Update

We have filed final reports with our provincial and federal grant providers, If you would like to see the reports, follow the following links: Sustainable Development Innovations Fund and Eco-Action fund.

The steering committee has met recently and is planning for the continuation of the program in 2012. We are looking for new financial sponsors, and we are following the deliberations of the Species at Risk group so that future activities will complement the species recovery strategy.

In 2012 we would like to attract more volunteers and expand our inventory of known chimney swift  site sites throughout the province. We will continue to collect and share the valuable monitoring reports from our many volunteers at nest and roost sites, and investigate means of making it easier to submit reports.

Once our plans are finalized, I'll report back to you..

So, enjoy the snowy season and keep those neck muscles toned up for spring chimney-gazing!

Thanks for your support!

Frank Machovec
project coordinator

The close of the season

I just received a number of monitoring reports from the past saeason, and I have posted the results at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/monitoring_data.pdf

A summary of this year's  chimney swift activity at Saint Adolphe is available at
http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2011_stadoplhe.pdf

I am working on the final reports for our SDIF and Eco-Action grant providers, and these reports will be posted as soon as possible.

I would like to thank all of those who reported sightings or monitored chimney swift sites during this unusual season!

Frank

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma

While most chimney watchers have reported their swifts as long gone, on Tuesday our Selkirk monitoring crew observed a total of eight swifts entering two of their chimneys!

If you have any current sightings, or if have some earlier reports to share, please let me know.

There are still some reports to come in, but this season we have monitored 47 sites, 29 of them in Winnipeg. 34 of the sites had fewer than four swifts at peak occupancy, six sites  had over four occupants, and seven sites had no reported occupants. Of those chimneys with swifts, several only had one reported bird or had very erratic occupancy. Once again, the highest chimney occupancy was in the Dauphin roost with a maximum of 67 and second place was a Selkirk smokestack with 48.

The seasonal summary may be viewed on our web site at  http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/monitoring_data.pdf

Recently, we got some publicity in Steinbach's The Carillon newspaper for our recent (and damp) Saint Adolphe chimney watch. A scan of the article is available at http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/carillon_2011.pdf

Frank Machovec

Swifts on the move!

Our Chimney Swift numbers are certainly on the decline, and the swifts seem to have left many of their accustomed nests and roosts. The roost sites at Dauphin and Carman have been deserted, and numbers were way down at the Selkirk 'stack on Tuesday night. Some of the other sites -- St. Adoplhe and some Winnipeg sites -- seem to be deserted or have very low numbers indeed. In a number of locations, this decline has been evident for well over a week.

So, does your chimney still have any swifts? If you have any reports to submit, please send them my way.


I am working on an expanded web presence for the Chimney Swift project at www.mbchimneyswift.ca
You might want to check it out. 


Thanks for all your sighting reports!

Frank M