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NABS 26TH ANNUAL CONVENTION - A SOARING EXPERIENCE The annual convention of the North American Bluebird Society promises to be a soaring experience for those who delight in nature. Members of Bluebirds Across Nebraska will host the multi-faceted event in Kearney, March 20-23, in conjunction with BAN's 9th Annual Bluebird Conference. The site and date have been selected to coincide with one of the most dramatic spectacles in the natural theater--the spring migration of hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes. While many Nebraskans take the annual migration for granted, nowhere else in the world do so many cranes gather to rest and refuel before they head to their breeding grounds in Canada, Alaska and Siberia. But more awaits the bluebird aficionado than the staging grounds of the Platte River Valley. In fact, the convention is packed with field trips, tours, exhibits and workshops.
FIELD TRIPS: Whether you choose sunrise or sunset (or both) to view the sandhill cranes from a blind along the Platte River, it will be an experience you'll take home with you. In addition to crane viewing, you'll want to be sure to choose one of the two field trips offered on Friday. Whether you opt for the "Birding Tour" or the "Prairie Culture Tour" you'll not be disappointed. Read more about each of the field trips in the enclosed Registration Form.
SPEAKERS: An incomparable slate of nationally-renowned speakers is also on tap. They have been selected not only for their credentials but for their entertaining presentations. Any one of them could snare the attention of drowsy Aunt Sara or Bob, the bored teenager. You will also find more details about each of the speakers in the enclosed Registration Form. In addition to the original slate of speakers, Dr. Wayne Kramer, Nebraska's State Medical Entomologist, will update everyone on the West Nile Virus.
FRIDAY NIGHT SOCIAL GATHERING: Along with a burger bar dinner, this very casual come-as-you-are night will combine a group of talented birders from all over the U.S. and Canada who will entertain you with songs, stories, and laughs. The talents of Al Batt, John Acorn, Julie Zickefoose & Bill Thompson, III are guaranteed to result in an evening you'll never forget. Following in BAN tradition, our own FUNdraising auctioneer Ted Rethmeier, along with conference speakers, will auction off select items throughout the evening, with all profits going to help the bluebirds.
SATURDAY NIGHT BANQUET: The final gathering of the 2003 convention will include the presentation of the North American Bluebird Society's Bluebird Conservation Awards and BAN's 2002 Bluebirder of the Year Award. John Acorn will be the featured speaker/entertainment of the evening, so bring the entire family.
SHOPPING AT THE CONVENTION: For the shoppers in the crowd, there will be an ongoing raffle, a silent auction and vendors offering bluebird and nature-related items as well as hand-crafted items. Raffle winners will be drawn at various times throughout the day on Saturday and the silent auction winners will be announced at the banquet Saturday evening.
From Our President Bluebirds Across Nebraska has some very exciting opportunities this coming year. We will hopefully break last year's record of bluebirds fledged, our membership is approaching 1,700 and we are hosting the North American Bluebird Society's annual convention. For most organizations having one of these opportunities would be special but we have all three in the same year. How did we get to this point? I don't think Nebraska has the best Bluebird habitat. I don't think our population is any more wildlife conscious than any other state and, unless you are "The Big Red", the state doesn't automatically embrace you. I think there are three main reasons Bluebirds Across Nebraska has enjoyed so much success: (1) The members -- we have caring and giving people in this organization; (2) Work ethic -- as president, I can ask for volunteers for any project and be assured that the job will get done; (3) The relaxed fun atmosphere of the organization -- we enjoy what we do and we enjoy each other. This year we have the opportunity to show the rest of North America what makes us so successful. We can once again proclaim how Nebraska and Iowa support Bluebirds Across Nebraska. We need a good showing from our members at the up coming convention on March 22 in Kearney so we can let the rest of North America know about us. This will be an event you don't want to miss. We will have more BAN members at this convention than any other event throughout the year plus you will meet people with a common interest from the all across the country and Canada. If that's not enough to encourage you to attend, the speakers and the educational, entertaining and fun events planned will. I urge each one of you to attend and support Bluebirds Across Nebraska -- you won't regret it!
TRAIL REPORTS Thanks to all BAN members who took the time to share their experiences on the back of their report form. The information taken from the report form and your additional comments allow BAN to better track what's happening on the trails across Nebraska and Western Iowa. By sharing just a portion of those comments here, we hope you can pick up a tip or two to use on your own trail and see that you are not alone in dealing with many of the problems you encounter. You will also find comments that illustrate the joy and personal satisfaction bluebirders get from monitoring their bluebird boxes -- another benefit shared by BAN members. What's in That Box? Once as I approached a box, I heard noises in the box. I noticed the entrance hole had been chewed. I covered the hole as I opened the door and grabbed into the box. When I pulled my hand out, I had a redheaded woodpecker. The inside of the box was all chipped away and there was about 1/2" of wood chips on the floor. The next week a bluebird family moved in and fledged two. This was in late July.'Cliff Elwonger, Falls City One of my boxes had five bluebird eggs in it. When I next checked it, there was a bullsnake entirely in the box. It had eaten all of the eggs/babies. The two adult bluebirds flew anxiously around as I removed the snake. Shirley Linderholm, Frontier Uncommonly Good Numbers: They say bluebirds will lay up to three clutches of eggs. I say if they are fed well, they will lay four clutches of eggs. I feed mealworms to a pair of bluebirds in my back yard where I have two houses. I sit out there a lot of the time so I am well acquainted with those birds. The female in my backyard layed 22 eggs altogether. After the first two clutches, she had a nest built in the second house three days after the first nestlings fledged and she started laying eggs on the fourth day. George Wenzl, Steinauer Greg Meyer, Elmwood reports that he had 7 bluebirds hatch and fledge in one brood; and Marlene Rasmussen, Litchfield reports three successful "eggs-hatched-fledged" nests of 6 babies, two of those from the same box. Monitoring: I and my 2 kids, age 9 & 6, love to check the boxes. We had our best year in 2002 with 37 bluebirds fledged. We lost no bluebirds to predation this year but in 2001 we lost a lot of adults & babies. We replaced wooden poles with metal ones and had better success in 2002. We're going to shoot for 40 fledged babies next year! Brian Hellbusch, Hillcrest County Club Trail, Lincoln I feel I fledged more bluebirds this year because I monitored my boxes more closely. Ken Barnhill, Wymore I monitored the bluebirds every Monday morning at 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Enjoyed looking for the birds at this time in the morning when the world looks and feels so beautiful in the country. Betty Brecht, Beatrice Although I have cleaned and repaired these bluebird boxes for five years, this was my first summer with BAN and therefore my first year of monitoring and record keeping. I find the trail much more interesting and exciting by conducting regular inspections and accurate records. I hope that my small numbers have helped the cause. Phil Knerl, Ponca Tree Swallows: The Pawnee Lake Trail is primarily a Tree Swallow trail. Bluebirds are secondary. This is not likely to change. We have used multiple boxes (3 at each of 6 sites). All three boxes at one site were used by TS simultaneously. Until this year, we had had two broods of bluebirds at that site. This year the TS were as early as the bluebirds which may have been a factor. We think that one pair of TS produced two broods and others seem to have tried with late laying of eggs. Charles & Wanda Gardner, Lincoln For the second year I had tree swallows nesting side by side in paired boxes about 10 feet apart. There were close to a pond and I plan to move them away from water next year. In addition, I decreased by number of boxes from 26 to 22 and increased the number of bluebird eggs from 65 to 74. Even with all the eggs that didn't hatch, I fledged 54 bluebirds this year compared to 45 last year. Dorothy Matzke, Bennet Of the six nests, one-half contained white eggs. I had seen this occasionally before but never this many. I also had my first nest, in the 14 years I've had my bluebird trail, of tree swallows. They successfully fledged 4 young from a box about 300 feet from our house. Randal Williams, Davenport Vinyl Box: My neighbor has a vinyl fence company so we started experimenting with scrap materials for several nest box designs. Can't hardly beat a Gilbertson though for ease of cleaning, monitoring, etc. But we are still trying. We thought the slick vinyl would discourage wasps - wrong! They were found in a half dozen boxes. No English Sparrows, some pesky wrens due to placement, but we learned a lot this season and vinyl works fine, with no noticeable access problems or temperature differentials. I've outlived too many wooden boxes to bother with them any more, except as a demonstration project. George Gage, Arlington Predators & Competitors: I think I lost a nest to a snake. The nest was perfectly clean (no "egg goo" from broken eggs) and not a shell or feather in sight and no signs of disturbance. Also, the male bluebird was hanging around that morning like he was looking for his mate. I'm guessing she went the same route as the eggs. Donna Reimers, Griswold, IA. A raccoon was the predator that systematically went to every pole and removed eggs, nest & young and ruined many bluebird and tree swallow nests. After greasing and some predator guards were put up - no more entry by raccoons. The raccoon found all the boxes sometime between May 15th and 23rd and I didn't get the grease on poles until June 7th so the raccoon had gone back to boxes a second time since it learned where to find a treat. Anne DeVries, Lincoln We had a lot of problems with wrens wanting the boxes just when the bluebirds would begin making a nest. If I hadn't helped the bluebirds by taking out sticks, I doubt very much if they would have made it. I was in hopes the bluebirds weren't just going to just give up on their nesting project, but together we got it mastered. Geraldine Pedersen, Wolbach Enjoying the Bluebirds: This was our first year and we were so excited to have each nestbox used. We had no idea that bluebirds were in our area. We're looking forward to next year. Mary & Terry Schrick, Waco While I had only 7 bluebirds fledge, every evening around 5:30 my birdbath was full of bluebirds - sometimes 16-18 bluebirds, mostly young ones. They have to be nesting omewhere other than my houses. We have three more to install before next year. Cathy Balfour, Avoca We have a house on the Missouri River west of Niobrara. We have one box there but several neighbors have them so we see quite a few bluebirds every day. Before the bird houses were put up, we never saw a bluebird. Now as we sit watching the birds, we usually always see some bluebirds. Very rewarding! Norman Peters, Pierce Returning home from a two-mile walk checking bluebird boxes, predators and wrens had left me wondering if it was all worth it. Then I read the article by Bill Seibert telling us we can only do so much to help the bluebirds. With a new outlook, I began setting out to cat proof boxes. While putting up a new box, I noticed a bluebird sitting on a wire two posts away. When I finished the project and was walking away, the bluebird flew to the new box and checked it out. Five days later there in the box was a nest with three bluebird eggs in it. Yes, it is all worth it!!! Bob Hyland, Wisner Nila Howard, Grand Island: I really think the bluebirds helped keep the bugs down. Our garden survived the grasshoppers this summer - it hasn't always. Her report also included the following comments: "It was fun to check bluebird houses this summer. I like to see the birds. The eggs are really pretty too." Elizabeth, Age 8. "The bluebirds were pretty. It was fun." Rebecca, Age 7. "It was a lot of fun monitoring the bluebird boxes. It was a good experience. I learned a lot about bluebirds." Daniel, Age 12. "At our house, we have four bluebird houses. We had 7 bluebirds fledge. I enjoyed watching the bluebirds through binoculars the best." Andrew, Age 14. Kudos to County Coordinators: Mr. RON EATON is the greatest. For the past three years, Ron has taught myself and at least six of my son's friends a great deal about bluebirds. My son is presently 14. The making and monitoring of trails is a fantastic social event for family and friends. Mr. Eaton's diligence and dedication in spreading this wonderful conservation past time is a wonderful gift to so many! I'm in the military and will soon be moving. I've already spotted an area for a bluebird trail near our new home in Oklahoma. Thanks BAN! Glenn Scott, Bellevue Keep up the great work -- our coordinator, VERA RAUSCHER, is great - she spreads excitement about bluebirds in McCool! Marcia Clark, McCool Junction Just wanted to let your society know that JULIE BUETLER of Madison County is a great asset to your program. Tammy Bierman-Hamersma, Battle Creek Sally Beste, Wynot, had these comments about LAWRENCE FUCHS: Lawrence -- you are on the right road as I bought one of your houses and 2 of the ones with a bar across the opening this spring at your workshop at Wynot and your house was very popular with our bluebirds! Go, Lawrence!!! This was my first year! And a big thanks to SHARON HOLLIDAY for her input and making it so interesting. She is doing a great job for the bluebirds. Alice Gyhra, Lincoln GORDON HOPP was our contact in our area and he was so very helpful in educating us and monitoring our box. It was a wonderful experience having the bluebirds and we look forward to next year. Gloria Hall, Palmyra DON MASON is doing a terrific job in York! Very Helpful! Boyd Tietmeyer, York My name is Joel, age 13. Last year GEORGE WENZL put up 5 bluebird houses for me. This year I made 5 more houses and put them up in June. One week later there were 2 bluebird eggs. Total fledged 21. Joel Rinne, Steinauer Wayne County Coordinator, Donna Liska, reported "predators, competitors, and 2-legged vandals were problems this year." In response to the vandalism problem, Donna wrote the following letter which appeared in the local newspaper:
Dear Editor, A nestbox with five, ready to hatch, bluebird eggs was smashed south of Wayne. The destruction occurred the weekend after the 4th of July. Active nestboxes are protected by both federal and state laws. According to Mark Webb, Federal Game Warden, disturbance of these boxes are punishable by up to a $10,000 fine and six months in jail. Nebraska State Statutes also include the protection of songbirds and destruction of private property. Bluebirds Across Nebraska (BAN), the state bluebird recovery organization, is offering a $100 reward to anyone with information leading the arrest of the people responsible for vandalism. Contact Donna Liska, Wayne County Coordinator for BAN, for additional information. In the late 1970s the bluebird population was down to 10%. Throughout the United States these beautiful, people-friendly birds, along with other cavity nesters are making a comeback through the nestbox conservation program. In Wayne County, there are volunteers checking nestboxes to help increase the number of bluebirds in this locality. The destruction of just one nestbox affects the future generations of the bluebird. Working together, bluebirds and other cavity nesting birds can be a rewarding and enjoyable part of our environment. Donna Liska, Wayne In her report, Donna added: "The good thing which resulted was the public awareness and interest in the bluebird program."
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