WOOLWINE HOUSE BLUEBIRD FINAL TRAIL SUMMARY REPORT IS COMPLETED for 2009!
SUMMARY STATS FOR THIS NESTING YEAR: 16 Monitored Nesting Locations 
DATE OF FIRST EGG: 4/8/09 (Last year was 3/28/08)
DATE OF FIRST HATCH: 4/24/09 (Last year was 4/17/09)
DATE OF LAST FLEDGING: 7/13/09
BOX TYPES: 14 Rectangular Boxes, 1 Hanging Chalet Box, 1 Newspaper Box
PREDATOR GUARDS: 12 Noel, 14 Stovepipe
ENTRY HOLE SHAPE: 15 1-1/2 “, one open (newspaper box)
ROADSIDE RURAL: 2
LAWN/YARD: 8
PARK: 2
CEMETARY: 1
MEADOW: 2
PASTURELAND: 1
EGGS LAID AND SUCCESSFUL FLEDGED CAVITY NESTERS:
BLUEBIRDS: 22 Nest Attempts: 38 Eggs, 37 Hatched and 32 Fledged
CHICKADEES: 2 Nest Attempts: 6 Eggs, 6 hatched and 3 Fledged
HOUSE WRENS: 2 Nest Attempts: 6 Eggs and 6 Hatched and 6 Fledged
HOUSE SPARROWS: 4 Nest Attempts: 5 Eggs–Nest and eggs removed and deterrence was applied to avoid any more nest attempts.
LOSSES TOTAL: 8 chicks: 5 bluebirds to a snake and 3 chickadees to unknown reason.
SOME PROBLEMS ON THE TRAIL THIS YEAR:
Fought House Sparrows at one box in town location. I successfully kept them from breeding in my nestboxes. Bluebirds finally were able to occupy that nestbox and bred successfully with a final fledging on July 5. House Wrens built dummy nests in another box several times in town location. One House Wren breeding took place and those birds fledged. Blowfly infestation was bad this year–worse than 2008. I did not lose one set of chicks due to nest switchouts. I have noticed the rains bring on parasite and insect problems. During drought, such as during 2006 and 2007, I did not have any blowflies. I lost one set of bluebird chicks (6 days old) to a snake, even with the stovepipe guard. A very large Black Rat Snake can climb past some guards–these guards are 95% effective most times on my trail. The chickadees strangely only had 3 chicks fledge–the other 3 chicks died in the box, and I was unable to distinguish reason for those deaths. It could have possibly been poisoning from insecticides or some other kind of illness. They did not appear to have been attacked. One box that fledged Bluebirds for first brood was not able to come back and use the box due to Buffalo Gnat infestation. This happened during a long hard rainy section of days that I could not monitor my trail. This is why monitoring AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK is preferable, if possible, during the nesting season. Early in the season and throughout first brood nesting timeframe, I combated Paper Wasps in some of my nestboxes. I consistently soaped the boxes and removed the nests. Because of the wasp issues, some nestboxes were not occupied by cavity nesting birds this season. No wasps were able to nest in any of my trail nestboxes.
JOYS and SUCCESSES!
Any bluebirds that fledge are a joy. I was happy that my nest switchouts helped the anemic chicks get strength, bone development, and feather growth to fledge–most fledged on 18-20 days. I was able to get lots of good photographs of the birds this year with my new camera. By attending the North American Bluebird Society’s annual conference this year in Grantville, PA, in September, I learned of another option to dealing with the blowfly problem. I met many wonderful bluebird folks at the conference, further solidifying my passion for bluebirding. I am additionally mentoring a friend in Henry County who wants to start bluebirding. I am planning to offer free bluebird presentations to groups.
PLANS FOR NEXT SEASON!
At the NABS conference, I discovered a new natural substance in a powder form safe for the nestlings that can be added to the bottom of the nesting material in very small amounts to combat blowfly larvae. I also will be constructing a hardware cloth base to be inserted at the bottom of each box to allow a small space about 1/2″ so that if blowflies get to a nest, the larvae will fall through the base and not be able to crawl back up and get onto the nestlings at night. Harry Schmeider (Harry’s website: http://livingroomtunes.com/newambassador/) gave a presentation at this year’s North American Bluebird Society’s Conference, which I attended in Grantville, PA, in September. He discussed the careful use of a natural substance called diatomaceous earth (a light powder) which works for him to safely combat blowflies before the larvae develop large enough to cause harm to the nestlings. I am presently getting more details from him via Email for next year’s trail. I will be moving some of my boxes prior to February 1, 2010. Additionally, I will be sharing with other bluebirders my “soap paste” mixture I make with Ivory soap and water to combat Paper Wasps and my method using a pastry brush to easily “paint” this mixture inside the boxes. I also would like to give local presentations about the joys of bluebirding to groups. I want to enthusiastically continue to educate the local people who are kind enough to allow me to put my boxes on their property. I am also hoping to increase my trail to 20 boxes for 2010. Anyone living in Patrick County who would like a VBS box installed, let me know so I can include your nestbox in my County Coordinator statistics for VBS.
The Virginia Bluebird Society posts every year’s state trail summaries. 2009 should be posted soon. You can find them here, including 2008 final trail statistics: http://www.virginiabluebirds.org/trailstatistics.html
WOO-HOO! THANKS are DUE!
I want to take this opportunity to thank Barbara Chambers, the VBS State Coordinator, who has helped me as a new County Coordinator these past two years; and to Charlie Chambers, who compiles all the stats from all the County Coordinators for VBS. We salute you and appreciate you for your dedication.
VARIOUS DETAILED TRAIL NOTES FOR 2009 IS BELOW. THIS IS TYPICAL OF MY OWN CLIPBOARD NOTES FOR ALL BOX CHECKS. I KEEP DETAILED HAND-WRITTEN NOTES ONVBS FORMS. MOST OF THE TIME, I DO MY BOX CHECK MID-AFTERNOONS ON GOOD-WEATHER DAYS FOR THE BIRD’S SAFETY. SOMETIMES I CHECK THE TRAIL AT DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE DAY FOR NEWLY-MOVED OR INSTALLED BOXES SO THAT I CAN SEE IF THE BOXES GET TOO HOT IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT AND TO CHECK FOR SHADE ON THOSE BOXES. I WRITE THIS INFO IN MY NOTES, INCLUDING TIME OF DAY AND TEMPERATURES. #1 PRIORITY IS THE BIRDS’ COMFORT AND SUCCESS RATE! My #2 PRIORITY IS ENJOYING THEM!
April 27: Box 13 has 5 hatched bluebirds, about 2-3 days old. Approximate date of this hatching is Friday, April 24. Box 5 has 6 Carolina Chickadee eggs.
April 28: Box 12 has 4 newly hatched bluebirds and one egg still to hatch.
May 7: Box 12: Healthy 10-day old chicks. Box 13 chicks are 13-days old and healthy.
May 15: Box 12 chicks still there and ready to fledge. Box 5 Carolina Chickadees are well. Not able to distinguish date of hatching.
May 19: Box 12 and 13: Chicks fledged Box 13 approximately May 10. Chicks fledged Box 12 between May 15 and May 19. Box 4 has a completed bluebird pine needle nest and 3 laid eggs.
June 2: Box 12: New bluebird pine needle nest built–no eggs yet. Box 10: Passive deterrence of House Sparrows worked. Bluebirds have moved in, built a nest, and 4 eggs laid. Yay! Box 7: Wrens stuffed a dummy nest to the ceiling and out the entry hole with sticks. Sticks removed. Box 5: 3 of the 6 Carolina Chickadees fledged; three died. It appears they were attacked by either a House Wren or House Sparrow. Sad day at this box. Box 8: Bluebird eggs, 3 of 5, have hatched! Will check in a few days again.
June 17: My weekly check on the trail, due yesterday, has been delayed due to storms. The chicks with the nest switchout (blowfly larvae infestation), unfortunately, were taken by a snake the next day, in spite of the stovepipe baffle. It had to have been a very large snake to get by the baffle (they can stand on their ends!). They were 10-days old and had a chance as the parents were back in 5 minutes after the switchout to feed them. It was a sad day for me regarding failure for these chicks’ survival. I hope to check the boxes again by end of this week!
June 24: Box 12 has new bluebird hatchings! They appear to be one day old. Box 10 has one week old chicks…the grass nest is infested with blowfly larvae. The chicks are underdeveloped and weak. I did a grass nest switchout.
June 29: Box 10 chicks, which had a nest switched out from under them by me on June 25, have grown and are looking healthy! I am seeing beautiful blue feathers growing in. That is cause for a celebration! Box 12, has three chicks and one unhatched egg. The chicks are very anemic and not doing well….the heat is causing some issues, but both parents are caretaking them. I did a pine needle nest switchout upon find blowfly larvae dust on the bottom of the nest (the replacement needle nest was from the first brood in this same box…clean and free of parasites, which is why I keep good used nests made by bluebirds and not human-made, which I have done without a bird-made nest !). The one unhatched egg appears to not be fertile. The chicks were sitting on the egg which was nestled at the bottom of the nest. I will check this box tomorrow afternoon again and then again in two days to see if they are getting well. Additionally, the bluebirds have returned to the same newspaper box, and have not only rebuilt a second brood nest there, but there are four eggs laid, which means the female may have started incubating. One more egg could show up tomorrow. Box 7 has a territorial wars going on between House Sparrows, House Wrens, and allegedly a House Finch, as I saw a pair hanging around the box and a male fly out of it at last trail check. It appears the House Wren has won. When I opened the box, I noted some movement inside the nest. The sticks are so tightly made, I cannot see down inside the nest to positively ID which bird is nesting in there, even with my telescoping mechanics mirror. I will need to sit for a while with my binocs at that box within a day or two to see what birds are going inside.
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