The Start of Bluebird Monitoring Season
We’ve started to see a lot of bluebirds in the vineyard, checking out our accommodations and on what will go down as one of the coldest, wettest, windiest Easters ever, Russ and I started our new roles as monitors for the 15 bluebird houses on our property. We have been part of the Prescott Western Bluebird Recovery Project for about 8 years and for the first two years I monitored the boxes and kept the records. Then local volunteers took over and for the past few years we were lucky to have Marilyn Van Dyk come weekly between March and August to check on each box. Now we have taken it on and this is no small task. At the start of the season—right now—we check to make sure the boxes are clean, sound, and the holes are not compromised so that larger birds or predators can enter. Checking each box weekly, we will record nesting activity, egg laying, hatching, and fledging. When the chicks are old enough to be handled but not yet ready to fly, we will call the volunteer bander, who has been trained to band the babies to keep track of them.
In 2007, 31 baby bluebirds fledged over the course of the summer. These gorgeous but shy little birds are part of our vineyard ecosystem and do their part as voracious insect eaters. It is always a thrill to see the flash of blue as they dart around or sit on a vineyard post. We feel blessed to have them grace our vineyard and want to provide them good homes.
A baby bluebird from 2006.