2020 marks the 4th year of monitoring 38 bluebird nesting boxes on the Hueston Woods Golf Course. The first 3 years have been successful beyond our greatest hopes. To date:
• 200+ Eastern Bluebirds have fledged
• 250 Tree Swallows have fledged
• 250 House Wrens have fledged
• 3 Carolina Wrens have fledged
A great deal of the success lies upon the proper siting of the houses. Before the first house was constructed, we invited Dr. Kent Hall of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, a renown and experienced Eastern Bluebird specialist, to help us site the nest boxes on the course. Once the sites were determined the nest boxes were installed with a PVC pipe enclosing the steel post to discourage predators such as raccoons and black rat snakes.
The first 3 years saw no evidence of any predation. Year 4 has been a different story, however. Several nest boxes showed signs of predation such as missing or destroyed eggs, dead nestlings, and destroyed nests. In a few cases dead adults were found on the ground beneath the affected boxes. A relatively simple solution was to smear a band of petroleum jelly on the PVC pipe that made the pipe too slippery for the predators to climb. Once the bands of petroleum jelly were in place the predation ceased!
It is too early to publish full results for 2020. However, there are encouraging signs that this year will also be successful. In addition to the usual cast of characters, Carolina Wrens have successfully nested in 3 boxes. Other programs have also seen Carolina Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees nest in their boxes. So far, no Brown-headed Cowbirds have attempted to parasitize the bluebird boxes.
Because the period for weekly monitoring starts in March and runs into September, many dedicated monitors are required. Specials thanks go out to the following birders as recognition of their time and efforts spent making the program work: Mickey Simonds, Gail Reynolds, Libby Birch, Steve Gordon, Marlene Hoffman, and Neil and Mary Poppendeck. Thanks to George Simonds and Mark Gilmore for help in assembling 41 nest boxes.