As the Bluebird season comes to an end, all of us have one more important task to complete. Enclosed with this newsletter is an Annual Bluebird Report Form (93K PDF) which should be completed for each trail that is monitored by a BAN member. These days we seem to be inundated with paperwork and have a tendency to stack things up in a pile to attend to at a later date. Before you do that, stop and think how important this simple form is for our Bluebirds and for ourselves.

If you know someone who has a trail and is not a BAN member, we would like to hear about their bluebirds too. Please give them a copy of your form to fill out or take a minute, give them a call, and fill out the form for them. They will then be sent a Directory.

Each year the data received from our members on these report forms is compiled and distributed to each member in the Nebraska Bluebird Directory. With this information in hand each individual has a statewide network of volunteers to call on for help. Have you ever encountered a problem on your trail that you weren't able to solve? Simply pull out your Directory and you have over 150 people to call for advice. What do you do when you go on vacation? Wouldn't it be nice to have a trained volunteer to call on to monitor your trail while you can't? Get out your Directory and find someone in your area and make arrangements to take over each others trail while you each enjoy your holiday. No one plans on getting sick but it does happen, even in the summer time. Your Bluebirds shouldn't have to suffer too. The Directory comes in handy again. Completing the Report Form is one way we all have to stay in touch with each other. Many BAN members are not able to attend the quarterly meetings because of location, work, etc. This is your chance to let everybody know how your trail progressed this summer. In the comment section on the back of the form, let us know about the problems you encountered, your successes or anything about your trail you think others would be interested in hearing about. Many of these stories will be printed in future newsletters.

Directories can be used for research projects. Dorene H. Scriven, author of Bluebird Trails, (the Bluebirders "bible") used information compiled from Minnesota directory reports for much of the content of her book. Statistics taken from the Report Forms let us know how healthy the Bluebird population is in each county of Nebraska and where we need to focus more attention. The Directory also enables us to follow the history of the Bluebirds in a given area.

If you need another reason to complete the Annual Report Form -- it just feels good to know it has been recorded that you are part of one of the true conservation success stories of the century -- the comeback of the Bluebird. It's amazing what individuals can do when they "BANd" together.

Please take the time to complete (and mail as soon as possible) an Annual Bluebird Report Form for each trail you have monitored this summer.

[Editor's Addition: Another reason to turn in your report form: Steve Gilbertson has issued the BANjo Challenge. If BAN fledges 12,000 bluebirds by the end of the year 2000, he will learn to play the banjo, write a song about Nebraska bluebirds and perform that song at the 2001 BAN Conference. We need YOUR numbers.]

As this year's bluebird season winds down, I hope your trails are as successful as you anticipated and I trust you are enjoying the rewards of Bluebirding no matter what your numbers are. Although summer is still with us, we all know that nesting season is drawing to a close. This does not mean that our job of helping bluebirds is over for the year. There are many functions coming up in the near future that will require your help and input.

We will need volunteers to work both sales and educational booths at Festival of Color in Mead, Husker Harvest in Grand Island and the State Fair in Lincoln. By volunteering your time to help at one of these activities, you will not only help spread the word about bluebirds but will be rewarded by developing friendships and enjoying the camaraderie of fellow BAN members. With the increased membership, I'm sure there are many of you who are looking for a way to become active in the organization. Here is your chance to get involved.

BAN is in the process of re-creating an Education Committee. There is a need in the organization for educating new members, volunteers, County Coordinators and, most of all, youth. If any of you are interested or have ideas for this committee, let us hear from you.

Thanks to the efforts of several members, a website for BAN has been started. This website is under construction. You are welcome to visit the site and your input would be greatly appreciated.

If none of these opportunities for involvement are what you were looking for, don't forget the upcoming 2000 Bluebirds Across Nebraska Conference which will be held in Waverly, Nebraska on Saturday, April 8, 2000. Leland and Elva Osten are the co-chairs of the conference and will be looking for volunteers to help at the event. It's not too soon to begin making or securing items for the raffle and auction. Let's all pitch in and help the Osten's make the 2000 conference the best one yet.

Bluebirds Across Nebraska is a volunteer-driven organization and with the help of many it has continued to grow and improve. I would like to take this time to thank all of those who have in the past volunteered their time and talents and to encourage those of you who have not, to become involved. I guarantee you won't regret it.

Teamwork makes it happen!

Bill Seibert

Sharon is a teacher at Lincoln Northeast High School. She and her husband Denny have five sons. Kevin, their youngest son was Youth Bluebirder of the Year in 1995 when he was 15 years old. Kevin is now a freshman, majoring in Biology at the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Sharon's trails are located at their acreage and lake near Blue Springs, NE. She monitors 23 houses; one Troyer, the rest Gilbertson and Peterson. She fledged 77 bluebirds in 1998, almost double from the year before. Sharon believes weekly monitoring is the secret to success. She feels she has made progress with her wren problem each summer, by monitoring houses regularly. She has also fledged several tree swallows.

Sharon has a "spiritual feeling" when the bluebirds seem to welcome her with their song and flutter overhead. She said hatching white eggs was special to her as is opening a box and finding a mother bluebird looking her in the eye. She makes a point to say, "excuse me."

Sharon became a county coordinator two years ago. Although she is coordinator for Gage County, most of her new members, new contacts, and mailings were from people outside of the county or surrounding counties. Her goal is to continue promoting BAN in Gage County through workshops and local events. Sharon hosted a bluebird information booth this past summer at the Homestead Monument and Museum during Homestead Days in Beatrice, NE.

Merlin and his wife Darlene live one mile off Highway 67 Milepost #23 which is three miles south of Peru, Nebraska. Merlin works at the Brownville Electric Company which is called Cooper Nuclear Station. He can be contacted there during the day Monday through Thursday at (402) 825-5228. He can be contacted at home in the evening between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m. Merlin gets very excited visiting with fellow birders as well as with those who are making a first time inquiry about bluebirds. He also loves to talk about his other passions, two-cylinder tractors and long bicycle trips! Merlin has been a leader and advocate for nature walks, bicycling and hiking in the Peru area. He positioned bluebird boxes and other items along a new bicycling and hiking trail near Peru to provide nature experiences for a group of girl scouts on a nature walk. He presently is working to establish a bluebird nest box trail on the Steam Boat Trace, a new bicycling-hiking trail between Nebraska City and Brownville, and hopes to involve a local boy scout group in the project. Merlin also presents programs on bluebirds to civic groups, including a recent presentation to a Women's Club in Richardson County near Stella.

Vera Rauscher has been a Bluebirder for almost four years. From the very beginning, she fell in love with the Bluebirds. The very first year she had a pair of adult birds come to her nest box (Gilbertson PVC). They laid four eggs and fledged four bluebirds. She would sit in a chair, and move it closer and closer each day until she could get good quality pictures of the birds. Some of the pictures turned out good enough to use as prints on t-shirts. She bought mealworm and fed them every day, so the adults would stay closer to the nest box. She built a mealworm feeder about 3 feet high. She kept moving it slowly until she got it placed on the west side of her house, where she could see them feeding from her dining room window. The bluebirds stayed about three weeks.

Vera has rented a space at the Geneva Home and Garden show for the past two years. Many old friends, and now new friends, stopped by and purchased Bluebird houses and memberships to Bluebirds Across Nebraska.

Vera has been very active in promoting Bluebirds to many women's clubs and retirement groups in York, Fillmore and nearby counties. She has helped build nest boxes , and has several trails to monitor.

An elderly lady friend of Vera's, asked her if she would put nest boxes on her property, because she had not seen a bluebird since she was a little girl. This woman now has more bluebirds on her property than anyone in the neighborhood. She was a very happy lady when the first bluebird came.

Vera has been known to put up make shift shade for the Bluebirds. She has moved eggs from abandoned nests to a nest with just a few eggs. She has also monitored nests at the Friend, Nebraska Golf Course.

As you can see, Vera Rauscher is a true Bluebirder!!!

(When BAN asked its County Coordinators to tell something about the activities they've been involved in, many were reluctant to "blow their own horns." Lucky for us, good friend and fellow County Coordinator Gordon Backer could fill us in on Vera's efforts and successes. Gordon himself is doing great work in Hall County. Thanks to both Vera and Gordon who, despite some recent health battles, are going strong.)

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