Members of the West Kootenay Naturalist Association take care of 4 bluebird nestbox trails in the Castlegar area and others in the WKNA catch area such as in Rossland. Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, most often using holes made by woodpeckers. When dead trees with cavities are not available, they readily accept nestboxes. Nestboxes can increase their local numbers, help with their conservation and may have an advantage over natural cavities in decreasing predators due to the specific size of entrance hole or slot. Websites to check out for more information on bluebirds are https://www.bluebirds.org and https://www.sialis.org/monitoring.htm 2021 was a difficult year for bluebirds and other birds. First, fewer bluebirds arrived than usual. This was experienced on trails in a widespread area of Western Canada and United States. It is speculated that this was likely related to extreme weather conditions in their southern wintering grounds, such as in Texas and possibly due to food shortage. Nestling mortality was another huge issue. On my small trail of 12 nestboxes I experienced this in 2 out of 4 active Mountain Bluebird nests, although one pair went on to successfully fledge a second brood. Abandonment of nests with unhatched eggs and death of young birds was a common thread in reports from elsewhere, almost certainly because of the heat and drought. One report out of 100 Mile House stated that the first broods of bluebirds did well, fledging before the heat wave but many Tree Swallow nests were lost since the swallows fledge later. On the 4 trails around Castlegar we also had nests of Black-capped Chickadees, Tree Swallows and one pair of Violet-green Swallows. In the Champion Flats nestbox area, along with bluebirds and swallows, 4 boxes were occupied by Northern Flying Squirrels, up from 1 last year and 6 boxes were broken and /or raided by bears. This increase in bear activity and co-existence of flying squirrels, who are carnivorous, may well be a grave concern for the birds, but, as naturalists, we generally accept the ways of nature. The WKNA members involved with the bluebird trails believe that the provision, repair and maintenance of the nestboxes, plus cleaning out the old nests, is our most important concern. Monitoring involves closer, weekly or bi-weekly, checks on the progress of nesting birds and young. Detailed information such as number of eggs laid, young hatched and fledged of several species can be submitted at the end of the season to The British Columbia Nest Record Scheme, operating out of the Biodiversity Center for Wildlife Studies in Victoria. WKNA has a membership in the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society / SIBTS who forward our information onward. This membership also supplies us with much information via their newsletter The Nestbox, which our membership receives by email. Much of the material that I have shared came from there. Our local trails are maintained and checked with some frequency. We welcome anyone interested in doing more formal monitoring of the boxes on the Champion Flats trail. If this inspires you, please contact Paula Neilson at [email protected] - Paula Neilson, West Kootenay Naturalist
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Bluebirds are secondary cavity nesters, most often using holes made by woodpeckers. When dead trees with cavities are not available, they readily accept nestboxes. Providing and maintaining nestboxes increases their local numbers and helps in their conservation. Nestboxes may also have an advantage over other natural cavities in decreasing predators due to the specific size of entrance hole or slot and other accommodations that can be made. There are 4 Bluebird nestbox trails in the Castlegar area and others in the WKNA catch area, for instance in Rossland. The trails are being maintained and monitored by WKNA members. Maintenance includes repairing and ensuring the structural integrity of the boxes and cleaning out the old nests and debris after the nesting season / before the birds arrive in early spring. Monitoring involves more frequent checks on the progress of the nesting birds and young. Gratitude to Sarah Currie who managed a lot of these trails for the last 8 years. Sarah retired from this work this year, which marked a re-connection to the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society SIBTS, with our member Susan Spiller from Rossland taking out a membership for our club. This allows more detailed information such as number of young of which species hatched and /or fledged, to be collected and submitted at the end of the season. This info is sent to the British Columbia Nest Record Scheme, operating out of the Biodiversity Center for Wildlife Studies in Victoria. Membership in SIBTS includes “The Nestbox”, an informative newsletter sent to all our members via email. Websites to check out for more information on bluebirds are https://www.bcbluebirds.org and http://www.sialis.org/monitoring.htm Although WKNA's focus is on bluebirds, of course other cavity nesters use the boxes. This past summer we had Mountain and Western Bluebirds, Tree swallows, Black-capped Chickadees, and even flying squirrels. There was successful nesting and fledging of young from 7 Mountain Bluebird pairs, 3 Tree Swallow pairs, plus some Western Bluebirds and Black capped Chickadees. An eventful season. WKNA would appreciate volunteers to monitor one of the trails starting next spring. Two people working together could be the best since this beautiful area is a bit more remote with a rough access road. It can certainly be an enriching experience. If you are interested in this opportunity, or for more information, please contact Paula Neilson, [email protected]. - Paula Neilson and Susan Spiller, West Kootenay Naturalists
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West Kootenay Naturalists' AssociationTo know nature and keep it worth knowing. Archives
June 2023
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