This Up Date To The Blog is Way Overdue. Sorry!

 

Dad taking Dried Mealworms to the young birds



A great nesting season



The Tree of Life
First Day of Autumn

Fruit from Dogwood "Cornus  florida"

I can't believe it has been 2 1/2 months since we have updated this blog for you. It has been a very busy summer and now into the fall on the Bluebird Trail. We had a fantastic year this 2014 nesting season.

A sad start

The nesting season started early with Nest Box #2 having five Bluebird eggs in early March. They were developing and getting strong and close to time for them to fledge the nest at around 16 to 17 days. I checked them on Wednesday and they were getting really big and strong, hopping around in the nest and looking out of the Nest Box hole at the big strange world outside. Sunday I returned to check the box one more time as I new they were close to leaving. I checked with my mirror as I always do to see what was going on in the nest. I saw no movement, so I opened the door and looked again, I could see birds in the bottom of the nest, but no movement nor any parents around trying to dive bomb me, or scolding me when it is close to fledging time, to get me away from the nest.

As the Nest Boxes are located in a Park and being in the wild and as nature will have it sometimes, something had gotten the parents and the big Bluebird babies were dead in the bottom of their nest. They had died of starvation and dehydration as a result of the parents not being able to feed them. The season started off with a very sad Sunday afternoon for me! I took the nest out with the five Bluebird babies and buried them near the Nest Box #2 in the park.

Nature at work



I tell this story because I want you to know of the many happy events that happen with the hatching of the eggs and the developing of the birds and the beauty when they are big enough to fledge the nest and take their place in the wild of the park. But with the joy also sometimes comes the sadness when things happen that the birds don't hatch or they do hatch but don't make it. It is truly our loss not to have them make it and take their place in the beautiful wild and the outdoors.

It's like Christmas morning

With that bit of bad news out of the way, we had a wonderful and exciting nesting season. It is like Christmas morning for me every time I go out and check the Nest Boxes, what will I find? Will it be a nest, or will I find some beautiful blue eggs or maybe some eggs with a couple of chicks that was just hatched looking all naked and new to this world. Some days I find a nest full of already hatched birds, when they hear me they open their mouths thinking I might be a parent bringing food for them.

2014 Quick Summary

 

 The Cornell

 Lab of Ornithology

"NESTWATCH"

 

- 28 Total Nest Sites

 

- 75 Total Nesting Attempts

- 152 Total Eggs

-148 Total Young

- 133 Total Fledglings

The last to leave the nest!

The last Nest Box to hatch and fledge Bluebirds this season was Nest Box #18, they build a nest in July, the Mom laid 5 beautiful blue eggs. She sat on them to incubate them for 14 days to hatch them, I checked the nest right after the first one hatched early on August the 7th. I checked back a couple of days later and no more had hatched, this one little bird was laying in the nest with four un-hatched eggs. I waited another week, then I checked the Nest Box again, no more babies. One big baby and four un-hatched blue eggs. With the summer heat the eggs can explode and make quite the mess in the nest for the one little guy, so I used my mirror and a spoon and took out the 4 un-hatched eggs. This gave the one Bluebird more room and no chance of a mess with broken eggs. The one bird developed, the mom and dad feeding him twice an hour as they always do, whether it is one bird or six birds. My wife Kathy said the big guy might not be able to get out the Nest Box hole when it is time to leave, since he was getting all the food. She said I might have to open the front door when it was time for him to leave the nest. He was able to get out the hole on his own, he/she fledged on August 26th, making this bird the last of the 2014 season to leave the nest.

Celebrating three years

With the Green Meadows Preserve Park Bluebird Trail now at the end of our 3rd full nesting season. We stop and reflect on all that has been accomplished on the trail. With 25 Nest Boxes all sponsored and placed along the trail. With 10 Feed Stations all with sponsors and placed around the trail. One Nest Box at Still Elementary School and Two Nest Boxes at North Marietta Community Garden.

Berries that Bluebird's love

Growing the numbers!

Our first year, which was the year we put up our 1st Nest Box and the hatching and fledging of our first six baby blue birds. The 2013 year was an amazing  year with the fledging of 111 birds,  this year was a awesome year with  the fledging of 133 birds and many successful Walk and Talk Tours for the general public, private garden groups, senior wellness groups and Elementary school kids on field trips as well as a number of home schooled groups taking part in the tours of the Bluebird Trail.

Sponsor a Berry Bush or Tree

With that being said we still have much to accomplish along the Bluebird Trail this Fall and in the coming year. We are always in need of $$ contributions to help with the cost of food (Dried Mealworms) to help feed the birds for the cold winter months.

Bluebirds love poke weed

We are in the process of converting some or all of the man made perches at each of the Nest Boxes  over a period of time to a live Tree/Shrub that is a berry producing, that will provide berries as a food source in the fall and winter, to help offset the food cost. We are looking for people who would like to become a sponsor of one of the Berry-Producing type of Trees/Shrubs that will help attract and feed Bluebirds and other small birds during the cold winter months. For a contribution of $100.00 you can become a sponsor of one of these Native Plants that will help make the Green Meadows Preserve Park Bluebird Trail Environmentally Responsible Landscaping for Bluebirds and Other Birds.


Mom feeding her young baby Bluebird

Winter roosting boxes

We are also in the process of converting most of the Nest Boxes over to Roost's for the winter months, so the Bluebirds have a dry and warm place to get out of the elements during the cold winter months. With the help of George Burkett, which he has (made all Nest Boxes and Feed Stations for the Bluebird Trail.) He is now making us a wooden ladder to place inside the boxes, so four or five of them can sit on the roost and get out of the weather. We are reversing the doors, so the hole is at the bottom of the Nest Box, that way they sit up at the top of the inside of the box. With the help of a number of people who have become volunteer's and friend's of the Bluebird Trail, this will take a little time to complete and finish all 25 Nest Boxes.

Next scheduled walk and talk tour 

 

We hope to see you on one of our scheduled Walk and Talk Tours. The next one is scheduled for Saturday November 22nd at 10:00 AM in the morning.

 

Green Meadows Preserve Park Bluebird Trail,

Where Birds Come to Life!

 

Thanks for your support and for

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

UGA Extension in Cobb County Celebrates 100 Years

Horticulture Week was celebrated with a special day at
 Green Meadows Preserve Park and a Walk and Talk
Tour was scheduled on the Bluebird Trail.

We had 28 interested and eager people to join us on the Trail Tour, it was a HOT July 8th morning.

This was the last scheduled Walk and Talk Tour for the summer. With the birds busy nesting and the summer weather being so HOT, we feel it best not to disturb the nesting birds during this time. Plus it is just to hot for us humans to be on the trail late in the mornings. I will be putting out a Fall schedule of the Walk and Talk Tours soon, that will start up again in October of this year.

We are starting to get the mean wasp that like to build their nest in the stovepipe predator guards on the Nest Box poles and Feed Station poles. I have been successful so far in keeping them out of the Nest Boxes, this spring we rubbed the upper inside of the Nest Boxes with Ivory soap. This helps to keep them from attaching their nest to the inside of the boxes. We will do this again by applying Ivory Soap to the inside of the Nest Boxes this fall and again in the spring before nesting season starts. 

These guys are very mean and their sting really hurts if you are not careful and get stung by one or more of them. Last year they were really bad early in the summer and I had to clean the nest out of the Bluebird Nest Boxes with a stick and then kill them when they were on the ground. You can not use pest spray to kill them in the Nest Boxes. The parents will leave the nest and their eggs or babies if you do, or they will not build a nest in the boxes if you have sprayed the pest killer in the boxes. Last year I was stung three different times on the same hand with gloves on and had to go to urgent care each time, so be careful with these mean wasp.

I will be providing you with a up date of the numbers we are having on the Bluebird Trail this year already in the next Blog coming later this week.

Green Meadows Preserve Trail,

Where Birds Come to Life!

 

Thanks for your support and for

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

 

 

 

Walk and Talk Tour this Saturday the 7th

Don't forget the Walk and Talk Tour this coming Saturday morning the 7th  @ 10:00 am that was changed from Thursday the 5th. Bring water to drink and maybe a hat would be good as the weather is getting pretty HOT between 10:00 am and 12:00 noon. We will meet behind the red barn west of the community garden around 9:45 am so we can get started with the Talk and Tour by 10:00 am.

Photo's provided by lady on 5/24/14 tour 

Our final tour before the HOT summer month's begin will be on Tuesday June 24th. The first day of summer officially is Saturday June 21st, so we will already be into summer by a few days.

I was on the Bluebird Trail for 4 hours yesterday checking all the Nest Boxes for nest, eggs and babies. Cleaning out the boxes that the young babies had already fledged, so it would be clean and ready for the next bird family to build a nest and raise their young. This is a beautiful ongoing cycle during the nesting season of March through August.

 

I decided it was the best day to check all the boxes, as I think it will be the coolest day of the week for us. It is always exciting for me when checking the boxes, am I going to find a nest, what kind of bird is it, will I find eggs or will the eggs be hatched and I will find babies. The next time will the babies be big, fully feathered or fledged already? If  you are a bird person, this is all exciting stuff.

In the recent blog post on Sunday the 1st day of June, the 2014 Quick Summary Data numbers were very distorted when they come up on the iPhone or cell phones in general. I have new Data numbers for you and laid out in a little different way.

Total Nest Sites: = 25

Total Nesting Attempts: = 49

Total Eggs: = 103

Total Young: = 125

Total Fledglings: = 78

 Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail,

Where Birds Come to Life!

 

Thanks for joining us along the Trail

..... Jim B

Another Tour Date Change for June

Spring Photo of Tree of Life

Sorry for having to make another change to one of our published Tour date's coming up in June. Due to a very busy June schedule for me, the Saturday June 21st Walk and Talk Tour has been changed.

The new date is Tuesday June 24th @ 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Sorry if this has caused any inconvenience for anyone wishing to take the Bluebird Trail Tour.

We will not be leading any Walk and Talk Tours during the HOT summer month's. The birds are busy laying their eggs and raising their young birds and just trying to get through the HOT summer month's.

Feel free to walk the trail on your own during the summer if you wish, hoping you  will see some Bluebirds along the trail during your walk. 

We will be posting a fall Walk and Talk Tour schedule soon, that will start again in October of this year.

A very aggressive and painful sting

We have had a few of these predictors, but nothing like we had last year. I was stung three different times on the right hand and through my glove I must say trying to remove these guys from the nest boxes.

During the early spring I read about someone having success by treating the inside top part of the nest box with a bar of Ivory soap. I treated all 25 nest boxes with the soap and so far it has helped a lot in helping to keep the wasp from building nest in the boxes.  

This week I will be checking all 25 Nest Boxes again to make sure all is going well with the nest sites. This Data is over a week old now, but the following is an update along the Bluebird Trail.

                                                   2014 Quick Summary                                        

 

25                    37                  93                    133                    46

                     
         Nest Sites   Nesting Attempts   Eggs              Young            Fledglings

 

 

Until Next Blog Posting:

 

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

 

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

 



Walk & Talk Tour Date Change

Note: Date Change

Due to a conflict of events on the same date, we find it necessary to change the Tour date on Thursday June 5th @ 10:00am to Saturday June 7th @ 10:00 am. I hope this has not caused any inconvenience for anyone wishing to be a part of the Walk & Talk Tour.

A Very Busy Beginning Of The New Nesting Season

March as been such a wonderful busy month already with Nest building activities as well as many special groups and talks along and about the Bluebird Trail.

The Power Of MDJ Newspaper Article

The February 22nd Walk and Talk Tour was a huge success in the large number of people who showed up for the Tour. To all of you, thank you for coming out to the Green Meadows Bluebird Trail. Goes to show you the power of an excellent  newspaper article that ran the week before in the Monday MDJ.

I was out of town on this date, in Denver to see the elder of our two daughter's for her birthday and of course to see our grand daughter Avery James. I owe a big thank you to two of my good gardening friends Mike and Vicki and her husband Victor for guiding this very big and busy group tour. To Victor in his great help in finding places to put all those cars, I don't think the Green Meadows Preserve Park has seen that many cars at one time since it became a park in 2008.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

     Thanks to Vicki for these two photo's of the group as they were heading out on the trail for the tour.

I am very please to say the Bluebird Trail has been very successful in introducing so many different types of groups and people to this beautiful park. We have so many individuals who come out for the tours, many that never knew the location or that it was a county park.

We now are getting a lot of requests for hiking groups, school field trips, garden club groups, photography groups and of course birder's. We hope that many of the these visitors will come back on their own and walk the trails, sit under the tree of life and take a break and just enjoy the beauty of having this beautiful park right here in west cobb. Thanks to all of you who have been big supporters of the Bluebird Trail.

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

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