Some Tools for the Coming Monitoring Season!

Let's Watch Those Chimneys! The Chimney Swifts are working their way northward and should be visiting Manitoba soon. The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative has prepared survey forms and survey protocols to guide monitors in the 2014 season. A primary focus of our efforts for 2014 will be chimney observations as part of a national effort. Monitoring is to take place during the "roost hour" on May 21, May 25, May 29, and June 2. The national four-day monitoring protocol may be seen at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MB_Protocol_Swift_2014_ROOST.pdf and the monitoring form may be obtained at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/MB_Survey%20data%20sheet_Swift_ROOST_2014.pdf For those monitoring their sites on other dates throughout the season, please use the "MCSI monitoring protocol." The protocol is explained at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/Monitoring_Protocol.pdf , and the associated monitoring form is at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/report_form.pdf Check the resources area of our website at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html  for a variety of information about monitoring. Please email the monitoring coordinator at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com to volunteer or ask any questions about the monitoring program for 2014. Now, don't overstress those neck muscles!

A New Season Begins (soon)!

A New Season Begins (soon)!

Chimney swifts have been sighted in the southeast corner of South Dakota and eastern Minnesota. So, if we can nudge, kick, or coerce the cold weather out of our area, perhaps our Manitoba chimney swifts will arrive in the next few weeks. MCSI is focusing on two activities this year. You can check out our past  monitoring results at (http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2013_sites.pdf).

The first activity is to support the national chimney swift monitoring program where monitors across Canada will be chimney-side on the evenings of May 21, 25, 29, and June 2. The distribution and abundance of chimney swifts in Canada can be tracked through simultaneous monitoring across the country; our Manitoba data will be collated and forwarded to the national coordinator. Please contact mbchimneyswift@gmail.com if you are interested and available in joining this activity, plus indicate what geographic area is most convenient for you as a monitoring destination. The 2014 guidelines/monitoring protocols are similar to last year's which can be found at: http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/resources.html  ​We would appreciate everyone monitoring at least 1/2 hour before sunset to 1/2 hour after sunset on the specified evenings. No heroics are required if the weather is poor.​

The second MCSI activity is the creation of an inventory of roost and nest sites which need repairing/restoring, or candidate chimneys which could be re-opened (there must be historical data to show that the site once housed chimney swifts). We have received a three year Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) award to protect chimney swift habitat and we will begin to select sites for remedial work in the early fall.

The Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative members would like to wish Frank Machovec well in his retirement from MCSI Coordinator and Steering Committee duties! Frank has served the chimney swifts, and all of us, well over many years of dedicated service. Thank you Frank! We are pleased that Frank has retained his role as webmaster so you can follow all of the Manitoba chimney swift news here, over the 2014 season.

Thanks for your interest and keep your eyes to the sky - we look forward to the first spring sightings!

--

Barb Stewart

St. Adolphe Monitor & MCSI Steering Committee Member

Manitoba Chimney Swift Initiative
c/o Nature Manitoba, #401 - 63 Albert Street, Winnipeg, MB R3B 1G4

www.naturemanitoba.ca -- 204-943-9029

Another one bites the dust!

Well another Chimney Swift season has come and gone, and we all need to find something else to do during the roost hour!

I would like to thank you all for taking the time to monitor your sites and report your observations. It took dedication-- whether your sites were active or vacant and despite a variety of weather conditions.

Let's not dwell on the lamentable conditions early in the season or swifts which didn't respect the "roost hour" or "active" chimneys without swifts or sites far removed from Tim Hortons or promising sites spurned by our avian quarry...

 2013 season highlights:

First swifts reported: May 12 (Saint Adolphe)
Last swifts reported: August 26 (Selkirk)

"New" active sites found in Winnipeg (two sites), Steinbach, Lac du Bonnet*, The Pas*
In Lac du Bonnet and The Pas there are reliable daytime reports of swifts and apparent nearby chimneys for roosting, but we don't yet have documented entries into chimneys.

• 60 sites observed
• Sites monitored with NO swifts observed: 18
• Sites monitored with 1 to 4 swifts observed: 19
• Sites monitored with 5 or more swifts observed: 13
• 7 towers checked

As I'm sure you all recall, the season started with cool and rainy weather and the the later-than-usual return of swifts to many locations. Overall monitoring results were erratic with "normal" seasons in some locations and late-arriving or absent swifts at others. Dauphin saw a record peak number of swifts (121) at its roost site, making one wonder where the "extra" birds came from and where they ended up. The Selkirk roost had off-peak numbers at the main site and increased numbers at a nearby secondary site. The Carman main roost site saw lower than usual visitation, but a one-time spike in numbers at a secondary site.

A few monitoring reports noted that swifts arrived or departed outside the expected "roost hour window," and this factor suggests that we may have missed a number of entries and exits at some sites. It is possible, then. that some sites  may have erroneously been counted as vacant. Some other reports noted the proximity of many swifts that didn't enter the expected chimney: this suggests the existence of sites that we have yet to identify.

We participated in a nationally planned four day  monitoring project at selected sites. It turned out the designated dates were too early for many of our swifts, and some sites saw their first swifts on the last day of observation. The cool and wet weather didn't help either...

As far as our artificial towers are concerned, the less said, the better. The five towers erected by the Chimney Swift Initiative remain vacant, as do two "artificial trees" in the La Broquerie area. To our consternation, towers in Minnesota do attract swifts.

Early in the year, two members of the steering committee for the project attended a Chimney Swift Workshop in Montreal. We made two presentations and met with representatives from various Canadian and American swift projects. Discussions revealed a number of common concerns, and the groundwork has been laid for coordinated monitoring and species recovery efforts.


For your viewing pleasure:
A summary of moniring results is posted on our website, and it outlines peak numbers of swifts seen at sites from 2007 to 2013. Cast your eyes to http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2013_sites.pdf

The summary of the four-day monitoring results may be seen at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2013_four_days.pdf

I recently completed the final report in connection with funding received from the provincial Endangered Species and Biodiversity Fund. The narrative part of the report is available on our web site at
http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/ESBF_2013.pdf

As you all know, the cluster of five swift sites in Saint Adolphe is a jewel in the crown for the Chimney Swift Initiative. The 2013 annaual summary of activity in Saint Adolphe may be viewed at
http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/stadolphe_2013.pdf   Special thanks go to the Stewarts for their monitoring and analytical efforts.

In closing, thanks again for your efforts in support of the project!

Frank Machovec

Civic Holiday Update

Well, the chimney swift season is drawing to an end. It seems like only yesterday when we were scanning the skies for the arrival of our favourite avian migrants!

Our " four day viewing experiment" turned out to be disappointing due to poor weather and some late returns of swifts. Later results have been indicated apparent breeding success at  many sites in Winnipeg, Saint Adolphe, Brandon, and La Broquerie. Results in other sites are less than clear, and it's hard to know if sites are abandoned or being used outside of the "roosting hour" time window. Our "old faithful" roost sites in Selkirk and Dauphin have been, well, faithful.

We have reports from some new sites like Wolseley, the West End, Steinbach, and Lac du Bonnet.

The search for new roost sites has not fared well- no swift activity was detected at a large chimney near Rose Isle (former Leary brickyard) and the large stack at the former Richlu factory in the Point Douglas area.

Although we haven't pinned down the chimney being used, there are reports of swifts seen in Lac du Bonnet and The Pas. Monitoring reports from the  Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach and Providence College in Otterburne suggest the existence of some unknown sites near the known chimneys.

The results are posted on the website at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2013_sites.pdf  

So far I have received reports from over 50 sites.

So, many thanks for your reports, and keep 'em coming.

Frank Machovec