ENHS Nature Trails January 2004 Article 2

Local Bluebird Project a Great Success
by Reida Kimmel

Dick Lamster and Maeve Sowles whom you will probably recognize from their leadership in the Audubon Society have turned their ten acres of land into a remarkable bird sanctuary. In 1995 they started with 12 birdhouses and now have forty. The birdhouses are of Dick's own design, with small entry holes. They have the houses in open places on galvanized poles to discourage predators, and the houses are set at such a height that it is easy to look in and check on nest activity. Nesting in the houses are black capped and chestnut backed chickadees, tree swallows, violet green swallows and western blue birds. This year was the best year ever for total number of fledged hatchlings, 148. Last year was the second best, with 135. The amazing story of course is that of the bluebirds. They have been extremely rare in the Fox Hollow area since the 1970s when a series of very cold wet springs and disease, killed the young every year. This year Dick and Maeve had two pairs of bluebirds nesting in their boxes and one pair raised two clutches of babies! Ten western bluebirds fledged this year. Last year there were seven and the year before, five. In all over the nine years, they have fledged fifty-two western bluebirds!

Maeve tells me that she spends quite a bit of time observing the birds and has learned some very interesting and wonderful things. This year's young from the first clutch of the pair that nested twice helped to feed their younger siblings. Of course, they were awfully inexperienced in child-care and once Maeve was very worried because 'big sister' gave a baby an absolutely huge green caterpillar, far too large for any chick to get down. Would it choke? Maeve hurried to the box, and sure enough the caterpillar was too big, and 'little brother' was in some distress. Maeve removed the offensive object. Very recently, Maeve has seen the bluebirds return to roost in the nest boxes, in the same nest boxes in which they raised their young, to keep warm and dry during the night. Once, all the birds crowded into a single box!

It is really inspiring to see what two dedicated nature lovers can do with a small acreage of worn out farm land. They have a diversity of habitats, a lot of wetland and shrubby native species as well as some trees, a rich mix of habitats for birds, but the birds would not be breeding so successfully if Dick and Maeve did not provide the boxes, keeping them clean and safe from predators. Over the years they have fledged a total of 721 birds from their boxes. In addition, they have documented 107 bird species on their property and at least 34 species that breed on their ten acres.

If any of you are interested in acquiring the plans for Dick's wonderful bird houses, you may call him and Maeve at 343-8664. Who knows, if you live near the edge of town or have an old orchard on your property, you may even attract bluebirds!

[ Back ]

Page last modified: 24 January 2004
Location: http://biology.uoregon.edu/enhs/archive/jan04/jan042.html
E-mail the WebSpinner: cpapke@gmail.com