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FROM THE PRESIDENT Fall is my favorite time of the year with its cool days and beautiful colors. One thing I regret about fall is that I no longer have direct contact with bluebirds. During the nesting season, Sandy and I, once or twice a week, go to Schramm State Park and monitor our trail and are delighted by the bluebirds' presence. But unlike the majority of BAN members, we are city dwellers and don't have the thrill of watching our little blue friends in our yard. Even though we are involved in the lives of bluebirds for just a short time each year, we are year round bluebirders. That's one of the reasons I think Bluebirds Across Nebraska is such a wonderful organization. It not only gives us the opportunity to spread the word about bluebirds through all seasons but it also gives us the opportunity to develop camaraderie between others with a common interest throughout the year. Since its inception, Bluebirds Across Nebraska has held quarterly meetings and an annual conference. Our summer potluck picnics are a great place to socialize. Three years ago, a holiday party was added to our yearly schedule of events. We have many opportunities to both spread the word about bluebirds and socialize with our BAN friends when we work at booths at the many festivals and fairs during the year. This organization has grown by leaps and bounds during the last few years and is now spreading across the state. It's obvious that many members do not have the opportunity to attend these business and social events because of location. Some of our County Coordinators are taking care of this situation. This past summer Valerie Vierk organized a regional BAN picnic for members in Buffalo and surrounding counties. Gene Gaddie did the same for the northeast Nebraska members, and Sharon Holliday hosted the second Gage County Bluebird Workshop. Each of these events had good turnouts and everyone had a good time. Hopefully, these regional/county activities will become annual events. I applaud each of them for their efforts in bringing our members together and encourage other County Coordinators to think about organizing regional gatherings. The upcoming holiday season would be a great time to gather members together and celebrate our common goals and achievements. I also encourage all members who have the opportunity to attend any BAN event to do so. You will not find friendlier people anywhere.
It couldn't have been long after the Enos and Holms had packed up and headed for home after the workshop in Scottsbluff that new Sioux County Coordinator Charles Snocker got things rolling. Less than a month later, he reports: "I have lined up a "pilot" program with the 4th grade teacher at Community Christian School here in Scottsbluff. We will begin next week taking the students on a field trip to clean out bluebird boxes in the Wildcat Hills. Their teacher gave them the handout sheet about bluebird - Getting Started With Bluebirds - and they followed up by watching the video about bluebirds that came with [the County Coordinator packet]. We plan to put bluebird house kits together in January and then use another field trip to locate a different bluebird trail in Carter Canyon, which is part of the Wildcat Hills range. I am using one kit for every two students, hoping that by working in pairs they will encourage each other to follow up on the new trail this spring and summer. I will evaluate this pilot program as it progresses and then make changes and improvements. I hope to follow this with a similar program in Sioux County Elementary School in Harrison, Nebraska. . . I will keep you posted."
The following tip for bluebirders from Keith Kridler of Mt. Pleasant, Texas appeared in Vol 23(3) of Bluebird, the publication of the North American Bluebird Society: Anytime you suspect a nest of baby birds has been abandoned in one of your boxes, wedge a piece of grass stem in the entrance hole so that on the next trip an adult makes into the box it would knock the grass out of the hole. If that happens, you know that the adult birds have been there. . . . A friend of mine carried a few pine needles in his shirt pocket, and placed a broken piece in an entrance hole every time he check a box that contained eggs. On the next (daily) trip to the box, he would know without feeling the eggs if a bird had entered the nest.
Eight years ago Bluebirds Across Nebraska was formed as a statewide organization with the goal of increasing the bluebird population all across Nebraska. While BAN has been very successful in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa, with increases in both membership and bluebirds fledged, very little activity has been reported in the western part of the state. The map in the 2000 Statewide Directory (showing the counties where bluebirds are being reported fledged) emphasizes the need for Bluebirds Across Nebraska to direct its efforts westward! With that in mind, BAN representatives Steve & Cheryl Eno of Raymond and John & Pat Holm of Gothenburg loaded up their respective truck and car with all the boxes, poles, and bluebird information they could hold and headed west -- to Scottsbluff. The Wildcat Hills Nature Center just south of Scottsbluff gave BAN the use of their facility for a workshop which was held on Sunday, Sept. 23rd. On Friday and Saturday before the workshop, the Enos and Holms set up a booth at a craft show at the Monument Mall in Scottsbluff where they handed out educational materials, signed up new members, and promoted the bluebird workshop. There was a great deal of interest in bluebirds at the booth and several new members signed on. Most people that stopped by the booth knew that there were bluebirds in their area because they had seen bluebird boxes at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center and surrounding areas for many years. And many knew that they had both Mountain and Eastern bluebirds in their area. At the Sunday afternoon workshop, Steve Eno presented BAN's slide program after which John Holm went into more detail on predator control, box placement and monitoring and both answered many questions. Everyone involved, felt the weekend was very successful and Bluebirds Across Nebraska now has county coordinator representatives for the most northwestern county in Nebraska. Charles and Jean Snocker of Scottsbluff volunteered to become county coordinators for Sioux County. A special thanks to the Snockers - we all look forward to working with them in the future! Refreshments were served after the program and, thanks to the Nebraska Environmental Trust Fund grant, boxes and poles were given away. This area is a critical part of the TransNebraska Bluebird Trail (TNBT)and the boxes distributed at the workshop will go along way towards promoting bluebird activity in western Nebraska. On their trip home, Steve & Cheryl Eno headed north out of Scottsbluff to Crawford and then followed Highway 20 across the remainder of northern Nebraska. This route parallels the TNBT and the Cowboy Trail. In addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery in a part of the state they had never seen before (including a lot of excellent bluebird habitat), the Enos dropped off press releases at local newspaper offices along the way. The press release was written by BAN member Joanie Cradick of Utica to inform people along the northern route of the TransNebraska Bluebird Trail about the trail and its part in BAN's bluebird recovery efforts and to recruit members and volunteers to join in that effort. This first step in expanding BAN's activities to other parts of the state took the work & coordination of many people. In addition to the active BAN members that made this possible, a special thank you also goes out to Alice Kineth of Scottsbluff and Wildcat Audubon who helped promote the weekend's activities, to Russ McKeehan of Game & Parks for allowing BAN to use the Wildcat Nature Center, and to Amanda Ziegler of the Wildcat Nature Center who opened the facility on a Sunday for the workshop and helped out with the program. Anyone wanting to experience some of the most beautiful and friendly spots in Nebraska, need only travel the route of the TNBT. The trip will make the TNBT much more than a line on a map!
Seward County - Sueann Athrens, Joanie & Denny Cradick Sioux County - Charles & Jean Snocker Greeley County - Geraldine & Clayton Pedersen
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