Canada Day and there's much to celebrate!

CANADA DAY - a time to celebrate our land, the bounty of natural resources it contains, and the people who devote their time and energy as environmental stewards. Your recent reports contained notable events which should be celebrated: the re-establishment of nest sites; a newly identified area of occupation; and the identification of a record number of new, active chimney swift sites.  

The "no see-um" swifts in Carman apparently morphed into stealth swifts. Characteristic chittering sounds first alerted Matt to the bird's presence once more. Then it took a monitoring session at 0515 AM, on June 18, for Matt to confirm that a pair were established again in the small private residence in town. A third bird may be onsite also.

Confirmed daytime sightings of chimney swifts over the Fort La Reine Museum grounds, on the east side of Portage La Prairie, were made by Bob on Sunday, June 21. Mid-week, Gordon checked the chimney of Hourie House out in the early afternoon and then with Louise in the evening; both times, starlings were identified as the nesting species in the chimney. Further sleuthing is required to locate a chimney swift nest/roost sites in the Fort La Reine area.

Retirement is proving to be fulfilling for Jake. Between June 22-28, he discovered a cluster of three new sites in Fort Rouge! Pairs of chimney swifts were documented entering: 100 Roslyn Rd (Blackstone Apts; site no. 2015-14); 395 River Ave (The Biltmore; site no. 2015-15); and 94 Roslyn Rd (Leslie Ironside House; site no. 2015-16). A big thank you is sent to Jake for his determined efforts in locating these chimneys. We also appreciate David and Adolf for facilitating Jake's contact with MCSI.

In East Kildonan, Garry discovered another site in the "hub" area around Brazier St/Henderson Hwy which is monitored by Rudolf. Garry saw a pair of swifts enter 712 Watt St ~ site no. 2015-17 ~ just before curfew on June 13. The swifts entered the chimney with only a minute to spare before the end of the roosting hour. Thank you Garry for tracking these birds for over a week then staking out this site!

At nest sites in July, incubated eggs will hatch soon. Then the breeding adults will enter the energy-demanding stage of feeding their young. ​On the morning of June 30, at the St. Adolphe Church, the breeding pair had two change-ups in ~100 minutes of monitoring. One between-visit interval was ~30 minutes and the other was ~60 minutes. The adults may be feeding brooded juveniles...more observations are required to verify hatching.

Happy Canada Day to you all! Hopefully, some enjoyable chimney swift moments will be part of your celebrations.