28 August 2011

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









14 August 2011

May you live in interesting times

Well, it's certainly been an unusual season for the chimney swift monitoring program! Wet and cool weather in the early days, followed by dry conditions and heat in latter days (not to mention extremely low mosquito populations in some areas).

So far our reports suggest "normal" (possibly a bit lower than normal) numbers at roost sites --Carman, Dauphin, Selkirk-- but we have erratic reports at some other sites, notably in Winnipeg and Saint Adoplhe.

In Saint Adoplhe, with its cluster of five well-monitored sites, there is clear evidence of nest failure and chimney abandonment. At some Winnipeg sites, --St. Johns Ravenscourt and 1181 Pembina for example-- we had initially activity, but have seen no activity upon recent checks. Other sites seem to have normal occupancy.We've had numerous reports of chimney swift flyovers, but these reports don't always seem to correlate with known nearby chimneys.

As the season winds down, please continue to observe your sites and submit reports, even you see no entries/ exits at identified sites.

Updated monitoring results for the 2011 season may be seen at
http://www.naturemanitoba.ca/birder/monitoring_data.pdf

Special thanks to those of you who braved the cold and rain for last Monday's chimney watch in Saint Adolphe! (And I promise to dress more appropriately next time.)

Frank









04 August 2011

Come on down!

Just a reminder about our chimney swift watching event for the evening of Monday, August 8!

There are two ways to participate:

1) Join us at 7:30 P.M. in the parking lot near Club Amical at 344 Main Street in St. Adolphe for a chance to observe chimney swifts at five local sites and take a look at our tower. There's a map to the meeting point at http://bit.ly/ojeE9p

-- or --

2) Choose your own site. Contact the project coordinator (204-798-6275 or at mbchimneyswift@gmail.com) for the location of a suitable chimney near you.

All participants in the event are eligible for door prizes, and there will be refreshments at the Saint Adolphe event.

Why not bring a lawn chair and join us!