SEASON FINALE - 2015 NATIONAL ROOST MONITORING PROGRAM MAPS

December heralds a suite of significant events. Celebratory occasions for people of many faiths take place this month. The winter solstice on December 21 marks the renewal of increasing daylight. As the calendar year closes, we should take pause and look back on the achievements made in the domain of chimney swifts this year...

To anchor a significant achievement, we have received a timely "gift" to share with you all. The 2015 National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) maps, which depict the spring monitoring data collected across Canada, have arrived. Special thanks to Diana Teal (Ontario SwiftWatch Coordinator, Bird Studies Canada), for preparing the maps. We also send our thanks to Celine Maurice (Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Quebec) who organizes the NRMP and collates the national results.

The map files are too large to properly display on the this page, so click here for a pdf file of the original  national map, and click here for the Manitoba section only.
 
Many people have said how rewarding it has been to engage in a national monitoring initiative. It is truly an accomplishment to engage volunteer monitors throughout the chimney swift's summer range. Piecing together information from across the country helps us understand the biological substrate of this threatened species. So, as you view the abundance/distribution maps, keep this perspective - in Manitoba, we have fewer swifts dispersed in limited areas. As a result, you will notice our "circles" are smaller in diameter and fewer in number compared to the population hot-spots in Ontario and Quebec. That does not diminish the value of your efforts! Indeed, monitoring data collected in Manitoba is crucial to inform us about the swifts living at the periphery of the distribution. So, thank you again from all of us at MCSI for an accomplished 2015 season!

Looking ahead to the New Year, we hope to count you in the group of environmentally conscious, citizen scientists who will participate in 2016 activities. Our chimney swifts wintering in the Amazon are about three months away from starting their northern migration. To enumerate returning swifts in Canada, the 2016 NRMP is set for Wed. May 25, Sun. May 29, Thurs. June 2, and Mon. June 6 (MCSI may add another night - tbd). MCSI monitoring will continue throughout the summer to track nesting success and roost site dynamics. Questing crews will be searching for new habitat, in both urban and wilderness settings. The promise of rewarding experiences, which ultimately will benefit chimney swifts, is with us all.  

Wishing you the best of winter birding pleasures, Barb Stewart for the MCSI Team: Frank Machovec, webmaster; Tim Poole, Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator; Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken De Smet, Nicole Firlotte, and Rob Stewart, Steering Committee Members.

Winnipeg Chimney Gets a Makeover

MCSI are keen to promote the protection of Chimney Swift breeding and roosting habitats here in Manitoba. In fact we are people obsessed with retaining old brick chimneys, unashamedly so, because without these structures we have no idea what the future would hold for swifts here in Manitoba.

Birds of prey will often nest in the same tree year on year and over generations. One spring, the breeding pair will return to find their old nest site has gone, having been blown over during a heavy storm. In this case, the breeding habitat is no longer suitable for the birds purpose and they move on to construct a new nest in a different tree. There are plenty of alternatives available in this case, but not necessarily when we consider the case of the Chimney Swift.

I have no idea whether Chimney Swifts would return to the same tree in Manitoba to nest or roost year on year, but given how they seem to find the same chimneys here in Manitoba, I suspect this would have been the case. Now Chimney Swifts in Manitoba, as far as we know, nest solely in old chimneys. Many of the chimneys that provide homes for Chimney Swifts are either more than 100 years old or swiftly approaching that milestone. This leads to a bit of a problem: chimneys are the most exposed part of any building, jutting out above the roofline and being more exposed to the slightly chilly effects of a Manitoban winter. Currently we are discovering that a number of these chimneys are deteriorating to the extent that they will need urgent repairs in the coming years if they are to continue to provide homes for swifts. Fortunately, thanks to funding from Environment Canada, we have been able to begin the process of repairing a few of these chimneys this fall and below I give a brief account of one of these chimneys.

Our first repair came about as the result of a chance encounter between a volunteer (and MCSI committee member) and a priest from a church he was monitoring. One evening in June, Christian Artuso was monitoring the chimney at St Anne’s Church on Hampton Street, Winnipeg, as part of the 4 day national roost monitoring scheme. Happy, after a successful evening with 2 entrances, Christian was suddenly faced with the awful prospect that this important habitat would be imminently destroyed. The priest explained that the chimney would be demolished due to safety concerns over degrading (and crumbling) mortar above the roofline. The church no longer used the chimney, they were unaware of the critical habitat it provided for swifts and therefore the obvious solution would be to remove the chimney before it collapsed in a residential area.

Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship and MCSI were able to intervene at this point, met with the church and came up with a plan of action to save the chimney and the nesting swifts. We employed a local mason to repair the chimney and made an agreement that the church would continue to retain this chimney for the swifts. From the following photos you can see that the chimney was rebuilt above the roofline and a crown added to the peak to add stability.

Above: Inside of chimney. No sign of the nest, so maybe it is either too low or already fallen?

Above: There is a second chimney on site. Previously it was assumed that this chimney was capped but this summer Chimney Swifts were observed entering it. If you look carefully you can see a entrance behind the flue, indicating that there are 2 flues on this chimney

Above: Completed chimney, well done Ed!

We would like to thank not only our funders at Environment Canada, but also Nicole Firlotte from Manitoba Conservation for establishing contact with the church and finally St Anne’s Church for their support in this endeavour, especially Richard Ludwick, the Deacon, who has been extremely helpful during this process.

Tim Poole

SEPTEMBER SEASON ENDER

SEPTEMBER SEASON ENDER - MCSI ROOST AND NEST SITE DATABASE 2014-2015; ST ADOLPHE NEST SITE SUMMARY 2015
All of your sore neck muscles, throbbing backs, and blurry vision endured at the chimney sites helps deliver monitoring data. Numbers. The currency of databases...
 

Here is a link to the results of our 2015 monitoring season - the MCSI Roost and Nest Site Database 2014-2015 has been posted on the MCSI website, in the Results section. This database lists all known roost and nest sites in Manitoba and the maximum number of chimney swifts seen entering or exiting the site. For 2015, chimneys were designated as roost or nest sites if sufficient information was available. This year we asked for extra "daytime" monitoring prior to the roosting hour for the last National Roost Monitoring Program night (June 1) and the MCSI Blitz Night (June 6); many monitors continued with observations during the breeding season. Daytime entries/exits distinguish a nest site. At roost sites, chimney swifts enter the site within 1/2 hour of sunset to rest for the night; departure is made within 1/2 hour of sunup the following morning.

If you want to look at monitoring results for previous years, the 2007-2014 database is still posted on the MCSI website, Results section, at: http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/2014_sites.pdf

It is easy to correct omissions/errors in the database. So, if you find that numbers have been lost in transcription, please submit corrections and all will be remedied. If you have data that has not winged it's way in yet, it is never too late to submit the results of your efforts.

A summary of the 2015 nest site outcomes in St. Adolphe is available too. It is also on the MCSI website, in the Results section.

Citizen science forms the basis of the chimney swift stewardship and outreach programs that MCSI develops. Thank you all for your significant contributions to our program this year - the swifts have been well served! Your gift of time and interest has helped us learn about the distribution, abundance, and biology (timing of arrivals, fledging etc.) of this threatened species in Manitoba. With your continued assistance, we will work to support chimney swift populations in Manitoba.

(photos by David Lavigne http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlavignephotography)

Let's keep in touch! 

Barb Stewart for the MCSI team: Webmaster, Frank Machovec; Habitat Stewardship and Outreach Coordinator, Tim Poole (mcsi.outreach@gmail.com); and fellow Steering Committee members - Christian Artuso, Ron Bazin, Neil Butchard, Lewis Cocks, Ken De Smet, Nicole Firlotte, and Rob Stewart.

Going, going...they're gone!

As September arrived, chimney swifts had departed from Manitoba once more. Our monitoring season has concluded with rewarding​ results. We contributed data to the third National Roost Monitoring Program (NRMP) which tracks the distribution and abundance of spring migrants (http://www.mbchimneyswift.ca/Documents/natl_20132015.pdf). The national organizers are now collating and analyzing the various provincial datasets - stay tuned for their results. After the NRMP, our monitors continued chimney side vigils in the summer to track developments at roost and nest sites; the 2015 MCSI Roost and Nest Site Database will be posted online after it is updated. Through the efforts of folks tracking down swifts seen in their neighbourhoods, or by questing candidate chimneys in new locations, there was a record breaking 17 new sites discovered this year in Manitoba. Well done everyone!

The withdrawal of chimney swifts from roost sites and most nest sites generally occurred by mid-August. The roost site at Dauphin had 4 swifts on Aug. 7 but was empty by Aug. 12 (Ken and Jan). Matt relayed news that the nesting Carman swifts had departed by Aug. 10. The Assiniboine School roost in Winnipeg was down to 18 swifts on Aug. 2 (Jacquie and Frank); the last entry was seen on Aug. 14 when 1 of 4 swifts circling the chimney entered but left soon afterward, so no swifts stayed to roost (David, Adolf). Selkirk's large roost had: 29 swifts on Aug 3; 43 on Aug 10; 8 on Aug 17; and 0 on Aug 24; also empty on Aug. 24 were two other smaller Selkirk chimneys = Yellow Brick and Infirmary (August monitors = Carol, Dorothy, Gerald, James, Robert, Virginia, and Winona). Despite the general absence of swifts in communities by Aug. 24, 4 swifts roosted for the night in the small chimney at the Women's Jail, Portage (Gord).

In mid- to late-August, a newly erected tower at the Old Grace Hospital site on Evanson St. in Wolseley did not attract any swifts during the pre-migratory and migratory phases. Special thanks to all of the monitors who stared down the tower rim on short notice - Adolf, Christian, David, Frank, Jacquie, Meg, Stephen, and Tim.

Successful fledging was reported from three communities this year in addition to the previously noted lift-off from the Church in St. Adolphe. In Brandon, an intensive amount of monitoring of Site 900 was done by Margaret, Millie, and Louanne who viewed juveniles on the wing. The peak roosting count was 5 swifts on Aug. 17 - the fledging count is likely 3. In Portage, Gordon and Janice watched the Trinity Church throughout the season and fledging occurred around the same time as for Brandon, about Aug. 8-12. A peak count of 5 swifts at Trinity Church (Janice, Aug. 24) suggests that 3 juveniles fledged from that site also. In La Broquerie, David followed developments at the Church and observed a juvenile entry on Aug. 14. The next night (Aug. 15), the roosting hour headcount was 6 swifts, with many noticeable juvenile entries being made - nominally, 4 juveniles fledged; 6 swifts were still roosting at the successful nest site on Aug. 24. The peak count at the St. Adolphe Church was 7, a week after the first sighting of 2 fledglings on Aug. 1. So, of the four successful nest sites followed in 2015, there were 3, 3, 4, and 5 fledglings who lifted off. Paul reported that the Darlingford site was very active with feeding entries/exits on Aug. 10, so it is hopeful that juveniles fledged from that chimney eventually.

The last observations of swifts on the wing came in from three different communities. Christian saw his last for the season over the river in St James, Winnipeg, on Aug. 26.  In the afternoon of Aug. 29, Robert saw 2 swifts flying over his Selkirk residence. That night, Gerald and Robert were monitoring nighthawks in Selkirk when 2 swifts flew over the Infirmary and Big Red Brick chimneys. Three swifts were seen in the vicinity for a few minutes before disappearing. Finally, an afternoon sighting of a juvenile over the United Church in Portage, on Aug. 31, by Carrie and Tim closed the reports for 2015. 

We wish all the swifts - adults and fledglings - a safe and speedy migration to the wintering grounds in the Amazon. Best wishes and thanks are sent also to all of you who we called upon to monitor, quest, and engage in chimney swift stewardship throughout 2015. I will send out an update with the completed database shortly, then Tim will have some habitat stewardship and outreach updates over the winter. In the spring, it will be time to welcome you back to the chimney sides for 2016, our tenth chimney swift monitoring season. Time flies...

All the best in birding, Barb.