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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.

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.

A WARM WELCOME TO TIM POOLE, MCSI HABITAT STEWARDSHIP AND OUTREACH COORDINATOR

A WRAP-UP OF THE OLD YEAR TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR: 
2014 NATIONAL ROOST MONITORING PROGRAM RESULTS

The results of the 2014 National Roost Monitoring Program have been sent to us from Carolyn Zanchetta, who is the Ontario Region Project Biologist with Bird Studies Canada. In May and June of last year, Manitoba volunteers joined in the four night national initiative to monitor chimney swift sites during the roosting hour (we monitored nest and roost sites). The national results have been pooled and mapped. Carolyn said “​Here are the combined maps with all the data from the National Roost Monitoring Program last spring.  Each chimney is represented by a red circle, and the size changes by date based on the number of swifts observed. An interesting observation is the northward migration from southern Ontario towards Ottawa and Quebec.”

The maps may be seen at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/NRMPmaps2014.pdf

Links to the individual maps in larger format: May 21, May 25, May 29, June 2

We thank all of our Manitoba monitors who contributed to the success of the program and Carolyn for sending the results along! If you have any questions about the results, contact:

​Carolyn Zanchetta
Ontario Region Project Biologist
Bird Studies Canada, P.O. Box 160. Port Rowan, ON N0E 1M0
czanchetta@birdscanada.org
www.birdscanada.org
519-586-3531 ext. 132 or Toll Free 1-888-448-2473 ext. 132

September 2014: MCSI September Bulletin: 

August ended with another round of severe storms which pummeled many communities and caused local flooding. On August 21, some areas of Winnipeg (Lindenwoods, Tuxedo, and southeast Charleswood), Sanford, and Brunkild had nearly three inches of rain in half an hour. On August 29, two inches of rain in fell in 20 minutes in Steinbach and four inches of rain landed in Niverville over a few hours. In the early hours of August 30, it was 4 C and no insects were in the air in the St. Adolphe area. Frequent, heavy rains and cold temperatures were not ideal conditions to keep migratory chimney swifts lingering in Manitoba.

Not surprisingly, chimney swift numbers dwindled by the end of August as migration continued. At the Assiniboine School roost, David, Adolf, and Peter hoped to see a “September” swift and their diligent monitoring efforts were rewarded, on September 1, by the sighting of 2-3 birds. However, no chimney swifts roosted at the school that night.

The last two Selkirk monitoring reports of the season were interesting reflections of migration. On August 25, Alyssa, Andy, Carol, Gerald, Linda, Ralph, Robert, Ruby, and Virginia noted 29 roosting chimney swifts divided between 3 of 4 monitored sites. On September 1 (the last regular Monday monitoring night of the season), only 1 roosting chimney swift was counted at the Red Brick chimney, although a group of 8 was seen near the Large Chimney.

Enjoyable opportunistic sightings of late August chimney swifts, also seen in low numbers, were reported by Matt in Carman and Rudolf in East Kildonan, Winnipeg. On September 2, Gerald saw a group of at least 10 chimney swifts over the Home Hardware store in Selkirk.

With Gerald’s September 2nd observations, and subsequent fast-acting sleuthing, came the exciting discovery of a second new site being used in Selkirk this year. Gerald tracked the swifts to another new chimney near the Selkirk hospital. It is significant to have the number of known occupied sites in the community increase from four to six in one year – great work Selkirk Swifters!

Also, a new nest site was reported in the East Kildonan area of Winnipeg by Rudolf. So, the total number of new sites identified to MCSI this year = 7!

Margaret and Millie had the distinction of closing out the 2014 season with their observations in Brandon. Five roosting birds were seen on September 7 at the Orange Block chimney. Then, the final reported chimney swift entered the same site roost on September 10. Thanks for your season long efforts and long season of monitoring ladies! The challenge is on as to who sees the first chimney swift in the spring of 2015…
​
Some news from Saint Adoplhe
​With the departure of chimney swifts from their summer range, comes a fall task for me. I look into the cleanout traps of two St. Adolphe nest sites to observe evidence of nesting. Then I estimate breeding success. At the Main St. site, ​which was abandoned during the daytime in July, a clutch of 6 eggs was laid (12 half egg shells were present). Six small carcasses were seen at the bottom of the cleanout trap; no nest was observed. It appears that all the hatchlings died at 1-2 days of age. At the Brodeur Bros. site, all 4 eggs in the clutch hatched but unfortunately, 3 juveniles died before fledging – 1 at ~5 days of age and 2 at ~ 15 days of age; 1 juvenile made it out of the top of the chimney successfully. What happens to cause pre-fledging mortality? Sometimes nestlings fall out of the nest, sometimes food availability is so low (think of those long, rainy days) that starvation ensues, and rarely, hostile activities take place where non-parental adults enter the nest site and disturb the peace. Other unknown factors may play a role too.

The other three nest sites in St. Adolphe do not have accessible chimney cleanout traps so behaviour observations have to be relied on to estimate fledging success. The Church nesting attempt failed in July when the adults abandoned the chimney during the daytime. The SE Club Amical nesting pair also stopped their first attempt in July, then became sporadic users of the chimney again during the daytime – ultimately the nesting attempts were not successful. However, the NE Club Amical chimney swifts fledged 2 juveniles around August 11.

Overall, the 5 known nest sites in St. Adolphe were active; 3 primary nesting attempts failed; 2 nesting attempts were successful; and an estimated 3 fledglings were produced. Such low productivity is one factor to be considered in the assessment of declining populations of chimney swifts in Manitoba.

With the support provided by our legion of volunteer monitors, we have concluded the 2014 monitoring season in Manitoba by contributing to the Four Night National Roost Site Monitoring Program, the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, and the MCSI roost/nest site database. Over the summer, another group of dedicated volunteers worked behind the scenes for the betterment of chimney swifts in Manitoba.

The MCSI Steering Committee is a collective of people devoted to the stewardship and conservancy of chimney swifts in Manitoba. We develop and manage the MCSI monitoring, research, and outreach programs. We will continue to strive toward creating greater public awareness of this Threatened Species At Risk and developing education material.

The Steering Committee members represent a diverse group – self-employed and retired individuals; employees of the provincial and federal governments, and non-government organizations; biologists, some specializing in species at risk, and research scientists; master birders and dedicated backyard birders etc. Our common denominator, however, is chimney swifts and issues related to the betterment of their populations in Manitoba. Together, our group can accomplish what an individual would not be able to.  For example, we currently are preparing a habitat loss and mitigation policy for use in situations where deconstruction of known chimney swift sites may take place; it will also be a useful resource for building new chimney swift habitat in Manitoba.

Our efforts through the fall of 2014 and winter of 2015 will be aided by much appreciated financial support from Environment Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund (EDF). Now we need your continued assistance. The number one task over the next few months is to identify chimney sites – roost or nest – that could be reopened or repaired (using our funds) for chimney swift occupancy. Send your suggestions for site remediation along to us! We hope to staff a coordinator (paid for by EDF) for this work soon.

So on behalf of the other Steering Committee members ~ Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken DeSmet, Nicole Firlotte, and Rob Stewart ~ I would like to send a loud shout-out of THANKS for making 2014 such an accomplished year! We will stay in touch, with the able assistance of webmaster Frank Machovec, and hope to count you in for the 2015 chimney swift monitoring season.

For your viewing pleasure…

If you need to Dream a Little Dream of Chimney Swifts over the “off season” … click on the following link to view a video taken on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at the Assiniboine School roost chimney. Thanks to Ron Bazin for shooting the original footage, David Wiebe for his editing efforts, and Rob Stewart who methodically counted the 101 chimney swifts who dropped in for the night…
Check the video on YouTube at http://youtu.be/ff065TB8Y7s

All the best ’til next time, Barb.

 MCSI AUGUST 2014 BULLETIN

These are exciting times in which we live. Especially when we make connections with chimney swifts. Since the beginning of August, chimney swift sightings from far and wide were reported (some for earlier in the season); fledged young were identified on the wing; recent counts at well monitored roost sites indicated that migration was underway; and vigilant monitors reported newly discovered chimney swift nest sites.

Winnipeg sightings have been robust. Beyond site monitoring, chimney swifts were seen flying over East Kildonan, Norwood Flats, and River Heights (Rudolf); at Assiniboine Park (Ryan; Bill); St. James (Carolyn, Christian, David); and Riverview (Vere). In Lac du Bonnet, chimney swifts flew about Casey’s Inn (Peter, Sharon, Diann, Colleen, Anita). In the townsite of Wasagaming, chimney swifts were flying in the vicinity of McTavish’s Lodge (Cal, Ken).

Juvenile sightings in August included the East Kildonan (Rudolf), St. James (Christian), and St Norbert areas of Winnipeg (Barb), and St. Adolphe (Barb).

Daytime nest site activity in St. Adolphe has concluded – there have been no daytime entries/exits as of August 17; the local juveniles are now flight worthy for a day of aerial foraging. The Brodeur Bros site swifts fledged July 30-31 and the NE Club Amical juveniles made a supermoon appearance around Monday, August 11. In August, the SE Club Amical activity was on and off and on and off and, well, generally defied categorization; the nesting attempt likely was not successful in the end (I cannot access the chimney cleanout trap which is sealed behind a wall). The SE and NE Club Amical chimneys were occupied for the night of August 16. Three chimney swifts roosted at Brodeur Bros. on August 14 but none entered on August 20. The local chimney swifts are on the move…

Declining roosting hour counts at other sites also indicated that migration was underway. There can be a local redistribution of chimney swifts between nest and larger roost sites in a premigratory phase. Then the southern exodus begins.

The largest roost site in Manitoba this season was at Assiniboine School, Winnipeg, monitored by team leader David, Adolf, Anna, Peter, and various family members/interested individuals. The season peak was 110 chimney swifts on June 2. Counts last month were 75-85 on July 24 and 72 on July 29. This month’s roosting totals were 56 on August 4 and 41 on August 11. So, there is a trend to declining numbers of roosting chimney swifts at this site. It will be interesting to watch how the numbers change = a gradual withdrawal or a mass exodus or…? Time will tell.

Up north in Dauphin, Ken and Jan saw 26 swifts enter their site August 10; 27 were counted by another observer on August 15. These numbers are slightly reduced from the 30 swifts seen entering on July 22, but much lower than the peak count of 48 swifts on May 28.

The most exciting news that winged in this month was the discovery of 4 new nest sites for our provincial inventory – interestingly, the sites were all identified within days of each other. A Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas monitor confirmed roosting hour entries at the St. Norbert Behavioural Health Foundation (August 12/13); mid-day August 14, daytime flying behaviour over the building, which involved juveniles, suggested a nest site was successful. Peter had a fortuitous daytime observation of a chimney swift entry/exit at Chancellor Hall on U of Manitoba campus (August 12) – gleaned from the fifth floor of the adjacent library. Carolyn, in St James, had a 5-6 year old mystery (just where do those chimney swifts go?) resolve when, after sunset, she spied chimney swifts dropping into the small chimney at the rear of St. Anne’s Catholic Church (August 16); observations made by David and Christian the next evening, ahead of the roosting hour, confirmed a nest site. Last but not least, Crystal contacted us with news that a nest was observed in her St. James chimney. We are fortunate that the cleanout trap can be inspected in September to estimate the number of fledglings from the nesting attempt.

​Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to connect with the skies and look for chimney swift activity. Nature reveals itself to those who are patient enough to wait for the signs. We have been rewarded with ​many new, important developments.

The last bulletin for 2014 will follow in September. Enjoy these last days of chimney swift viewing for the current season!

Happy birding, Barb.