Installed in the early spring of 2021, the Cliff Swallow Nesting Structure was built to provide nesting habitat for Cliff Swallows following the removal of the pumphouse at the south end of Duck Lake. While the swallows were initially a bit slow to warm up to the structure early in the breeding season of 2021, by July they were busily building their unique gourd-shaped mud nests on the new structure. Nesting activity has been monitored by CVWMA staff each year during the breeding season since 2021. We are pleased to see that the Cliff Swallows have been nesting successfully on the structure every year since its installation!

 

 

At the start of the 2024 breeding season, the nesting structure was observed to have 38 Cliff swallow nests. These nests were monitored weekly from late April to early August. Of the 38, 29 nests were actively used throughout the season – not bad! This seems like a slight improvement from the 2023 breeding season, where 25 of the 38 nests were active. As time goes on, the swallows appear to be adapting their use of this structure.  As a refresher, the nesting structure was designed with three different textured substrates for the swallows to build their nests on – roughened wood, fiber cement board, and cross hatched wood. When the nesting structure was first built, cross hatched wood seemed to be the preferred choice, with the highest number of nest constructions taking place on this substrate. Unfortunately, later that season, many of the nests constructed on cross hatched wood fell down. Over the past four years, the nests built on fiber cement board have endured the best, and the swallows now seem to preferentially use these nests compared to nests built on the other substrates. It could be that swallows who successfully nested on the fiber cement board returned to the same location in subsequent years, whereas swallows who nested on cross hatched wood and experienced nesting failure due to nest fall-down chose to nest elsewhere, and did not return to the structure.  In addition to substrate preference, every year, the swallows have reliably chosen nests located on the east and south aspects of the structure. These aspects also conveniently face the water, which is important habitat for insects that the swallows feed on. Lots of natural light and close proximity to the buffet – yes please!

 

While there seems to be some emerging trends in nesting activity, we would like to continue monitoring for several more breeding seasons to assess nesting preference and nest longevity before making any potential modifications to the structure or building new structures. Cliff Swallow populations are in decline in Canada, and we want to make sure we are making management decisions that will help support healthy populations of these charismatic birds for years to come.

 

 

 

If you have been hiking up the Balancing Rock Trail or walking below our Administration Office in Corn Creek Marsh, you might have heard the sound of chainsaws or brush saws in the past few weeks. We currently have a crew enhancing habitat for Western skinks, alligator lizards, and rubber boas as well as for Common Nighthawks and other species that like open rocky talus for part of their life cycle. The crew is addressing woody vegetation encroachment on the hill over an area of approximately 15 hectares. The work plans to set back ecological succession and also intends to reduce the risks of a catastrophic fire in the event a wildfire was going to go through this area someday.

 

In the coming weeks, the crew will be burning several small piles of debris resulting from the brushing so you should see smoke rising around the CVWMA office building…not to worry about. A provincial burning permit has been obtained for the burning and the project should be completed late February or early March.

 

The work is funded by Environment & Climate Change Canada – Community Nominated Priority Places for Species at Risk through the Kootenay Connect Project (https://kootenayconservation.ca/kootenay-connect-corridor-science/). More work is planned for the fall of 2025 and winter of 2026.

 

 

 

Figure 1: CVWMA Administration building with small piles of brush to be burnt in the coming weeks.