2011 Nesting Season Report
Congratulations to our wonderful volunteers who monitored bluebird boxes for the 2011 nesting season! It was our 12th season of monitoring the nest boxes and reporting the results.
A big THANK YOU to our monitors! Jean, Susi, Mary, Mark, Carol, Jennifer, Lyn, Kathy, Janet, Sandra, Angela and Richard.
Below are the final numbers for the 2011 bluebird trail that has been submitted to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's NestWatch program.
The total number of boxes reported in 2011 is 79, one of the most ever reported; however, the total numbers of fledged birds from the boxes was not as high as other years. Remember that we had quite a bit of egg and chick mortality as a result of 2 different cold storm systems that came through Tehachapi on May 14-17 and 28-30.
NEWS FLASH! Mountain Chickadees successfully nested in 2 nest boxes in Bear Valley backyards this season. Exciting stuff!!
Editor note: 2 of the Mountain Chickadee fledglings were partial albinos. See photo here.
If you are interested in being a monitor next year, or want to monitor a box in your yard, please contact me! It's fun!
Thank you,
Karen Pestana, Bluebird Trail Chairman
Background Info
 In many parts of the country bluebird numbers have decreased dramatically due to competition for nesting cavities with the European Starling, an aggressive non-native species. Each year local volunteers maintain and monitor a "trail" of nest boxes. During the mating and nesting season (February through July) we monitor the nest building, egg laying and fledging of the young Western Bluebirds. Records are forwarded to the North American Bluebird Society.
Anybody wishing to install a bluebird-nesting box on their property, or those who would like to join the bluebird trail monitoring teams, please e-mail Karen Pestana, Bluebird-One, or call 821-6477.
IMPORTANT DOWNLOADS:
How to build a proper nestbox
Nest box placement
How to monitor nestboxes
Monitoring worksheet from Cornell NestWatch (this link will download the NestWatch Datasheet PDF)
TMBC Bluebird Trail Statistics
|
Year |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
|
# boxes |
34 |
41 |
44 |
63 |
56 |
68 |
73 |
70 |
70 |
76 |
59 |
79 |
|
| Western Bluebird |
tries |
14 |
16 |
43 |
43 |
42 |
51 |
67 |
50 |
72 |
69 |
61 |
79 |
| eggs |
59 |
56 |
205 |
144 |
198 |
223 |
332 |
228 |
303 |
349 |
286 |
364 |
| hatch |
51 |
42 |
151 |
137 |
159 |
205 |
293 |
144 |
245 |
287 |
204 |
279 |
| fledge |
47 |
38 |
128 |
135 |
146 |
180 |
265 |
101 |
175 |
243 |
183 |
187 |
|
| Tree Swallow |
tries |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| eggs |
2 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Violet-green Swallow |
tries |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| eggs |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| hatch |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| fledge |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| Ash-throated Flycatcher |
tries |
0 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| eggs |
0 |
13 |
17 |
7 |
10 |
13 |
10 |
11 |
17 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
| hatch |
0 |
12 |
14 |
6 |
9 |
13 |
8 |
11 |
11 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
| fledge |
0 |
12 |
12 |
6 |
9 |
13 |
8 |
11 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
|
| Oak Titmouse |
tries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| eggs |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
5 |
|
| Mountain Chickadee |
tries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| eggs |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
|
| House Finch |
tries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| eggs |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
| House Sparrow |
tries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
| eggs |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
11 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
| European Starling |
tries |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| eggs |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
| hatch |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
| fledge |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
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