T G I F

Thank God It's Fall!

With fall comes fruits and berries

 as a food source.

 

 

 

Tree of Life,  Autumn Begins, photo

taken 0900 Thursday August 22, 2016  

 

 

 

 

Look for new Trail Map's

along trail at key locations. 

 

 

Dogwood Tree Berries, 

Bluebird loves them.

 

 

 

Miniature Pears, after first frost this

tree will be full of birds eating the fruit. 

 

 

Another photo of the Tree of Life

from a different viewing location.  

 

  

 

 Now that the weather is starting to cool a bit,

it is time to start up our Walk and Talk Tours again.

 

Come join us on Saturday October 22, 2016

 

 

 

One of our Walk and Talk Tours this Spring!

 

 

 

 

 A big Thank You to all the people who support the Bluebird Trail

with contributions. All the friends who help

with the work necessary to keep the Bluebird trail

in good nesting condition

and those who help with Nest Box checking.

 

 

This has been a record setting year for the Bluebird Trail,

we had more birds hatched and fledged than any year

since we started the Trail in the spring of 2012.

 

Total Fledglings = (293)

 

Thank You!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The HOT and Dry Dog Days of August!

This time of year is really hard for me in Georgia, with the HOT days and no rain make it hard to want to be a gardener or even be out side. It is also hard on wildlife and the Bluebirds.

You see less of them out and about during the HOT part of the days, they stay up in the trees where it is cooler.

The nesting season for this year 2016 has come to a close, they have finished nesting and all the babies have fledged. The season ended a little earlier this year over last year. Maybe the heat had something to do with it, but they started nesting earlier in the year as well. We had three Nest Boxes that had a total of four broods hatch in each book.








That means that in these three Nest Boxes we had at least twenty birds hatch and fledge. That just shows you that cleaning the Nest Boxes after each brood is a good thing.









When the babies are developing in the nest, the parents feed each of them twice an hour. So you can see why we provide dried mealworms for them during the nesting season. This ensures that they have food available and close by.

After they fledge the nest, the babies are not able to feed themselves for the first 30 days after leaving the nest. The parents provide food for them during this time until they learn to feed themselves.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch

 

2016

 

Nesting Summary

 

Total Nesting Sites (38), Total Nesting Attempts (79), Total Eggs (328), Total Young (301),

 

Total Fledglings (293),

 

as of ( 8/08/16)



 

Come join us on one or all of our Fall Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tours.

 

We are hoping to have some of these approved MAP'S up at key locations along the Bluebird Trail Soon.

 



We welcome you to become a Friend of the Bluebird Trail by making a Tax Free Contribution to help feed and support the Bluebirds at Green Meadows Preserve.

 



 

A big Thank You to all the people who support with contributions and the Friends who help with all the work necessary to keep the Bluebird Trail in good Nesting condition and helping with Nest Box checking.

 

 

This has been a record setting year for the Bluebird Trail, we had more birds hatched and fledged than any year since we started the Trail in the spring of 2012.

 

Total Fledglings ( 293 )

 

Thank You!



HOT! June Feel's Like July/August Already.



This has been one of the Hottest weeks of the year so far in 2016. In checking the Nest Boxes this week we had to start early just to beat the heat. The birds were just laying low trying get through these very hot days. If it is 95 degrees outside, that means it is near 100 degrees inside the Nest Boxes. 

This is a couple of  photo's provided by a good friend Diana of her Nest Box and the babies located in her yard.

They open there mouths for food, thinking we are the parents when we open the door to the Nest Box to check on them every week.

We had our final Walk and Talk Tour for this quarter on Saturday June 11th  and had a good showing for such a HOT morning.

Check this Blog or the bulletin boards located at the Green Meadows Preserve for the dates starting up again in October. The summer months of July, August and September are just to HOT for Tours. The birds are just trying to survive the heat of the very hot days.   

We now have the approval by the Parks Department to have an outdoor classroom build and we have a Eagle Scout that is going to complete the project this summer. That way we will have benches for people to set, while we are doing the talking part of our tours. 




The Parks Department has approved some signs of the Bluebird Trail Logo and the Preserve MAP that will be placed in key locations around the Trails. Hoping to get this completed this summer as well.





They will help with directions and the distances of the different color coded trails.



We are so happy to post the new numbers  for the 2016 nesting season so far. These numbers are current as of today 5/15/16, as we finished checking the Nest Boxes this morning.

We are on track to beat our numbers for last year of 210 birds fledged for the 2015 nesting season.

If all the eggs hatch we could be at 283 birds, if all the babies that are in the nest now fledge successfully we could be at 227 birds.

The 2016 Nesting Season goes until the end of August. We have time for more nest, eggs and baby Bluebirds.

A number of the Nest Boxes on the Trail are on their 4th brood already.

A big THANK YOU! to all the Friends, supporter's and Volunteer's that help me on the Bluebird Trail.

All of you that have sponsored, made donations and contributions to the Bluebird Trail we appreciate your support so much.


YOU CAN HELP! Become a friend and sponsor of the Bluebird Trail in West Cobb, located at the Green Meadows Preserve Park, 3780 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs, GA 30127

25 Bluebird nest boxes and 10 feed stations have been sponsored and placed along a 2.3 mile trail within the 112 acres of open pasture, meadows and trees. Your contributions will help support, feed and increase the Bluebird population.

Become a Friend of the Bluebird Trail at Green Meadows Preserve Park by making a Donation, or become a Volunteer and help us with some of the work that is required on a regular basis to keep the Trail in good nesting condition. Doing one or both of these will help us in bringing back this beautiful song bird to our area Garden's and Park's.

Make your checks payable to (Friends of Green Meadows Preserve, Inc.)

 

 

Mail your sponsorship/donation to:

 

Jim Bearden

1648 Oakford Court SW

Marietta, GA 30064-4183

 

For questions: Call Jim B at 404-202-8755 or jimbearden@bellsouth.net

Follow the Bluebird Trail Blog http://bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com

 

We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization so your donation is tax deductible.

 

Thank you for being a part of the conservation solution!

 

Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail, Where Birds Come to Life!



WOW!! I can't believe it is Mid May already!

Where does the time go when you reach this place in life, having so much fun sharing information and excitement with people about and along the Bluebird Trail.

I have not had a blog update since February 15th and I do apologize for that. My goal this year was to do an update at least monthly! And that is still my goal, I hope you understand that we are in the middle of the 2016 nesting season as we blog. I will share some numbers with you a little later on in the blog.

The Green Meadows Preserve is starting to look really good right now with the wild flowers blooming in the open fields. It would be a great time for you to come out for a walk, before the weather gets any hotter.


We have a lot of Nest Boxes that look like this one right now, with complete nest in them, many going on the second brood for the nesting season. They can have up to four broods each nesting season, that is how we can fledge so many birds from the 38 nest boxes that we monitor.

If you check your nest boxes on a weekly basis during nesting season, you know at what stage the eggs or birds are at all times and that way you know when they fledge so you can clean out the old nest. They will within days start building a new nest for the next brood.


 We have had close to 400 people join us this year on a Green Meadows Preserve Park Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tour. (Garden groups, the monthly tours for the general public, school groups, bird watchers and hiking groups.) Look for the dates of the tours coming in the near future for the general public in the To Go Calendar section of the MDJ.

Also check the two information boards at the park for the tour dates and times, one is located by the Community Garden fence and the other is by the old red barn and the Cherokee Garden.

This will give you some idea of what happened to the numbers for the Eastern Bluebird and why people like me do what we do across North America to help this beautiful song bird.

They can only reproduce and increase their numbers by building nest in cavities. That is why we are creating Bluebird Trails such as the one we have at Green Meadows Preserve Park.

Every Nest Box helps them to increase their numbers, if you have open space in your yard that would support a Nest Box. Build or purchase one and put it up and they will build their nest and raise their young.







Over the past four years I have built and installed nest boxes in  yards or gardens for many friends.

A good friend sent me this photo yesterday of her Nest Box and the beautiful blue eggs that are in her nest. Congratulations Diana! Another good friend that I placed two Nest Boxes in her yard just sent an email yesterday telling me that she now has a Bluebird family in each of her Nest Boxes. Congratulations Barbara!  

Here are the numbers for the nesting season so far as of Sunday 5-15-16. We have 98 new babies that have fledged!

This is the site for The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch, where I record my findings after checking the boxes each week. They can track the progress of people like me across North America to see how our success is compared to other people that are maintaining Bluebird Trails.

How what I do with predator guard poles, or by supplementing their food of insects with dried mealworms during nesting season, helps us to have a better hatch and fledge success than those who do not.


  






These are the two remaining dates for the second quarter that we have tours scheduled for the general public Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tours. Please come join us this Saturday May 21, 2016 at 10:00 am.

 
This is the Map of the Trails and the color coded distances throughout the Green Meadows Park. Check the information boards for better viewing.

We welcome your attendance at one or all of our educational series, "Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tours"

They are free of cost! We ask if you like our cause and want to help, please make a contribution to the Bluebird Trail. Your donations help with the feeding of the Bluebirds and maintaining the Trail.




 





Become a Friend of the Bluebird Trail at Green Meadows Preserve Park by making a donation today, or volunteer and help us with some of the work that is required to keep the Trail in good nesting condition.

 

For questions: Call Jim B (cell) 404-202-8755 or jimbearden@bellsouth.net

Follow us at the Bluebird Trail Blog bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com

 

Green Meadows Preserve Park Bluebird Trail, Where Birds Come to Life!

 

Thanks for joining us along the Bluebird Trail.....Jim B

 

Cutting of the Fields

If you have been to Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail this week you can see that the park service is cutting the tall grass in the fields. We always weed eat around the poles and perches, but I would like to offer a BIG Thank You! to Jerry of the Park Service for his added effort to cut around the poles and perches with the small mower to keep them safe from the big tractor and bush hog.

The Friends of Green Meadows Preserve Board is working with the Parks to try and work out a schedule to cut the fields at the very best time to benefit the Birds and Butterflies, so we can maximize the flowers and insect food source.

As some of you have seen that we are planting fruit bearing Trees/Shrubs at a number of the Nest Boxes already to help with the food source by producing berries during the Fall/Winter season.

We still have a number of these that can be sponsored by Garden Groups, Hiking Groups or individuals. The sponsorship is $100.00 that pays for the Shrub/Tree, the materials needed for planting the trees and a portion of the sponsorship goes toward the Bluebird Trail to help with the cost of maintaining the trail and the feeding of the birds during the nesting season with Dried Mealworms.



Spring March 20th, 2015

Summer June 21st, 2015

Most of you know where the "Tree of Life" is located on the Bluebird Trail. She is located on the right hand side of the trail after you go around the bend. She is beautiful at all seasons, but I thought it would be nice to see her in all four seasons side by side.

Autumn/Fall Sept. 23rd, 2015

Winter December 22nd, 2015

If you have been out to the Trail lately you will see that she is still in her winter look. It want be long until we will need to weed eat under her large canopy, so we can make clean for spring and people to set under her limps for a rest while working in the gardens and park.

For those of you who have not been on one of my  Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tours. She is a Southern Red Oak and she is 170 years plus old. If only she could only talk, can you imagine all the stories she would have to share with us. Being pre-civil war and all the people who have farmed the land around her and all the stories that have shared by people setting under her shade while taking a rest from the HOT sun.

 

 

Green Meadows Preserve Park

 

Bluebird Trail

 

"where birds come to life" 

 

 

25 Bluebird Nest Boxes and 10 Feed Stations have been

sponsored by Friends of the Bluebird Trail and placed along the 2.3 mile short trail, there are

additional trail's at longer distances for hiking within the 112

acres of open pastures and meadows. The sponsorships have helped with the support

and feeding of the birds and has helped to grow the at risk Bluebird population.

 

3780 Dallas Highway

 

(At Dallas Hwy and Old Hamilton Rd)

 

Marietta, GA 30127

 

http://bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com

 

 

Thank you for being a part of the conservation solution!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



2016 Happy New Year!

Winter Begins Photo 12/22/15

Our finial Walk and Talk Tour for the Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail of 2015 was well attended, we had 22 very interested Friends of the Bluebird Trail come out.

Some of those in attendance were so inspired that they went ahead and purchased Nest Boxes and  small bird Feeders from George Burkett, who is the wood worker who has build all the boxes and feeders for the Bluebird Trail.





The Walk and Talk Tour was on Saturday December 19th and the first day of winter was the following Tuesday December 22nd, so this photo of the Tree of Life was for the Winter Photo. She is beautiful no matter what season.

We are still planting Trees/Shrubs on the Bluebird Trail that are berry producing and will serve as a natural perch when they mature.

This tree is a native dogwood that was sponsored by the ladies of the Daisies Garden Club of Marietta. This tree is location by Nest Box number 11 on the west side of the preserve.

We still have sponsor opportunities for native, fruit berry trees/shrubs to be planted as a perch at one of the Nest Boxes along the Bluebird Trail.

The cost of sponsorship is $100.00 for each tree, that covers the cost of the tree and material to plant it. A portion of each sponsorship goes toward expenses for food and such for the Bluebird Trail. We place a name maker with plant name, sponsor name and month and year you sponsor. We are a 501 (c) 3 so your sponsorship is tax deductible if you Make your checks payable to (Friends of Green Meadows Preserve, Inc.)

Mail your sponsorship to:

Jim Bearden

1648 Oakford Court

Marietta, GA 30064

 

We have only converted a couple of the Nest boxes to Roost Boxes for the winter. It has been so warm I have been delaying changing all of them over.

If we continue to get very cold weather for an extended period of time, I may convert the remaining boxes over to winter roost.

It takes putting a peace of cut cardboard in the bottom of the Nest Box to block the vent holes to help keep cold air out. Placing some dried grass on the cardboard and placing the ladder inside so that more than one or two birds can roost at any given time.


The door has to be reversed so the entry hole is at the bottom instead of the top. We will decide this week if we are going to change over the remaining Nest Boxes. They all have to be converted back to hole at top and ladder out by the end of February or first of March for the start of the 2016 nesting season.

I have had a number of people that have called or emailed  me in reference to the ladders. The cost is $10.00 per ladder, that covers the cost of the ladder and the postage to mail it to you.

We are in the process of working on Trail Maps with distances for each of the trails. We will be putting these up on the information boards for you to be able to see. We are working on a Tri-Fold Broachers with Bluebird Trail information on one side and the Trail Maps on the other. This will be placed at the information boards in a Broachers holder for your taking one if you wish.

We welcome your attendance at one or all of our educational series,

“Bluebird Trail Walk &Talk Tours”

 

2016 - First Quarter

Dates and Times

  

 Sat Jan 30^th, Sat Feb 20^th, Sat Mar 5^th   

(All Times: Saturday morning 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon)

 

Be sure to bring your own drinking water, and please wear comfortable shoes for walking the short and easy 1.4 mile trail.

 

For questions: Call Jim B (cell) 404-202-8755 or jimbearden@bellsouth.net

Follow us at the Bluebird Trail Blog http://bluebirdtrail.blogspot.com/  

 

Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail, Where Birds Come to Life!

Thanks for joining us along the Trail…..Jim B