News and posts – Page 30 – Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative

A REMARKABLE PHOTO OF A CHIMNEY SWIFT CARRYING A TWIG

There is an old adage “Use a picture. It is worth a thousand words”. Believing in this approach, this exquisite photograph of a chimney swift carrying a twig in it’s beak, is worth a million.

PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE LAVIGNE

Dave Lavigne took this incredible photograph on June 3, 2015, at approximately 2:20 PM, near St. George’s Anglican Church which is located on North Street, Goderich, ON. THANK YOU Dave for sharing this photo with us all!

The backstory: Rob and I were in downtown Goderich last June with Dave and his wife Sue. We discovered that St. George’s chimney was a roost site occupied by at least 180 chimney swifts. A smaller brick chimney in a nearby home was identified as an active site also; it was likely a nest site as the entry Rob witnessed was before the roosting hour on a clear, warm evening. Dave is now the chimney swift steward of St. George’s and after he contacted Diana Teal (our MCSI coordinator of last fall who relocated to Ontario and now manages the Ontario SwiftWatch program), this new site was listed in the Ontario database maintained by Bird Studies Canada. The only previously known roost in Goderich was at Bluewater Cleaners, 38 West Street. Unfortunately, a devastating tornado in 2011 damaged that sector of Goderich. There is now a new roof but no chimney on the building at 38 West Street, however, chimney swifts are still being observed in the area by Dave (June, 2015).

The photo: the chimney swift is carrying a short, small diameter twig in it’s beak. The twig would be used for nest building. The featured swift is a breeding adult with a nest site closeby. Dave’s highly informative photo also shows many diagnostic features of a chimney swift:

the body is cigar shaped (perhaps we need to find a new adjective that is more appropriate for the new non-smoking world we live in; zeppelin shaped?).
the wings are long. When swifts are soaring with the classic “boomerang-shaped” or “sickle-shaped” wing position, it is easy to see that the wings extend well past the end of the tail. Chimney swifts cannot get up off the ground easily due to their long wings and the configuration of their clinging-adapted feet.
the feet are held tightly to the body and are not obvious (giving rise to the Family designation of Apodidae – without feet). Because the hallux or rear toe faces forward to improve clinging onto rough vertical surfaces, chimney swifts cannot perch on branches or wires etc.
the tail feathers are very short and bristles project from the ends (one appears shiny white). The stiff bristles are pushed against a vertical surface for extra stability when a swift rests/roosts.
the wings are bowed – curving to the rear.
the trailing wing margin is intact; later in the season, as moulting occurs, you will notice gaps or discontinuities created by missing feathers.
the swift is sooty grey with a lighter throat patch.

Nest building in Manitoba begins shortly after the spring migrants arrive. So, there is between year variation in the date of onset, but nest building typically starts around May 22 (range is May 10 for early arrivals to June 25 for late arriving pairs)(see Stewart and Stewart 2013 –

http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2013_BlueJay.pdf ). The spring arrival of the swifts was delayed by poor weather in 2015 and your monitoring data showed nest building was off to a slow start.

Chimney swift nests are made from approximately 265 twigs which are glued together with the adult’s saliva and attached to a rough vertical surface (see Kyle and Kyle, 2005). The Kyle’s provide dimensions for nests: width = 3.5 to 4.5″; height = 1 to 1.25″; and distance from wall = 1.75 to 3″. A pair will collect and attach 8-12 twigs per day and after a week, the female starts to lay eggs (Kyle and Kyle, 2005). However, the nest cup is considerably undersized at this point so the pair continues to bring in nesting material through the incubation period (Kyle and Kyle, 2005).

The nests are attached at a considerable distance below the chimney rim e.g., at least 10′. In St. Adolphe, trees used for nest building e.g., Manitoba Maple, Ash, and Japanese Maple, are situated within 50 m of nest sites (http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MCSI_artificialstructures2015.pdf).

How do you know if chimney swifts are building a nest in a chimney? Watch the rim for an hour before the roosting hour! In addition to roosting activity, pairs of breeding chimney swifts enter and exit the site during the daytime. You will not always see the breeding pair travel together; they may enter or exit the site individually. The duration in the chimney and the between-visit interval varies considerably at 1 to 70 min and from 1 to 50 min, respectively (see Stewart and Stewart, 2010 – http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/bluejay2010.pdf ).

PHOTO CREDIT – ROB STEWART

As you continue to watch daytime activity through early to mid-June, I hope you can visualize what the nest building chimney swifts are doing! Coming soon – egg laying and incubation…

Happy swifting, Barb Stewart for the rest of the MCSI Steering Committee – Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken De Smet, Nicole Firlotte, Rob Stewart, our Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator Tim Poole (mcsi.outreach@gmail.com), and our webmaster Frank Machovec.

UPDATE: NATIONAL ROOST MONITORING PROGRAM (NRMP) SESSION ON MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2015

This update has a few coming and going items to start off…

Bill kindly stepped in for Ken and Jan on May 28 (NRMP-3), but saw no swifts during a miserably cold roosting hour – the temperature was 8 C and there was a brisk wind plus precipitation. Thanks Bill for toughing out some terrible monitoring conditions!

After wrestling some computer gremlins, the Lac Du Bonnet reports from Diann and Cam have landed:

May 24 = NRMP-2: 1 entry/1 exit then 2 roosting entries at Casey’s Inn; 1 exit from Lac Du Bonnet Physiotherapy chimney took place and 1 entry was aborted. The group size seen = 7.
May 28 = NRMP-3: 2 entries at Casey’s Inn; no activity at the physiotherapy site.

Matt has also been plagued by computer issues; some of his files have been eaten so if anyone has records of his chimney swift or natural history information for Carman, 2010, please email Matt at: ignace_v@hotmail.com

Matt noted that insectivores in Carman have been challenged recently – chsw particularly; monitoring has been plagued by poor weather conditions but the less Matt sees of the swifts, the more he monitors! On May 31, Matt “was at the Memorial Hall tonight from 2045-2210 hrs. Saw skeins of snow geese heading North..but no swifts at all.” He hoped that migrating swifts would follow…

So here is how the evening of Monday, June 1 (NRMP-4) turned out for chsw monitors:

Diann and Cam had 3 swifts in Lac Du Bonnet, all around Casey’s Inn; 2 roosted for the night. No entry/exit activity occurred at Lac Du Bonnet physiotherapy, so the dormitory for 1 swift is unknown.
Ken, in Dauphin, reports that the head count for the evening was 30+. Good news that the swift survived the weather ordeal of the previous Thursday.
David, in La Broquerie, had a quiet night with no aerial activity until 2 swifts quickly approached and entered the Church chimney to roost.
In Selkirk, 4 chimneys were monitored and 3 sites were occupied. The total number of roosting swifts = 51 at the Tall Chimney; 0 at the Yellow Chimney; 1 at the Red Brick Chimney; 2 at Merchant’s Hotel.
Gordon went to Southport and saw 5 swifts in the air at one time; 2 swifts entered the chimney.
Matt in Carman got rained out.
Margaret and Millie didn’t: more on their evening below.
Ken reported daytime sightings of at least 2 swifts by the big chimney in the old school museum in Melita and several swifts in Souris; evening monitoring was not possible. If anybody can check out these locations for active sites, we would appreciate having these two communities in the database.
In Winnipeg, PL and Rob got skunked again at Chancellor’s Hall on the U of M campus.
Jane is also hoping for some activity in Assiniboine Park.
In St James, Christian saw 1 entry at the Hampton St. Church.
Also in St James, Bob and Valerie counted 3 swifts entering for the night at the New Silver Heights Apt.
The crew of Adolf, Peter, Kathy, Jake, David had a season record high of ~122 swifts roosting at the Assiniboine School; 0 roosted at King’s; and 1 entered the Carillon chimney.

Now for some positive nest site developments – daytime activity was apparent in about 50% of the sites occupied by 2-3 swifts. Nest building is underway in many locations:

At the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre, Tim and Pierre had 1 entry/exit in Fort Rouge Leisure Centre before 2 swifts came in together to roost.
Similarly, Nicole, Cain, and Eli at the Lenore site in Wolseley saw 1 entry/exit prior to a pair of swifts entering for the night.
In St. Adolphe, pairs at the NE Club Amical (Rob) and Main St. (Barb) chimneys had an entry/exit cycle before the breeding couple came in for the night. Jacquie and Roberta recorded a pair of entries at Brodeur Bros. while Frank and Lewis had 3 roosting swifts; no exits were made however, so nest building was not underway at these sites (I checked again on Thursday, June 4, over the noon hour and still no daytime activity was seen). Unfortunately, the SE Club Amical chimney was not occupied.
The showstopper for NRMP-4 was Millie and Margaret’s Brandon site: 9 entries and 9 exits preceded the 2 roosting entries made by the resident pair of swifts.

For breeding chimney swifts, the frequency and sequence of entry/exit events characterizes each stage of nesting.

There are two important time intervals which may be calculated using “the time of an entry” and “the time of an exit”. I will explain these intervals using some of Millie and Margaret’s data:

21:32 entry
21:33 exit
21:35 entry
21:37 exit
21:46 entry

The first interval is called the “duration in the chimney” and is the amount of time between an entry and the next exit. For example, between the entry at 21:32 and the subsequent exit at 21:33, the swift spent 1 minute in the chimney.

The second is the “between visit interval” and is the amount of time between an exit and the next entry. For example, using the exit at 21:33 and the entry at 21:35, the between visit interval was 2 minutes.

For the 21:35 entry and 21:37 exit, the duration in the chimney was 2 minutes.

For the 21:37 exit and the 21:46 entry, the between visit interval was 9 minutes.

So we see that the time spent in the chimney was equal to or shorter (1 or 2 minutes) than the time interval between visits to the chimney (2 and 9 minutes). After nest building, we will see a different set of intervals for the egg laying/incubation stage. If you want to read more about this, head to our MCSI website’s Resources section ( http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html ) and follow the links under primary publications – start with the 2010 Blue Jay publication.

Our monitors are a dedicated bunch, and the reports kept coming in after Monday’s session:

Rudolf saw 7 swifts over the Northdale Shopping Centre on June 2; both Brazier St. sites had roosting swifts – 1 in at 1010 Brazier; 2 roosted at 1030 Brazier.
Ken went out again on Tues. night to his Dauphin roost and saw 32 swifts enter for the night.
Matt was waiting patiently for chsw at the Carman Elementary School on June 3 – there were no sightings. Again.

Our LAST organized night out for 2015 is Saturday, June 6 (alternate date is Friday, June 5). Please monitor for 1 1/2 hours in total – start an hour before sunset and view your rims until 1/2 hour after sunset. For nest sites, June 6 is the last date for getting a successful breeding attempt underway – we need to see nest building activity (daytime entries/exits)! Roosting counts may still be peaking in some locations, so it is important to monitor these sites also!

All the best for your viewing pleasures, Barb.

TONIGHT IN SKIES NEAR YOU!

MONDAY JUNE 1, 2015: THE MONITORING SESSION IS 1 1/2 HOURS LONG TONIGHT!

For all of the monitors who are able to watch chimney rims and chimney swifts tonight, for the fourth National Roost Monitoring Program session (NRMP-4), this is a friendly reminder about the change to the length of the observation period.

Please add an extra 1/2 hour of daytime viewing just prior to the roosting hour (calculated as the 1/2 hour before to 1/2 hour after sunset). You will monitor for a total of 1 1/2 hours tonight. The same observation period holds for the alternate NRMP-4 date of June 2 and the last scheduled evening on June 6.

For example, sunset in St. Adolphe tonight is 9:28 PM. The roosting hour = 8:58 to 9:58 PM. By adding an extra 1/2 hour of daytime observations before the roosting hour, we will start monitoring our five chimneys at 8:28 PM.

What is the objective of adding daytime observations? We want to distinguish nest sites vs. roost sites and this is done on the basis of chsw behavior (seen as entry/exit events). Nest sites are used by a breeding pair of swifts to raise their young; in early June, adults make daytime entries/exits as nest building is underway. Roost sites are used by swifts to rest in at night, so we typically see only entries during the roosting hour. We hope to be able to identify active nest sites now so that breeding success may be tracked over the summer…

The last organized evening scheduled for 2015 is Saturday, June 6th. It is cottage season, soccer playoff season, time to watch Chicago whoop Tampa Bay season etc. We know that your lives are busy – please substitute June 5th as a go-to-the-chimney night if June 6 is just not an available target for you.

The MCSI Steering Committee sends a big THANK YOU out to all of the monitors who have been chimney side from the start of the 2015 program and a WELCOME to the new monitors joining us in Fort Rouge and Steinbach tonight. Your efforts are appreciated. Thanks also to our webmaster, Frank, who posts all of your spring migration and site use data on the blog/website.

We have another iffy weather forecast tonight with on/off rain showers and possibly electric storms in Dauphin. Keep safe while you monitor. May your heads stay dry and your swifts be plentiful (and that is aimed specifically for Matt, PL, Rob, Jane, Ian, and possibly other so far “skunked” monitors!).

Happy monitoring, Barb for Christian, Ron, Neil, Lewis, Ken, Nicole, Rob, and Tim.

Update — NRMP Night 3

National Roost Monitoring Pogram-3: Thursday, May 28, 2015 Update.

Before the third night – here are more reports for NRMP-2 on May 24:

From Ken in Wasagaming comes news that 1 swift was flying around the Riding Mountain National Park Visitor Centre but no entries were observed; the previous night, 8 swifts were overhead.
In Selkirk, the monitoring squad had 1 entry in the Merchant’s Hotel; 6 swifts entered the Red Brick Chimney and 8 others disappeared in a “descent” trajectory nearby (another Harry Potter-esque moment!); 32 birds entered the Tall Stack; and 2 swifts roosted in the Yellow Brick Chimney.

NRMP-3 Results:

In La Broquerie, David saw an exit from the church chimney at 8:21 PM = daytime use; it is possible that nest building is underway; a pair roosted for the night.
In Portage, Gord saw a larger group size of 9 swifts soaring about; 2 entered the chimney at the Women’s Jail; rain descended before the roosting hour closed.
In Selkirk, Ruby & Co. had 50 roosting swifts (an increase of 18 birds from NRMP-2) in the Tall Chimney and 2 in each of the Yellow and Red Brick chimneys (sounds like lyrics to a great song are embedded in those sites).
In Carman, it was a frigid night for Matt who saw a couple of swifts on the wing but observed no entries at the Memorial Hall.
PL and Rob were skunked again at Chancellor’s Hall on the U of M campus but they reported the first sighting of Common Nighthawks. Thanks for hanging in tough there Pl and Rob – those data points of “0” are still valuable to have!
Other nighthawks were seen on May 28 in La Broquerie, the Kenaston area of Winnipeg (afternoon sighting by Matt), Assiniboine School area, Fort Rouge, and near St. Adolphe. Congratulations to Tim who made his first entry of 4 nighthawks on his life list! Interestingly, on May 29, Lewis had one roosting on his backyard railing (Linden Woods) at 1040 AM!
Nicole also had no entries at her Fleetwood Apt site but a couple of swifts were on the wing in Wolseley.
Tim, in Fort Rouge, saw swifts hawking in the area and 2 roosted at the Leisure Centre.

In the St. James area of Winnipeg:

Christian was in the high reward zone – swifts flew in the corridor around Hampton St. and a pair roosted for the night in the church chimney.
Bob and Valerie had their pair return to the New Silver Heights Apt.
Peter, Kathy, and Adolf recorded ~52 swifts entering the Assiniboine School (approximately the same as for NRMP-2); difficult viewing conditions prevented confirmation of entries into two other sites.

Thanks everyone for enduring some unpleasant conditions! It was a challenging, rainy, windy, cold, dark night for the swifts and the monitors alike. As I write this on the morning of May 30, frost has bitten the backside of many gardens throughout the province. For a second day, daytime temperatures will be at or below 12 C. Feeding conditions are not ideal for our swifts.

MONDAY JUNE 1ST IS NRMP-4 (TUESDAY JUNE 2ND is the ALTERNATE NIGHT). WE START MONITORING WITH “ROBUST ROOSTING HOUR” SESSIONS = 1/2 HOUR DAYTIME PLUS THE ROOSTING HOUR.

Moving beyond identifying which sites are active in 2015 and how they have “loaded up” with spring migrants, we now are interested in distinguishing nest sites vs. roost sites. Within the 1/2 hour of daytime viewing, we interpret exit/entry events as nest building in progress. I have monitored the cluster of 5 St. Adolphe nest sites for 8 years (2007 – 2014 inclusive). A successful nesting attempt has never occurred if the breeding pair has started nest building after June 6. Over the next week, I will be watching during the day for increased activity ~ crunch time is at hand for the 2015 breeding pairs…

All the best to you for Monday’s monitoring, Barb.

National Roost Monitoring Night 2- Things are Looking Up!

NRMP NIGHT 2 – MAY 24, 2015 UPDATE.

Before we get to the results of the second National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) evening on May 24, 2015, we have some catch-up items to share…

Additional reports for the first NRMP night, May 20th (NRMP-1), winged in:

Luc, in St Jean Baptiste, had 4 swifts in the church chimney
Ken saw 2 in the air near the Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP) Visitor Centre, Wasagaming
Rudolf had 4 swifts over the Northdale Shopping Centre, East Kildonan (Winnipeg)

After the first NRMP-1, daytime observations have been reported as migrant chimney swifts continue to arrive. Vocal swifts alerted:

Carolyn, in the Hampton St. area, St. James (Winnipeg) on May 21
Blaire, St Norbert (Winnipeg), on May 22
Margaret and Millie, in Brandon
Rudolf who saw a group of “6 swifts tearing around Wellington Crescent and Oak” on May 26

Sunday, May 24 was a glory day – sundrenched and warm (maybe even downright hot at 28 C south of Winnipeg). Here are the early reports

for NRMP-2

In Carman, Rhonda saw 2 chsw but did not have entries at the Elementary School (1 had entered on NRMP-1). Matt had 0 sightings while monitoring the Memorial Hall which has been a historical, migratory roost. Disturbingly, Matt has noted unusual migration characteristics this year: no cliff swallows or night hawks have been seen near the bridge yet and few purple martins are in town. Coupled with the low number of chsw, the insectivores seem to be challenged generally this spring. News flash: 1 swift entered Memorial Hall on Monday May 25th!
Ken & Jan in Dauphin had a quiet night while a merlin patrolled the area near the chimney. Then, just after sunset, 19 chsw arrived for the night.
In St. Adolphe, chsw came in for a few fly-around laps then roosted within 10 min of sunset – we had the same number roosting as for NRMP-1 but had different “loading of sites”: I saw 2 enter Main St.; Kathy and Rob had 2 in the NE Club (the SE Club was occupied Wed.); Jacquie and Frank report a “domestic situation” that may have resulted in 1 in the Church and 1 in Brodeur Bros.; 1 chsw was unaccounted for of the group of 7 seen in town.
Gord, in Portage, saw 7 chsw flying about and 2 roosted at the Victoria Church chimney – the first entries noted for 2015.
David had 3 arrivals for the night at La Broquerie which also was the first occupancy noted for the season.
Rudolf monitored a chimney swift void – none was seen over Northdale Shopping Centre, East Kildonan (Winnipeg).
PL and Robert were similarly skunked on the U of Manitoba campus.
There was a lot action over in St. James though which was reported by David, Anna, Adolf, and Garth : 1 chsw entered the Carillon; 3 entries were seen at Kings – 1 was early at 8:20 and it is possible that an exit was made; the Assiniboine School was again the show stopper with 73-80 swifts roosting! The challenge is to count clusters of swifts e.g., 25 or 45 in a group, all trying to drop into a chimney in a short period.
Elsewhere in St. James, Christian had 1 entry at the Hampton St. Church which was less than the 2 reported for NRMP-1.
Bob and Valerie’s count of 2 in the New Silver Heights Apts is holding steady.
Tim had 2 swifts roosting in the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre – up 1 from Wed.
Also in Fort Rouge, Quinn had 3 entries and 1 exit and a Beresford site, while Ian is waiting for a first arrival at a private home (where a few years ago, his brother came home to find a chsw flying about the basement – it had left the chimney through a gap!)
Swifts landed in the Wolseley neighbourhood: Nicole saw 2 swifts enter the Fleetwood Apt chimney and Colin also had 2 enter the Evanson site

The second night summary = migrants continue to arrive at roosts and more possible nest sites continue to be occupied although many pairs do not seem settled into their chimneys yet. Traditionally used swift-friendly neighbourhoods are becoming occupied.

Thursday May 28 is NRMP-3. Checking a variety of weather sites, rain and some t-storm activity is predicted during the day for Dauphin to Brandon, Carman, and Portage through the Winnnipeg, Steinbach, and Pinawa areas.

The national organizers encourage monitoring in the rain. Here is the big BUT statement: safety comes first. Do not sit out and monitor during an electrical storm. If your view of the chimney rim is compromised (dark skies or drenching, heavy rain etc.) or if you cannot monitor and reasonably use your paper datasheet (strong gusting winds etc.), enjoy a night off. The chimney swifts will have made accommodations for the weather too and we can catch up with them again on June 1 (NRMP-4).

Happy swifting, Barb.

Things are looking up…

The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative is pleased to support the National Roost Monitoring Program which is organized by biologists with the Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada), Quebec region. We have an update for Night No. 1 – Wed. May 20, 2015.

The backstory: In early May, sunny, warm weather enticed spring migrants which were reported in low numbers – Ken had the first sightings of 2 chsw in Dauphin on Sunday, May 3; the following night, May 4, Frank and Jacquie saw 2 in Otterburne; then, Luc reported the return of swifts in Otterburne on May 5. Then migration stalled out as a cooling trend occurred…

The May long weekend: looooong it was, with challenging rain, sleet, and snow

Temperatures plummeted below average during the day and

frost was widespread one night. What a challenge for aerial insectivores!

Wed. May 20th – the bottom line: a beautiful night after a sundrenched day. Monitors reported chimney swifts in many areas of the province – migrant swifts a

rrived in Manitoba and dispersed throughout Manitoba. The tally –

Tim in Fort Rouge (Winnipeg) had an entry in the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre chimney and ~5 other birds were seen on the wing; Quinn was positioned elsewhere in the neighbourhood and did not see any swifts.
David, Adolf, and Kathy in St. James (Winnipeg) saw 2 enter the Carillon and a glorious 55 roosted at Assiniboine School (up from 13 seen by Christian on Monday, May 18)
Valerie and Bob, also in St. James, reported 2 in at New Silver Heights Apt
Christian, at another St. James site, recorded 2 chimney swifts entering a Hampton St. church chimney
In the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg, 6 swifts were on the wing – Stephan, Meagan, and Colin saw 1 entry; Nicole and Cain saw 0 at another site; Marhsall saw 0 at a third site; unfortunately, a fourth site was found to be capped this spring
PL and Rob had 0 sightings at Chancellor’s Hall, U of M campus in Fort Richmond (Winnipeg)
Ken and Jan in Dauphin saw their roost numbers increase to 9; one of the swifts had trouble lining itself up on the opening but after several unsuccessful attempts, where it overshot the opening, the swift dropped in = a sign of a migrant who was unfamiliar with the site
Diann and Cam in Lac Du Bonnet discovered A NEW SITE where 1 swift entered
Gord in Portage noted 4 swifts were in the downtown area but they did not go into the chimney at Red River College – Victoria school.
Rhonda and Matt in Carman reported 1 entry at the Elementary School and although one swift was flying about the Memorial Hall, no entries were seen.
Frank and Jacquie checked out Otterburne on May 21 and had 5 swifts over Providence College – 1 roosted in the large chimney and 5 roosted in the skinny chimney.
In St. Adolphe, 2 swifts entered each of the Main St., Church, and SE Club Amical chimneys (2 other sites were unoccupied) and 2 swifts were unaccounted for.
The Selkirk Squad reported 21 roosting swifts in the tall stack (a traditional roost) but no entries at 3 other sites; some monitors did not see any swifts.
David in La Broquerie had no sightings of swifts.

The trend: many monitors did not have sightings; many known nest sites were unoccupied; at known roost sites, there were increasing numbers of migrants; many swifts were in the air beyond curfew (at the end of the roosting hour).

What we can expect for Sunday, May 24: with the continued warm weather, insect populations should increase to provide some nourishing food as the swifts continue to move into Manitoba. Expect to see more sightings and higher counts on Sunday as migrants settle into their sites.

Happy swifting everyone!

A little change…

Hopefully this email finds you without frost, rain, and snow, and with lots of promise for returning chimney swifts. The National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) is due to start Wednesday May 20; it continues on May 24 and May 28.

We have a revised date for the fourth night of the NRMP. The new target is MONDAY, JUNE 1. If it is convenient for you to adjust your schedules, please shift to this date. If the revised date is not convenient for you, please monitor on Tuesday, June 2 as we first requested.

The fifth, special made-for-Manitoba night, remains on Saturday June 6.

We are looking forward to hearing from you about your swifts!

They’re back!

The first report of spring arrivals has come from Ken in Dauphin. Sunday, May 3 was the magic moment we all have waited for. It is best described in Ken’s words –

“I went for a pedal bike ride this evening passing our roost chimney, I decided to pause as sunset was approaching, heard gulls flying over high and tried to focus on them and a pair of chimney swifts came into view, circled and went down the Dauphin roost chimney right at our sunset (9:03 PM). So, they’re back.”

Congratulations Ken for spying the returning chimney swifts! I hope many others will have first community sightings over the next few days. Keep the reports coming in as we wait for our first national monitoring night on May 20.

We have Factsheets!

The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative has Factsheets!

Thanks to a grant from Environment Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Program for Species at Risk (HSP), MCSI have produced a set of 3 factsheets which are now available for distribution in English and French. These highlight the continued plight of our friendly neighbourhood chimney dwellers and highlights the importance of continued conservation management. Here is a brief description of each factsheet:

Factsheet #1: ‘Chimney Swift: Manitoba’s Flying Cigar’. This describes the ecology, life-cycle, Manitoban range and conservation of the Chimney Swift. Pour la version française, cliquez ici.

Factsheet #2: ‘Are Chimney Swifts Using My Chimney?’ A pertinent question! Descriptions and illustrations tell home and business owners how they might discover if their chimney is a home for Chimney Swifts. Pour la version française, cliquez ici.

Factsheet #3: ‘Become a Chimney Swift Champion’. This gives people a taster of how they might ‘champion’ the conservation of Chimney Swifts as home and business owners and/or volunteers. We will be releasing more information about our new ‘Swift Champion’ program in the coming months, so please watch this space. Pour la version française, cliquez ici.

The factsheets are available either as paper copies or on our website. There are links to the documents on the home and resources pages of the MCSI website. We intend that these can be given to landlords, property owners, school boards, church councils, in fact anyone with a building with Chimney Swifts! Please think if there is anyone you know who might be interested.

If you would like copies to distribute in your local area, please contact our Habitat and Stewardship Outreach Coordinator, Tim Poole at mcsi.outreach@gmail.com.

PS These factsheets involved a huge effort from many people, not just MCSI Steering Committee members. Special thanks must go to Richard Cain who created the design and layout of each individual factsheet and then even created his own original illustration at the top of the 2nd sheet. Diana Teal drafted the text and Luc Blanchette translated it to French. Finally, a number of people donated photos, namely Bruce Di Labio, Christian Artuso, Ken Wainwright, Rob Stewart and Nicole Firlotte.

Look up – Way Up!

Confessions from a person of a certain vintage: I loved the morning invitation from the FriendlyGiant to look waaaaay up and visit his castle…perhaps this early conditioning led to the love of staring at the sky around chimney rims. While the refrains from the harp and recorder were sweet, the chittering of chimney swifts is my favourite sound now. Near mid-May, we hope to look up, listen for, and welcome our chimney swifts back to Manitoba. Here is the monitoring plan for 2015…

THE WHAT AND WHY OF IT ALL:
The 2015 MCSI monitoring season will run with two programs (same as for 2014). We start by supporting the National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP); the monitoring data tracks the spring arrival and dispersal of migrating swifts, records peak counts, and provides the basis for subsequent trend analysis. Bird Studies Canada, Ontario Region, then uses the NRMP data to map the results:
http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/NRMPmaps2014.pdf
The NRMP monitoring protocol is posted at: http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/NRMP2015.pdf

The monitoring season continues with our provincial MCSI Roost and Nest Site Monitoring Program. This program tracks the abundance of roosting chimney swifts and the progress of breeding pairs, and their young, at nest sites; fall migration trends also are documented. The provincial monitoring program data supports various MCSI Steering Committee activities e.g., the preparation of “Guidelines for Creating Chimney Swift Nesting or Roosting Chimneys in Manitoba” ( http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MCSI_artificialstructures2015.pdf ). Tim Poole, our MCSI Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator, will use your monitoring data to identify needs and deliver programs e.g., the restoration of a deteriorating site or a school visit.
The MCSI Roost and Nest Site Monitoring Program monitoring protocol is posted at:
http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MCSI_monitoring2015.pdf

WHEN DO WE MONITOR?
The NRMP dates have been set for May 20, 24, 28, and June 2. The MCSI Steering Committee is asking for an extra evening of your valuable time on June 6. In Manitoba, chimney swifts occupy the northwest portion of the summer distribution. Our birds arrive later in the spring compared to areas further south and east. So, the addition of June 6 accommodates the offset date for peak migration in Manitoba.

The monitoring protocol for NRMP differs slightly for May and June.

For May 20, 24, 28:

watch the chimneys for the roosting hour = 1/2 hour before to 1/2 hour after sunset;
record the time of an entry or exit and the number of chimney swifts seen during the event.

MCSI would like to designate active chimneys as roost or nest sites. We distinguish between roost and nest sites on the basis of chimney swift behaviour. Roost sites are occupied by chimney swifts resting for the night; typically, only entries occur during the roosting hour and then the swifts leave the next morning within 1/2 hour of sunrise. Nest sites are used during the daytime i.e., times outside of the roosting hour (entries) and period of first morning departures (1/2 hour before to 1/2 hour after sunrise). In early June, daytime activity (entries/exits) indicates that breeding adults are nest building. So for the June dates, we are pushing our incredible good luck by asking you for a slightly longer viewing session.

For June 2 and 6:

watch the chimneys for an extra 1/2 to 3/4 hour PRIOR to the roosting hour THEN CONTINUE to watch during the roosting hour. You will have a total of 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hour at the chimney side. Keep it convenient – any extra daytime monitoring would be appreciated.
record the time of an entry or exit and the number of chimney swifts seen during the event.

Beyond the NRMP and extra MCSI date, any monitoring you do this year would be useful to us. Meeting with other monitors can add to the fun. The Selkirk Squad enjoys regular Monday outings to their sites. Last year, their hard work was rewarded with the discovery of two new active chimneys! Monitoring results from occasional viewing and opportunistic observations are valuable also – we keep track of them all. Tell us about any chimney swifts you see in 2015.

WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE MCSI MONITORING PROGRAMS
AND WHERE DO WE GO?

Monitors from previous years – please confirm that you will be participating in the 2015 program; we will partner you with last year’s site(s) unless you request a change of location.

New monitors – please self identify your interest and a convenient site will be assigned from our database (http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2014_sites.pdf).

If you were involved with Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas activities – try to advance your chimney swift observations to the highest breeding evidence category = “confirmed breeding”.

If you are interested in a field assignment – range into uncharted urban territory and/or quest chimney swifts suspected to be using old growth forests e.g., Mount Agassiz area, Riding Mountain National Park.

HOW DO WE MONITOR?
At your designated sites, make yourself comfortable in a safe location (away from traffic) with an unobstructed view of the chimney rim. You will be focusing on the chimney rim to document chimney swift entries and exits. Chimney swifts can be meteoric in their entry to a chimney and they can be very stealthy with low angle exits – if you blink you can miss all the action! That is why a buddy system is useful for monitoring. If you need to take a break, your partner can pick up viewing the rim. This is supposed to be a fun exercise in citizen science, so make whatever arrangements you need to personalize the experience.

USE THE MCSI MONITORING REPORT 2015 datasheet for ALL Manitoba monitoring sessions this season i.e., for both programs and at all sites. The datasheet is posted in the Resources section (http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html) of the MCSI website as a WORD document and also as a pdf: http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MCSIData_Sheet_2015.pdf

SIT ‘N’ STARE at your chimney rim and RECORD the time of all observed entries/exits and the number of chimney swifts involved. DETAIL WEATHER CONDITIONS at the time of viewing: temperature (the most important for evaluating aerial activity as 13 C is the threshold for flying insects = dinner for our swifts!); wind speed; cloud cover; and precipitation. SUBMIT YOUR FORMS electronically or by mail. This is easier to do than it sounds – we try to follow the KISS approach.

If you are ranging into uncharted urban territory this year, trying to find new sites, start with the historical sections of towns. Old brick chimneys are often associated with churches, schools, post offices, and vintage homes; large stacks on hospitals also seem popular with the swifts. During the daytime, look for small numbers of low flying chimney swifts (often mixed in with purple martins) which have repetitive flight paths low over/around buildings. Try to narrow down candidate chimneys = open, rough-interior sites which are at least 2.5 X 2.5 bricks wide (minimum 14″ X 14″ opening), then follow the stare-down routine to catch an entry/exit event. For larger chimneys which may host a roosting group, try to identify increasing numbers of chimney swifts circling around a chimney just prior to sunset. Wait for the spectacle of the entries – it is often triggered by the first weary swift dropping in for the night; the remaining birds funnel in like water pouring down a drain. Try to count the birds as they drop into the chimney ~ it is a delightful challenge with a large flock, but try your best.

For old growth forest sleuths – you will be famous if you document chimney swift use of a natural tree cavity. None has been reported in Manitoba yet! Try to get a photograph, GPS coordinates, and document the details (date/time/weather conditions etc.) of your amazing discovery.

A vast array of other VOLUNTEER RESOURCES are posted on our MCSI website at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html . There are links to video clips, research/general interest articles, and the all important “Dashboard Placard” which identifies you as an MCSI volunteer.

Borrowing from an article published in the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas Spring Newsletter seems like a good way to sign off:

“While locating swifts may seem a daunting exercise, incredible rewards are possible. Last summer, we visited Goderich, ON, with birding friends. We were assured that no Chimney Swifts had been found in town by our hosts, local bird club members, and by the owner of the local wild bird supply store. Before we parked our vehicle, my husband chirped “there they are!” from the back seat. Three Chimney Swifts were making break neck flights around the town square, sometimes mixed in with Purple Martins. After a leisurely mid-day reconnaissance for candidate chimneys, we returned to the town square at dusk. By nightfall, a Chimney Swift quietly dropping into a smaller nest site in a private home and a roost of >150 swifts using a larger chimney at a church had been identified! Clearly, Chimney Swifts are to be discovered if an appropriate effort is made to look for them.”

We look forward to hearing from you and wish you the best for abundant chimney swift sightings in 2015!

Barb Stewart on behalf of the chimney swift team
~ Steering Committee Members: Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken De Smet, Nicole Firlotte, Rob Stewart; Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator: Tim Poole (mcsi.outreach@gmail.com); and Webmaster: Frank Machovec.