EYES UP – EYES WEST

MCSI EXTENDS A WARM WELCOME TO SASKATCHEWAN CHIMNEY SWIFT MONITORS 

In the world of Chimney Swifts, MCSI embraces “the more the merrier”. We want to see and hear more Chimney Swifts. We want more Chimney Swift habitat to be identified, protected, and (re-)established. We also want to engage more citizen scientists as volunteer monitors. As we wait to look up for our first spring arrivals, it is time to look west for a tremendous development…

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Nature Saskatchewan members into the fold as they launch a new program to locate and enumerate Chimney Swifts in Saskatchewan. The vision statement of Nature Saskatchewan (http://www.naturesask.ca/home) reads “Humanity in Harmony with Nature” and their mission is to “engage and inspire people to appreciate, learn about and protect Saskatchewan's natural environment.”  What a perfect fit for discovering Saskatchewan Chimney Swifts which occupy the western most reaches of their summer range!

An introductory article is in the Spring 2016 edition of Nature Views – a quarterly newsletter published by Nature Saskatchewan: http://www.naturesask.ca/rsu_docs/spring-nv-2016--3-.pdf  The new mission is “Questing Winged Wonders in Saskatchewan: Locating Chimney Swifts and Their Habitat”.

The Saskatchewan Chimney Swift monitoring program will be managed for the next year and a half by Rebecca Magnus, Habitat Stewardship Coordinator and Acting Species at Risk Manager. You can reach Rebecca at: rmagnus@naturesask.ca ; c/o Nature Saskatchewan, 206-1860 Lorne Street, Regina, SK S4P 2L7; (306) 780 9270 or 1 800 667 4668 (SK only).

In western Manitoba, we have Chimney Swifts in Melita, Souris, and Dauphin. In Saskatchewan, we know that there are some historic records and, recently, Chimney Swifts were identified in Estevan in 2015. As our Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator, Tim Poole, offers “logic suggests there are more swifts than are accounted for” currently.

To help our prairie neighbours get underway with their initiative, send the news along to your birding friends in Saskatchewan. If you are travelling west during the Chimney Swift season, take some time to identify Chimney Swifts on the wing or help locate roost and nest sites. Lastly, if you have recollections about historical observations in Saskatchewan, wing them along to Rebecca!

Barb Sewart