Cliff Swallow colony nests destroyed again at Pitt Lake

You may remember that Cliff Swallow nests with chicks and eggs inside were destroyed and power washed clean at the Pitt Lake site in  2019. This also happened in 2009, 2013 and 2015. You can read my article on the past history at this site HERE

Unfortunately, this year in July, my friend Larry Cowan and I noticed that out of the 30 nests at the site many had been knocked down. On July 5th there were 14 nests left up. I reported it immediately to federal wildlife enforcement at ECCC and the BC conservation service as this breaks the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act and the provincial BC Wildlife Act. 

14 nests were still left up on July 5th -2023

On July 29th I returned to the site with several young birders and we noticed only 3 nests were left up and 2 of the nests had live chicks inside being fed by adults. A lone Barn Swallow nest with chicks was also destroyed. 

Larry and I truly do not believe it’s a Barred Owl as in 30+ years of going there Larry has never seen one. Also a Barred Owl would make a lot more mess and not take it off so cleanly like this. It seems it is human caused.

2 active nests were left up on July 29-2023

In addition to just leaving 3 Cliff Swallow nests standing a Barn Swallow nest was also removed

On August 7th, the nests were all completely taken off. I do not know if the chicks fledged or not. It is heartbreaking and soul destroying to see this happen yet again at this site. The loss of 30 Cliff Swallow nests will have a great impact on the population.

Larry and I went to the Maple Ridge News and CBC News to bring more awareness about what is going on at the site.

The CBC article that came out by Rafferty Baker today can be read HERE.

We have asked for federal wildlife enforcement to put in cameras at the site. They did do this after the complaint in 2019 but in 2020 the camera was stolen and they seem reluctant to put in another. We have also asked the province to block off the stair access in the breeding season and so far haven’t got them to agree as the tower is used by the public. However, how many more Cliff Swallows can we lose ? They are already declining and have to deal with climate change, pesticides and urban development. When a colony forms like this we need to do all we can to protect them. Thank you to federal wildlife enforcement officer Randal Lee who is working on the case.

Larry and I will be chatting about this on CBC Radio Early Edition today as well. All we can do is continue to fight for these swallows so that next year they don’t have to go through this distress and loss. The birds truly do get distressed and the adults go frantic clinging to the walls of where their nests and chicks once were.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 10, 2023 at 12:01 PM

    Thank you Melissa for posting this intentional devastation of cliff swallow nests & offspring ! More info equals more awareness & hopefully this senseless bird nest destruction can stop once whomever is doing this is found!
    DH

    ReplyDelete
  2. PacificnorthwestkateAugust 10, 2023 at 6:35 PM

    This is so disheartening and depressing news - That someone can do this - to a protected species! I will never understand some people! Thank you for bringing it to public attention Melissa! Thank you for always fighting to protect birds - especially when others are hell bent on destroying them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Steve HamptonAugust 11, 2023 at 7:02 PM

    I've seen this happen in California as well. I know some places do it every year, and somehow manage to wait until there are chicks. A few years ago a fast food place got written up for having House Sparrows in their attic and accessing the kitchen. The owners were clueless and wiped out like 50 Cliff Swallow nests around their sign (50 meters from their restaurant) and said County Health told them to. In the US, state and federal officials rarely enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in cases like this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa HaftingAugust 14, 2023 at 10:36 AM

      sorry you have seen it too Steve and no different here in Canada I find federal officials are poor on enforcing the law or caring too much in swallow cases like this sad indeed... looks like we will be meeting soon in wa :)

      Delete
  4. LonelytravellerAugust 12, 2023 at 5:56 AM

    This is heartbreaking to learn what happened to these poor birds. I don’t understand the cruelty in this world. Thanks for continuing to raise awareness about these swallows and trying to protect them.

    ReplyDelete

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