As the long weekend disappears in the rearview mirror, we are able to report on an excellent start to the season for swift monitoring. There were many reports, and although there were a number of zero’s, there were also a surprisingly good number of occupied chimneys.
For our report, we being in Carman, and are delighted that Matt has been able to pick up the mantle of swift watching this year. Matt first spotted swifts on the 9th May in town during the day. On the 18th he reported:
‘I Saw two Swifts enter the chimney. First bird at 2040 hrs approaching suddenly from South and made a very fast wing-over into chimney, 2nd bird at 2110 hrs. Bird also suddenly appeared from the South hovering directly over chimney and made a winnowing flutter entry into chimney.‘
On the 19th, he did a second monitoring watch, and reported:
‘At 2100 hrs, I saw a single swift flying high, foraging over the town…no other activity until 2126 hrs. At this point a small swift madea fast dive into the chimney. A minute later a larger swift made a winnowing approach into the chimney. Probably the same pair as seen on Saturday night. ‘
Finally, on the 20th, Matt went out again and reported two birds in the Memorial Hall, plus a further two birds in the skies. Numbers are obviously building in Carman.
On the 16th, Irene and Scott made their ways for a first ever swift watch at La Salle. Unfortunately it was probably too early in the season for this site, no swifts were seen. Hopefully they will have more sightings next time. On the same evening, Rudolf spotted 10 swifts in East Kildonan. Bob and Valerie also lucked out at New Silver Heights in St James. Better luck was had by two other new volunteers, Colleen and Mark, ably assisted by Frank and Jacquie at Providence College in Otterburne. In total, 5 swifts were shared between 3 chimneys.
Marshall sent in his report, in typically humorous fashion:
‘I’m scoping out some sites in Osborne tonight. I found a good spot where I can watch 5 chimneys on 3 buildings at once and I saw two entries at St. Augustine’s Church, and there’s been no exits in 15 minutes since. I also saw 4 others circling chimneys on a building on Stradbrook. I’ve forgotten how much I feel like I’m lingering about in an alley to sell drugs when I do this, hah.’
On that note, if anyone would like an official MCSI lanyard, please let us know, and we will get one mailed to you as soon as possible.
Frank and Jacquie were first out the block on the 17th. They watched the Moorgate and gave a classic MCSI report full of questions marks:
‘On Friday night ten CHSW were seen in the vicinity of the Moorgate around 20:00. There were six entries and three exits from the Moorgate chimney. Where did the other swifts spend the night? Why did some swifts choose to vacate the Moorgate?’
Barbara and Phil got off to a flying start on their Osborne Village swift adventures, recording 2 entries at a site on Clarke Street. There were 10 swifts in the air in this area, a busy highway for swifts.
Luc on the otherhand had a puzzling evening. The best chimney in St-Jean-Baptiste has always been the church. So when he saw 3 swifts in the air it must have felt that normal service had resumed. Unfortunately that was it, 3 in the air, none in the chimney. There were swifts observed in the school chimney in 2018, so we can only surmise they headed over there.
Onto the ‘official’ evening on the 18th. St Norbert tied together nicely. Blaire reported:
‘Behavioural Health Foundation had 2 chimney swift entries tonight; one right after the other at 8:58 p.m. Didn’t see any other activity. The two swifts were seen individually off and on a couple of occasions before that but not together.’
Why did it tie together nicely? Well, because Rob and Barb and this to say:
‘Just home and trying to thaw – wow, what a cold wind tonight! We had a few sightings of a single swift and one brief sighting of what seemed to be 3 swifts. Generally a quiet night in the ‘hood. So we had a single fast entry at 9:16:31 PM – very low to the rim from the ESE; no vocalizations heard at all.’
Mike and Michelle continued where they left off watching the Saint Francois Xavier church:
‘They’re baaaack!! I do not have much activity to report but more than I expected this early on a chilly/windy day. One entry and three in the air is a very good start.’
Great news, although interestingly, we only have one chimney on the database here. There must be another chimney in the area…
David accounted for all his swifts in La Broquerie, a good sign following some fun and games from the swifts in 2018. Here is his report:
‘I saw three birds enter the chimneys though I thought I saw four at one point flying in the air. Surprisingly, as they cannot be nesting yet, 2 went in the small chimney and only one in the large chimney, the large chimney being higher, larger and presumably easier to enter and exit.’
Gerald and the Selkirk Birdwatchers sent an unofficial tally of 21 entries, 5 exits, net 16 in the chimney. Ken and Jan reporting in from Dauphin had a similar number:
‘We had a FROST WARNING for tonight so I was not surprised when neither of last years nesting chimneys (2018-14 & 15) observed any use by swifts. The roost chimney (#600) however had 16 swifts go down starting right at the assigned start time till sunset. Most birds were flying in close pairs but, there were 2 individual birds that showed up alone and went down alone. It felt like we should have on hat, mitts and parka, no shorts and flip-flops tonight for sure! There is talk on the weather network of rain for the next observation night.’
Swifts obviously didn’t get the message that it was counting time in Lac du Bonnet, Diann and Cam had zero activity in town, and very little bird activity in general. To add to this list, Kirsten had no luck at the Flag Shop on Pembina, Lynnea and Adam watched a colossal chimney in South Point Douglas to no avail, and Peter hit a zero at the church on Hampton Street in St James. Gary at St John’s Ravenscourt was more in luck, a first ever watch, and one swift in for the night. Blair at 690 St Joseph Street in St Boniface also counted 2 entries. Debby and Carl were also out of luck, zero swifts seen at the Old Grace Housing Coop.
Finally, Tim finally made it out on the 19th following a weekend of IBA activities elsewhere in Manitoba. Tasked with counting the large roost in downtown Winnipeg, he sent the following report to Frank, Rob and Barb:
‘Well that was bizarre. Nowt, zero, empty. A roost which hit the heights of 50+ swifts in 2018 wasn’t used tonight.’
Guess even those expecting a large number of swifts can be left puzzled by these birds!
Barb is also keeping us updated on progress in St Adolphe. On Monday the 20th, she reported that there were 5 swifts in town during the day, 2 are nest building in the church, 2 are in the southeast Club Amical, and 1 is, well, a spare swift for now.
If you have swift reports and have not been able to submit them yet, no worries, we take them at any time, and endeavour to add them to the next update.
Our first National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) evening starts tomorrow, Wednesday 22nd. Official counting starts one hour before sundown. That will obviously vary around the province. We are looking forward to hearing about your findings.
Thank you to everyone who has submitted reports so far – and happy swifting everyone!
Tim Poole
Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative Coordinator
