizabeth Rd and had much more luck – he saw 1 entry at 8:34pm, 1 exit at 8:43pm, 1 exit at 8:59pm, 1 entry at 9:31pm, and 1 final entry at 9:32pm (total of 2 swifts confirmed in the chimney).

Blair has also monitored many other sites in the past few weeks.On June 1, Blair watched Nelson McIntyre Collegiate (188 St Mary’s Rd) and saw 2 entries at 9:17pm.  On June 8, he checked out Riverside Billiards (531 St Mary’s Rd) which is on our priority site list. He saw 1 entry at 9:05pm, 1 exit at 9:19pm, 1 entry at 9:34pm, and 1 entry at 9:36pm. Woohoo, another site crossed off our list! On June 11, Blair watched 865 Tache Ave, and saw no activity. On June 13, he watched the apartment building at 1310 Archibald St, and saw 1 exit at 9:11pm, and 1 entry at 9:20pm followed by 1 entry at 9:23pm. On June 17, he watched the Marion Hotel (393 Marion St) and saw 2 in the air, but no entries/exits. 

Donna has also been busy checking out priority sites. On June 14, she watched 465A Lanark St and on June 17, she watched 465D Lanark St. Unfortunately on both evenings, she did not see any swifts. On the night of the blitz, Frank covered this site and other than one low flying swift seen to the north of the chimney at 8:21pm and a possible chittering swift heard around 9:30pm, there was no swift activity.

For the blitz, Donna watched St Paul Apostle Parish, and saw 1 entry at 9:34pm. 

Jeff watched 803 Erin St, which is one of our priority sites. He saw 1 entry at 9:12pm, 1 entry at 9:37pm, and 1 entry at 9:59pm, for a total of 3 entries into the chimney! One more priorityconfirmed. 

Cam checked out 1025 Grant Ave during the daytime and though there was a helicopter flying near, he did not see any swifts. 

Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower during the roosting hour. They briefly heard a couple of swifts when they arrived at 9:10pm, but they did not hear them again and they did not see any entries or exits, which is a little bit strange and unexpected. 

Marilyn and Pam monitored the Nordale School and they did not see any swifts. 

I briefly checked out the Clarence Court Apartments in South Osborne area late afternoon, and though I did see one swift fly near the chimney, I did not catch any entries or exits. Later that evening, Liam and I checked out the Kings Theatre chimney on Portage Ave. We saw 2 swifts enter 9:40pm. After that point, there were still 4 swifts in the sky above us. We suspect a few of these swifts may have entered the Marner Apartments but we did not have a good view of this chimney.  

Aynsley watched the McBeth House. This site has three chimneys, and the middle chimney is on the priority site list this year. Though Aynsley did not see any entries or exits into the middle chimney, she did see 1 entry into the back chimney around 9:57pm. 

Updated Priority Site List (June 20): 

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site	Observer
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Ave	St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum
La Salle	–	27 Beaudry St	Ste Hyacinthe Church	Ron B.
Morden	–	352 Stephen St	Pembina Hills Art Centre	Marvin & Evelyn K.
Swan River	–	518 Main St	Commercial building
The Pas	–	380 Hazelwood Ave	VIA Rail Station
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Dr	Dragonfly Delights Tea Room
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide St	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	172 Edmonton	Ladywood Apartments
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert St	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Hwy	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	118 Scott St	Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Ave	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Ave	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	260 Wentworth Ave	Lady Wentworth Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn St	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Ave	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	526 Walker Ave	Clarence Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor Ave	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	1400 Rothesay St	Chief Peguis Junior High School	Meredith S.
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Dr	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	415 Edison Ave	L&B Towers
Winnipeg	River Heights	1025 Grant Ave	Grant Arms Apartments
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	555 Lanark St	Lanark Tower	Cam T.
Winnipeg	River Heights	394 Academy Rd	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	790 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments	Frank M.
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Ave	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St Vital	531 St Mary’s Rd	Riverside Billiards	Blair R.
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Ave	Foodfare
Winnipeg	St James	2400 Portage Ave	St Paul The Apostle Parish	Donna M., Eugenia G.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Ave	Essex House (broken pest cage)
Winnipeg	West Broadway	198 Furby St	Harvard Apartments
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral St	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West End	803 Erin Street	Elan Designs and Upholstery	Jeff H.
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (A) middle chimney

That’s all for this week. Thanks for being here!

-Marissa

Hello!

It’s hard to believe it’s already mid-June. Many swift pairs will now be building their cup-shaped nests, which they make by gathering twigs and gluing them together using their sticky saliva. At this point in the season, there are many different monitoring options. You can keep monitoring your usual site(s), or you can check out sites that are on our priority list (more details on this below). If swifts are using a chimney to nest, they will be entering/exiting the chimney during the daytime. So, both daytime and roosting hour monitoring sessions are valuable. Monitoring a site once or twice can give a good snapshot into what is going on at that site, while monitoring the same site on a regular basis can give more detailed information on how that nesting attempt is going.

I really love this quote from Barb, which I shared on the blog last year as well: “Along the way your monitoring sessions will add puzzle pieces to the overall picture. Infrequent, short sessions gather puzzle pieces with snippets of information; these are very good for verification of site use. Frequent, lengthy sessions harvest more robust puzzle pieces that have more information in them; these are necessary for identifying stages of nesting.”

We are holding a monitoring blitz on Wednesday, June 19^th. The goal for this evening is to monitor as many sites as possible. If you are free to participate, please let me know which site you will monitor or if you want to be matched with a site for the evening (please email mbchimneyswift@gmail.com).

Priority Site List for 2024

Every year, we have a list of “priority sites” (sites that are a high priority to monitor). These are sites where we haven’t confirmed use by swifts in several years. In many cases, these sites simply haven’t been monitored in a while. The main purpose of this monitoring is to investigate whether any swifts are currently using these chimneys. This information is valuable because it shows that these sites continue to provide important roosting or nesting habitat for Chimney Swifts (a species at risk) which in turn helps provincial and federal government agencies to protect these sites.

We’re looking for help from volunteers to tackle this priority site list. Here’s how you can get involved: Take a look at the list, pick a site or two that you would like to check out, go take a look to see if there any swifts using this chimney and let us know what you see! If possible, take a photo of the chimney so we have an update on its condition. Once we get a report from someone saying they’ve observed an entry/exit at a site, we will cross that site off our list. Like a scavenger hunt of sorts. Like last year, we will post an updated list on the blog every week so that volunteers can see which sites have been “checked off”, and which sites haven’t been confirmed yet.

This monitoring can be done at any time of day, for any length of time. Because we are only looking to confirm the presence of swifts in the chimney, the exact timing and duration is not as important as for official roost or nest monitoring. So if you happen to be near a priority site and have 20 minutes to spare to watch a chimney, that is great! That may be enough time to catch an entry or an exit.

You can use the datasheet as for all other monitoring (found here). As always, please make sure to fill out all the fields including the start and end time, the date, the site address, and any entries/exits. 

We are working on a site guide for each swift site, which will include information such as where the chimney is located on the building, some photos, and suggestions of where to stand for the best monitoring vantage point. We have finished these guides for most of the priority sites – please send us an email if you would like this information for a specific site.

Three of our 2024 sites have already been “checked off” our list! Donna and Eugenia saw 2 swifts enter St Paul the Apostle Parish (2400 Portage Ave) on June 1. Cam watched Lanark Tower (555 Lanark St) during the daytime on June 5 saw 1 entry and 1 exit. Meredith watched Chief Peguis Junior High School on June 3 and saw 2 swifts using the chimney during the roosting hour. Woohoo!

Here’s our current list:

Community	Neighbourhood	Address	Site	Observer
Eriksdale	–	16 Railway Ave	St John’s Anglican Church and former Eriksdale Museum
La Salle	–	27 Beaudry St	Ste Hyacinthe Church
Morden	–	352 Stephen St	Pembina Hills Art Centre
Swan River	–	518 Main St	Commercial building
The Pas	–	380 Hazelwood Ave	VIA Rail Station
Wasagaming	–	106 Buffalo Dr	Dragonfly Delights Tea Room
Winnipeg	City Centre	100 Adelaide St	Immigrant Centre Building
Winnipeg	City Centre	222 York Ave	Brink’s Canada
Winnipeg	City Centre	91 Albert St	The Old Market Autonomous Zone
Winnipeg	Fort Garry	1022 Pembina Hwy	Cambridge Hotel
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	118 Scott St	Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	141 River Ave	Ludlow Court Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	245 Bell Ave	Children’s Education Funds Inc
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	260 Wentworth Ave	Lady Wentworth Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	272 Cockburn St	King George Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	280 River Ave	Moxam Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	411 Stradbrook Ave	Lancaster Apartment
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	526 Walker Ave	Clarence Court
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	834 Grosvenor Ave	Eugene Apartments
Winnipeg	Fort Rouge	444 River Ave	Augustine United Church
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	1400 Rothesay St	Chief Peguis Junior High School	Meredith S.
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	25 Valhalla Dr	Valhalla Gardens
Winnipeg	North Kildonan	415 Edison Ave	L&B Towers
Winnipeg	River Heights	1025 Grant Ave	Grant Arms Apartments
Winnipeg	River Heights	465A Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	465D Lanark St	Lanark Gardens
Winnipeg	River Heights	555 Lanark St	Lanark Tower	Cam T.
Winnipeg	River Heights	394 Academy Rd	Uptown Lofts
Winnipeg	St Boniface	780 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	790 Elizabeth Rd	Arundel Apartments
Winnipeg	St Boniface	99 Birchdale Ave	Nordale School
Winnipeg	St Vital	531 St Mary’s Rd	Riverside Billiards
Winnipeg	St James	2285 Portage Ave	Foodfare
Winnipeg	St James	2400 Portage Ave	St Paul The Apostle Parish	Donna M., Eugenia G.
Winnipeg	St James	2415 Portage Ave	Essex House, pest cage
Winnipeg	West Broadway	198 Furby St	Harvard Apartments
Winnipeg	West Broadway	39 Balmoral St	Apartment
Winnipeg	West End	318 Home St	Mennonite Church
Winnipeg	West End	803 Erin Street	Elan Designs and Upholstery
Winnipeg	West Kildonan	31 McBeth St	McBeth House (A) middle chimney

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you would like some guidance about when and where to monitor.

We will catch up on monitoring updates next week.

Thanks!

-Marissa

NRMP Nights 3 & 4 (and more)

Hello!

The beginning of this monitoring season has been an eventful one, and the past week is no different. In this week’s blog post, we will recap the results from nights 3 and 4 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey Protocol (aka NRMP). It was a bit of a mixed bag again this week – some unexpectedly high counts, some unexpectedly low counts, some ‘back to normal’ counts.

Before we dive in, I just want to remind everyone that though the four scheduled NRMP nights are over, there are plenty more opportunities to monitor! We have another scheduled monitoring night on Wednesday, June 19. The goal of this monitoring blitz is to encourage as many volunteers are possible to get out monitoring either at your usual site or a priority site that we can assign you. We also encourage you to continue to monitor your site(s) if you are interested and available! As mentioned previously, whether you monitor once more or on a regular basis throughout the summer, this data is helpful and gives us a snapshot into what is going on at that site (such as if there is a breeding attempt and if yes, which stage that breeding attempt is at).

I will be posting the priority site list for monitoring on the blog next week. Thanks to everyone who has already monitored a priority site this year! If you’d like to be matched with a priority site, please send me an email (mbchimneyswift@gmail.com).  

Monitoring Results – NRMP Nights 3 & 4

On May 30, Blaire watched the St Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation and had quite the exciting night! Though she only saw 2 swifts enter the chimney (which isn’t anything out of the ordinary), she counted up to 18 swifts at once flying over the Lemay forest. The group of swifts stayed over the forest the whole evening until they disappeared around 9:30pm. This is the most swifts she has ever seen in this area! The results were very different on June 3 – Blaire saw zero swifts at all in the area. Strange!

In St Francois Xavier, Michele and Mike watched the church and on May 30 they saw 4 swifts foraging in the sky. They saw 1 entry at 9:22pm and 1 exit at 9:24pm, followed by 2 final entries at 9:24pm. The other 2 swifts headed south. On June 3, they saw multiple entry/exits by a single swift between 8:45pm and 9:10pm, and 2 final entries at 9:12pm (total of 2 swifts).

Frank monitored the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie and on May 30, he didn’t see any entries into the large chimney but did see 2 entries into the small chimney. On June 3, there was a lot more activity – Frank saw a total of 4 swifts enter the large chimney and 6 swifts enter the small chimney!

Gordon, Jana and Elliot monitored in Portage la Prairie. On May 30, they watched the three chimneys at the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada. They observed 2 swifts enter the north chimney and 5 swifts enter the middle chimney. They didn’t see any swifts enter or exit the south chimney. On June 3, they watched the United Church and saw 6 entries into the south chimney and 1 entry into the north chimney.

Brett watched the Providence College chimneys in Otterburne. On May 30, he saw at least 12 swifts foraging at the start of the monitoring session. He saw 2 entries into the “large” chimney, 3 entries into the “skinny” chimney, and 1 entry into the “bell tower” chimney. At 10 pm, he could still hear swifts flying around in the dark.  On June 3, he saw 5 entries into the “large” chimney, 1 entry into the “skinny” chimney, and 2 entries into the “bell tower” chimney. Interesting how the number of swifts roosting in each of these side-by-side chimneys seem to change each night!

Luc watched the St Jean Baptiste Church on June 3 and saw 13 entries and 2 exits, for a total of 11 swifts in the chimney.

In Dauphin on May 30, the Hong Kong Café had 2 entries, and while there were up to 11 swifts flying around the Watson Art Centre, there were no entries or exits seen. The main roost (site #600) had 17 entries on May 30, and 13 entries on June 3. These counts are much more ‘normal’ for this site compared to last week’s high counts.

In Carman, Rhonda reported 4 swifts flying over the Memorial Hall for over 2 hours on June 3. 

In St Adolphe, Barb’s mission on June 3 was to check out nest activity and confirm occupancy at all five sites. She saw some swift action at both the Brodeur Bros and Main St chimneys. She also saw up to 9 swifts in the sky (which is the highest count in St. Adolphe this season), foraging as well as some brief trio flights and several “V” displays between flying pairs. Barb’s mission was successful – there seem to be breeding attempts underway at all 5 St Adolphe nest sites.

In Selkirk, Gerald monitored the apartment at 367 Main St on May 30 and saw 2 entries. At the Selkirk Mental Health Centre on May 30, Evan monitored T01 on May 30 and saw 14 swifts flying overhead around 9:30pm. Up to 4 swifts were confirmed in T01 at once, with 3 swifts in the chimney at the end of the roosting hour. Robert saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney. Patti and Dennis monitored T02 on May 30 and saw 3 entries. On May 30, Nia and Linda saw 3 entries and 1 exit at the yellow brick chimney, for a total of up to 3 swifts using the chimney but only 2 swifts in the chimney at the end of the session. They saw 3 entries into T04. On June 3, Nia and Linda saw 1 entry at the yellow brick chimney and 4 entries into T04.

On June 3, Fred and Nettie monitored the St Andrews Lock and Dam Maintenance Compound and saw 2 entries into the north chimney, and no entries into the south chimney.

On June 3, Gerald monitored both sites at Lower Fort Garry. There were 3 entries into the Fur Loft. At the Men’s House, there were 2 entries at 9:30pm, and then 1 exit followed by 1 entry at 9:34pm, and an exit at 9:35pm.

In Winnipeg, on May 30, Rudolf saw at least 11 swifts in the airspace around the Northdale Shopping Center. At 9:10pm. He saw 2 swifts enter the Curtis Hotel and at 9:37pm, he saw 2 swifts enter the chimney at 1010 Brazier. Glenn and Sandie watched the Old Grace Hospital and though they could hear and see swifts overhead, they did not see any entries or exits. Kevin and Kylie watched Niakwa Manor and saw 1 entry. Nicole watched the Fleetwood Apartments and observed 4 entries. Jennifer and Marc watched 690 St Joseph St and saw 3 entries between 9:34pm and 9:42pm.

On May 30, Breanne, Aynsley, Dennis and I were at 424 River Ave and saw about 108 birds enter the chimney, in two big waves. Aynsley and Dennis were monitoring 424 River again on June 3 and counted about 145 swifts entering the chimney.

I was able to get a video of the swifts entering on May 30, which you can see here: https://youtu.be/9EbVimGgTuc Here’s a challenge… if you are able to count the swifts entering the chimney, I’d love to hear your count! Even with the video, it’s a bit hard to get an exact count.

On May 30, Blair watched the Fernwood Apartments and saw 4 entries (2 at 9:13pm, 1 at 9:25pm, and 1 at 9:28pm). Kevin watched this site on June 3 and saw 2 entries around 9:09pm.

Linda watched the Moorgate Apartments and on May 30, she saw a total of 4 swifts enter the chimney between 9:32pm and 9:48pm. On June 3, she had higher numbers than usual – she observed 15 entries and 3 exits, with 13 swifts in the chimney at once! At the end of the session, there were still 4 swifts in the air. Linda returned to this site the following night (June 4) to check it out again and had a total of 6 swifts enter the chimney for the night. Lots of variation from night to night!

Ron watched the Assiniboine School and saw 1 entry at 9:19pm followed by 1 exit at 9:23pm, and then 2 final entries around sunset for a total of 2 swifts in the chimney.  Beth and Wolfgang watched this site on June 3 and also saw 2 swifts enter the chimney.

Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower and on May 30, they saw 1 exit at 9:17pm, 1 entry at 9:27pm, and 2 final entries around 9:47pm for a total of 3 swifts in the chimney. On June 3, Jo and Betsy saw 7 swifts enter the chimney! The highest count yet for this site this year.

On June 3, Jennifer and Marc watched St Mary’s United Church and did not see any swifts.  Blair watched 340 Provencher Blvd and saw 1 swift enter around 9:20pm. Meredith and Krzysztof monitored the Chief Peguis School, which is one of our priority sites, and saw 1 entry at 9:03pm, 1 exit at 9:14pm, 1 entry at 9:17pm, and another entry at 9:18pm, for a total of 2 swifts in the chimney. Woohoo, another priority site confirmed!

Donna monitored St Paul The Apostle Church (2400 Portage Ave) and saw 1 entry. Donna had monitored this priority site a few days prior with Eugenia on June 1. They had seen 2 swifts enter at 9:23pm. Thanks to Donna and Eugenia for confirming this priority site!

During the day on June 3, Evan and Kevin monitored the Cambridge Hotel but did not see any swifts in the area.

Other Monitoring Results

On May 29, Breanne monitored the Maryland Foodfare chimney during the roosting hour and saw 2 entries. She monitored this site again on June 5, and once again saw 2 entries.

Jon monitored one of our priority sites, 91 Albert St, on May 28 and saw no entries or exits. He checked out another priority site, 100 Adelaide St, on June 4 and also saw no entries or exits.

On May 28, Blair monitored Spring Christian Academy at 261 Youville and saw 3 entries around 9:35pm. On June 4, he monitored 864 Marion St and saw 5 entries and 1 exit between 9:01pm and 9:07pm, for a total of 4 swifts in the chimney. On June 5, he monitored 847 Marion St and saw 3 entries. On June 6, he monitored 325 Talbot Ave and saw 1 entry at 9:51pm.

On June 4, Garry monitored 722 Watt St and saw 3 swifts enter between 9:20-9:56pm.

Gwen saw 1 swift enter the Curtis Hotel on June 4, and 4 swifts enter 139 Market Ave on June 5.

On June 5, Cam monitored 555 Lanark St (a priority site) during the daytime and saw one entry at 6:44pm, and an exit at 6:51pm. One more priority site confirmed.

Jen reported an incidental sighting of swifts in the sky around 300 Assiniboine Ave. In the past, swifts have used a few of the chimneys at 303 Assiniboine Ave (Newcastle Apts) and also at 348 Assiniboine (Redboine Apts) so I wonder if swifts are using one or both of these sites again this year.

We will finish off the monitoring updates with some exciting news from Canadian Mennonite University – we have confirmed a new site! On May 26, John watched the large chimney and saw 2 swifts enter. On May 28, Graham watched this chimney and also saw 2 entries. We have suspected this may be a site for a few years now but did not have confirmation until now. Great news!

It’s really great to see so many people involved in monitoring this year. Thank you to each and everyone of you! That’s all our updates for now. Stay tuned for next week’s blog which will dive into our priority site list.

Thanks!

-Marissa

Recap – A Memorable Night 2 of NRMP

Hello!

It’s been quite the exciting week in the swift world!

On Sunday May 26, volunteers around the province went out for Night 2 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey dates. Unlike May 22 which was cold, rainy, and not very swift-friendly, Sunday evening was beautiful and presented excellent foraging conditions for the swifts, many of which stayed out past their curfews and tested the patience of the monitors. We received a variety of very interesting stories and reports, which we will share with you all in this blog! Keep reading for some record-breaking roost numbers, some unlikely chimney choices, and even a little poetry. Before we dive into the recap, quick reminder that Night 3 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey is this evening, May 30. It’s a little bit stormy in Winnipeg at the moment, but it’s supposed to clear up by this evening (fingers crossed).

NRMP Night 2

We will start in the Lockport/Selkirk/St Andrews region. Fred and Nettie watched both chimneys at the St Andrews Lock and Dam. They saw 1 entry into the south chimney, and 2 entries into the north chimney. In Selkirk. Evan watched the Merchant’s Hotel and saw 2 entries at 9:10pm.

Gerald watched the Lower Fort Garry sites and got to see a sky full of birds! At times, there were a dozen or so swifts in the sky, and about 50 Common Nighthawks. Gerald mentioned this is the most swifts he’s ever seen in the Lower Fort Garry area. At the Men’s House chimney, lots of action: 2 entries around 8:55pm followed by 2 exits about 15 minutes later, 2 entries around 9:31pm, 1 exit at 9:38pm, 1 entry at 9:39pm, 1 exit at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:40pm, 1 entry at 9:49pm, 1 exit at 9:51pm, 1 entry at 9:52pm, and a final entry at 9:55pm. That’s a lot to keep track of – in the end, there were 4 swifts in the chimney. Things were calmer over at the Fur Loft, with 2 entries at 9:31pm.

The excitement continued at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre (SMCH). Aynsley was monitoring T01. All of a sudden, towards the end of the roosting hour, she noticed over 50 swifts move into the area and immediately start trying to enter a chimney on the west side of the Infirmary (but not the chimney the swifts usually use on this same building). Many swifts successfully dove into the chimney, while others seemed to have trouble getting in and tried a few times. This event was quite remarkable for a few reasons – the total number of swifts seen was much higher than usual in Selkirk, and we’ve never seen swifts use this particular chimney before. In fact, because this chimney is quite short on the inside, we had considered it unsuitable (and is likely why the swifts were having a hard time all fitting inside). One thing is for sure – we will never be fully able to predict what the swifts will do or where they will go.

Photo by Aynsley Woods: The chimney circled in yellow on the west side of the infirmary, where all the swifts were trying to enter on May 26. The tower on the left is T01. 

In addition to catching this very strange and unprecedented event, Aynsley also saw 2 entries into T01 and a possible entry into T03. Robert watched the Infirmary chimney (the one usually used by swifts) and saw 1 entry. Patti and Dennis watched T02, and saw 2 entries at 9:37pm, 1 entry at 9:48pm, 1 exit at 9:49pm and 1 entry at 9:53pm for a total of 3 swifts confirmed in the chimney. Linda and Nia saw 4 entries into T04, and 2 entries into the yellow brick chimney.

Gerald (armed with his video camera) returned to the SMHC on May 27 to see if the swifts would repeat their strange behaviour from the night before. Would the swifts use the chimney on the west side of the infirmary again, or was that a one-time thing? No swifts attempted to enter this chimney. Instead, he did see more activity at T01. Between 9:27pm and 10:03pm, there was a series of entries and exits that resulted in 11 swifts confirmed in the chimney for the night. He also saw 2 entries into the infirmary chimney, and no entries/exits at T03.

It was also quite the unprecedented night in Dauphin. Ken and Jan watched the Malcolm Block building. On the first NRMP night, they saw zero swift activity. This time, around sunset, they saw a “whole bunch” of swifts flying in the sky, and at 9:50pm there was a mass entry of an estimated 80+ swifts into the chimney! Ken describes the sight as a “black rope, a string of swifts so close together we couldn’t count them!”  Wow. Ken and Jan returned to this site to do another count on May 28 to see if this would happen again. The swifts stayed out late – between 10:10pm-10:17pm, they counted 67 swifts entering the chimney. Less than on May 26, but still a very high count!

Portage la Prairie was also no exception to the ‘lots of swifts’ trend. Gordon, Jana and Elliot watched the 3 chimneys at the National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada (formerly the Rufus Prince Building). 12 swifts entered the north chimney, 10 swifts entered the middle chimney, and 6 swifts entered the south chimney. That’s a total of 28 swifts! Much higher than what Gordon and Jana counted on May 22 at the same time (1 entry at the north chimney, 1 entry followed by 1 exit at the middle chimney, and 3 entries at the south chimney for a total of 4 swifts).

Over in Brandon, Louanne watched the Orange Block and saw 2 entries into the north chimney (site 900.1) at 9:42pm. There was no activity at the south chimney. Louanne and Glennis monitored this site again on May 29 and once again saw 2 entries.

Michele and Mike watched the St Francois Xavier RC Church and throughout the session, there were 3 swifts foraging with a pair of Common Nighthawks. They saw 1 entry at 8:24pm, 1 exit at 8:27pm, 1 entry at 8:34pm, 1 exit at 8:37pm, and then 2 entries at 9:21pm. They did not see the third swift entering the chimney.

Luc watched the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and between 9:20pm and 9:33pm, there were 9 entries. Luc returned to monitor this site on May 27 and May 29 and on both these nights, 8 swifts entered the chimney.

Frank watched the church in La Broquerie. He first saw 6 swifts flying around 7:40pm, but then did not see them again for half an hour. There were 3 swifts that entered the small chimney (at 8:56pm, 9:18pm, and 9:22pm). As for the large chimney, 1 entered at 9:23pm followed by 2 entries at 9:25pm. By the end of the session, there were 3 swifts in each chimney.

Ron watched the 3 chimneys at Providence College in Otterburne. At the ‘large chimney’ (site 551), there were lots of ins and outs. It started with 1 entry at 8:46pm, followed by 1 exit at 8:50pm, 2 entries at 9:07pm, 1 entry at 9:24pm, 2 exits at 9:27pm, and 2 entries at 9:29pm (3 swifts total using this chimney). At the ‘skinny chimney’ (site 552), there were 2 entries (9:23pm and 9:35pm). At the chimney near the bell tower (site 550), there was 1 entry at 9:35pm. Ron saw up to 8 swifts in the air at once, meaning that 2 of those swifts were still unaccounted for at the end of the night.

Blaire watched the Behavioural Health Foundation building in St Norbert. She notes that at 8:55pm, there seemed to be 3 swifts in the area. At 9:16pm, she saw 2 entries into the chimney.

Barb did some daytime monitoring in St Adolphe. She noted a maximum of about 4 swifts in the area around Club Amical, and 6 or 7 swifts in the area around the church. The swifts were mainly feeding, low to medium-low in the sky and they did not make any approaches to the chimneys. Barb’s main take-away from this monitoring session was that the number of swifts in the area is the same as before the stretch of nasty weather, meaning that they made it through the tough conditions! Great news.  

Over in Winnipeg, Tim watched 424 River Ave. For most of the session, there wasn’t much going on at the chimney. They eventually all decided to rush into the chimney all at once, of course – Tim estimated 195 swifts (likely an underestimation) entered under 30 seconds. That’s a lot of swifts!

Nicole watched the Fleetwood Apartments, and between 9:23pm and 9:47pm, she saw 6 entries. She also saw another possible entry at 9:54pm. That’s 6 birds, at least! Nicole mentions that she’s never counted more than 3 swifts there previously.

Jo and Betsy watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower and saw 5 entries between 9:31pm and 9:47pm.

Beth watched the Assiniboine School and saw 1 entry at 9:29pm, and 2 entries at 9:40pm.

Debby and Nicola watched the Old Grace Housing Co-op and though they saw 5-6 swifts flying around in the air, there were no entries or exits into the chimney.

Blair watched 690 St Joseph St, and saw 2 entries at 9:47pm. He notes seeing 5 swifts overall in the air during the session.

I (Marissa) watched the Nordale School (99 Birchdale Ave) which is one of our priority sites this year. My hopes were up as I was seeing up to 11 swifts flying overhead throughout the first 30 minutes of monitoring. The swifts were foraging with at least 6 Common Nighthawks. However, I last saw this group of swifts around 9:20pm and did not see them again.

All in all, what a great night of swift monitoring! Exciting to see such high numbers at several roost sites around the province. A possible explanation for these high numbers is that during last week’s stretch of cold weather, swifts that would normally roost in smaller groups came together to roost together as a way of staying warm. It will be interesting to compare what we saw on Sunday with what folks see tonight. 

Other results

There are some other Chimney Swift reports from the past week to share. On May 22, Kevin and Evan monitored during the roosting hour in Melita. Kevin watched 139 Main St and though he saw 6 swifts in the sky, he did not see any entries into the chimney. Evan watched the Antler River Historical Society and saw 2 entries at 9:15pm. On May 25, Gwen was in Melita and also saw 2 swifts enter the Antler River Historical Society. 

On May 23, Evan and Kevin monitored Kowalchuk’s Funeral Home and 47 Fourth Ave West in Souris during the roosting hour. They did not see any activity, likely due to rainy weather.

On May 25, Kevin monitored Fernwood Apartments (Winnipeg) during the roost hour and saw 2 entries.

Finally, yesterday evening on May 29, I (Marissa) led a monitoring workshop for the Manitoba Metis Federation. Our group of 11 folks watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo tower. It was a gorgeous night, and the swifts spent most of the evening foraging high above while being quite vocal. We saw a total of 4 entries into the tower. The first two entries were around 9:42pm, followed by another 2 entries at 9:57pm.

That’s all for now!

I leave you with these funny and relevant words written by Barb, inspired by all the recent unpredictable swift happenings:

“There’s a group of crazy good folks
Who count Chimney Swifts – ’tis no joke
Watching birds as they fly
To know where, when and WHY?
Means therapy may be invoked!”
— Barb Stewart

Happy Monitoring!

-Marissa

Happy Friday!

I hope you are staying warm and dry. The weather continues to keep us guessing… Over here in Winnipeg, there’s been a lot of rain (which has occasionally turned into hail). I received a photo from someone in Brandon today of their yard covered in snow! So yep, it’s been pretty all over the place. It can be difficult to predict the impact of weather like this on swift behaviour and thus, the monitoring. Will the swifts all enter their chimneys very early, or will they try to make up for lost feeding time earlier in the day and stay out late? Hard to know!

Wednesday May 22 was the first night of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey Protocol (a 4-night national monitoring effort which focuses on monitoring roost sites). It sounds like across the province, there was an unpredictable mix of rainy/cloudy/windy/hail/etc.

Dauphin seems to have gotten some of the worst of it – cold and overcast, with rain and hail. Ken, Jan and Pat braved the elements but saw zero swifts. As Ken described, “as a matter of fact, we didn’t see any birds, not even pigeons”. Yikes!

Michele watched the St. Francois Xavier R.C. Church. She saw 1 entry at 9:08pm, 2 entries followed by 1 exit at 9:13pm, another exit at 9:15pm, and finally 2 entries at 9:19pm. Overall, 3 swifts were confirmed in the chimney. 

In Selkirk, Nia and Linda saw 2 entries into the Yellow Brick chimney and 2 entries into T04. Robert watched the Infirmary chimney and did not see any entries. Gerald watched the apartment building at 367 Main St and did not see any swift activity at all. Patti and Dennis watched T02 and saw 1 entry at 9:25pm followed by 1 more entry at 9:35pm.  Aynsley saw 1 entry into T01 and 1 entry into T03.

Frank watched the 2 chimneys at the St Joachim Church in La Broquerie. A group of 3 swifts arrived, 1 of which entered the small chimney at 8:35pm and 2 of which entered the large chimney a few minutes later. A 4^th swift arrived and entered the small chimney at 9:18pm. A 5^th swift arrived at 9:45pm and entered the large chimney. By the end of the session, 3 swifts had entered the large chimney and 2 swifts had entered the small chimney.

Blaire watched the St Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation building in St. Norbert, and saw 2 swifts enter at 8:58pm.

As usual, Barb has been keeping an eye on the chimneys in St. Adolphe. On May 22, she did a morning 75 minute monitoring session at the Club Amical (which has 2 chimneys). She saw up to 6 swifts at once, all busy feeding. 45 minutes into her monitoring session, she saw 1 swift leave the SE Club Amical chimney. Later that evening but before roosting hour, Barb monitored the Church. She saw 2 exits (7:08pm and 7:09pm) which suggests that a pair have claimed this chimney as a nest site for the year.

Over to Winnipeg now. Barb and Phil watched 424 River Ave, which is consistently used by large numbers of swifts. For most of their monitoring session, swifts were circling high and not near the chimney, so they were starting to doubt if the swifts were going to use this chimney as a roost. However, between 9:27pm and 9:39pm, 126 swifts entered the chimney. This roost site is still up and running!

Tim watched the Fernwood Apartments, which is a new roost site that was discovered last fall. A bit surprisingly, he saw no swift activity at all. 

Carl and Joyce watched the chimney at the Old Grace Housing Co-op. While they did see 3 swifts flying in the area, these swifts were last seen around 9:38pm heading straight west and did not enter the chimney.

Beth watched the Assiniboine School, which used to be a roost site used by multiple swifts. While she saw 3 swifts circle over the school yard a few times, they headed north and did not enter the chimney. Beth mentioned that someone else saw a handful of swifts flying around the school on May 21, but they also went north past Portage Avenue.

Linda watched the Moorgate Apartments on Portage Avenue, and saw 2 entries at 9:26pm.

Gwen watched 139 Market Ave. She saw 1 entry at 8:50pm followed by an exit at 8:57pm. At 9:03pm, 2 swifts entered and remained until the end of the monitoring period. Gwen had seen another 7 swifts in the sky but they must be roosting somewhere else.

Jo watched the Assiniboine Park Zoo artificial tower. A group of 3 swifts were flying around but only 2 of them entered the tower, around sunset.

A few other reports from earlier this week:

On May 21, Luc watched the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church. From 9:16pm to 9:35pm, Luc observed 11 entries and 1 exit, for a total of 10 swifts confirmed in the chimney at the end of the session.

I (Marissa) was in southwest MB for a few days this week and checked out some swift sites in Souris. On May 21, I did a roost hour monitoring session at the Hillcrest Museum. There were a group of up to 5 swifts flying in the area, but around 9:20pm a light rain began and the swifts disappeared for the rest of the evening.

On May 21, Gwen noticed 6 swifts in the area over the Curtis Hotel on Henderson Highway. She did not see any entries but hopes to check again from a better vantage point.

Night 2 of the National Chimney Swift Roost Survey Protocol is Sunday, May 26. If you would like to monitor a chimney on this night and want a site to watch, send us an email!

Some reports are still trickling in. Don’t forget to send in your completed datasheets, via email to mbchimneyswift@gmail.com or by mail to 401-63 Albert St, Winnipeg MB, R3B 1G4.

Also, just another quick reminder to both new and returning volunteers to fill out volunteer sign-up form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccnVO2iqF8pDPz68pBJsEfNHnUung0HZ_dsMalcgg4TDIuzA/viewform

Thank you to all of you who monitored this week, despite the unpredictable and difficult weather.

Have a great weekend!

-Marissa

Wow, what a week it’s been for birdwatching! The warblers have arrived in a big way, which is always exciting. The swift reports are also steadily coming in.

Here are a few quick reminders before we jump into the week’s recap:

• Please fill out the volunteer sign-up form (for new and returning volunteers):  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccnVO2iqF8pDPz68pBJsEfNHnUung0HZ_dsMalcgg4TDIuzA/viewform
• The datasheet and protocol for 2024 can be found on the Resources and Links page of our website. Quick note – the link in last week’s blog may have accidentally pointed you to the 2023 protocol. Apologies! Please make sure to check out the 2024 protocol.
• If you would like a volunteer lanyard, factsheets to hand out to the public, or any other monitoring resources, please let us know!
• The National Roost Survey dates are May 22, May 26, May 30, and June 3. If you are free to do a roost monitoring session on one or any of these nights, let us know. Otherwise, you can begin monitoring your site whenever works for you!

Volunteer appreciation/season kick-off event recap

On Tuesday, May 14^th we held our first volunteer appreciation/season kick-off event at Assiniboine Park! It was a lovely evening. Thank you to the over 30 people who came out! It’s so nice to put faces to names.

We started off the evening by gathering in the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre’s multi-purpose room. We visited, ate some food, and talked all things swift.

Marissa and Laura kicking off the evening

Joanne Tuckwell (Species Conservation Specialist with Parks Canada, and a member of MCSI’s steering committee) shared a few stories of the Chimney Swifts at Lower Fort Garry. Laura Burns (Conservation Programs Manager with Assiniboine Park Conservancy, and also a member of MCSI’s steering committee) shared some background on the artificial swift tower at Assiniboine Park Zoo, including some cool footage of swifts inside the tower. Curious to see some of this video footage? Check out this video posted by Assiniboine Park on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce6SC9XsS3g

Laura presenting on the zoo tower

Despite the (very) soggy weather throughout the day, the rain let up just in time for us to head outdoors to check out the artificial tower and try and spot some swifts. While we did not see or hear any swifts, it was nice to see the tower and spend some time outside.

Group monitoring visit to the zoo’s artificial tower

We definitely hope to do an event like this again! As always, we’d love to hear what you think and what kinds of events you would be interested in.

A big thank you goes out to Assiniboine Park Conservancy for letting us use the space and for their help throughout the event.

Monitoring recap

On May 13, Katharine found a ‘sky full of swifts’ in Souris – what a nice surprise! All the swift activity inspired Katharine to do an impromptu roost monitoring sessions at the Whistling Donkey Pub. She observed 1 entry at 8:45pm, 1 entry at 9:00 pm, and 1 more entry at 9:06 pm, for a total of 3 entries into the chimney. Overall, she saw a total of about 17 swifts foraging low in the Souris airspace.

On May 15, Ken and Jan monitored the Malcolm Block Building (which is the main roost chimney in Dauphin). They saw a total of 16 swifts flying overhead, with 13 entries into the Malcolm Block chimney. 

As usual, Gerald has been busy looking out for swifts around Selkirk, Lockport and Lower Fort Garry. On May 9, Gerald spotted 5 swifts flying around the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. He managed to catch some action at the T2 tower – 1 entry at 8:52pm, 1 exit at 8:58pm, and 1 entry at 8:59pm.  On May 10, he checked out Lockport and Lower Fort Garry and while he saw a couple of swifts in the sky at both locations, he did not see any entries or exits. Gerald returned to Lower Fort Garry on May 16 and saw two swifts enter the Men’s House followed by another two swifts entering the Fur Loft. Nice!

Also on May 16, Patti, Nia and Linda monitored at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Patti saw 2 swifts enter the T2 tower, Nia saw 2 swifts enter the Yellow Brick chimney, and Linda saw 1 swift enter the T4 tower (she mentioned there may also have been one more entry that she missed).

Looking forward to seeing what the swift activity is like as the National Roost Survey dates kick off next week. As always, please contact us if you have any questions, comments, or would like to be matched with another site.

Wishing you all a lovely long weekend!

-Marissa