Bluebird Trail - Labor of Love

All it takes is one person taking one small action to make a difference. The Green Meadows Preserve Bluebird Trail is a perfect example of that statement. (You can follow Jim's bluebird adventures here - Green Meadows Bluebird Trail)


Male Eastern Bluebird 

I'm sure most of you have met Jim (he has beds # 34 & 35) at some point when he comes out to Green Meadows to walk his two golden labs Daisy and Abbi, work in the garden and work on the bluebird trail. Jim has helped build the Community Garden from the ground up. He put in over 200 hours of volunteer work before he got his two beds in July of 2012!



Jim pounding in rebar

While Jim was helping to build the garden he noticed bluebirds flying around everywhere. Shortly after that, he and Kathy (his wife) bought a bluebird house to put on the fence to provide a home for the bluebirds. The more he watched the birds and read about them, the more he wanted to help provide nest boxes for them.  Green Meadows Preserve has lots of choice habitat for bluebirds but lacked one essential thing - spots for bluebirds to build a nest.

The Community Garden is lucky enough to have 3 bluebird boxes nearby. Two of the boxes are in the small clearing behind the shed. Lucky, because not only are bluebirds fascinating to watch, but because bluebirds eat lots and lots bugs. In fact, 60-80% of their diet consists of bugs!

Box # 1 is the original box Jim had on the fence. Box # 20 is the

box that Jim and Kathy gave their grandaughter for Christmas.

 

There are 20 nest boxes on the bluebird trail. Jim's human assistants installing the nest boxes have been Kathy and Mike (bed #30). Daisy & Abbi go along as needed.  Four of the nest boxes on the trail were donated by community gardeners - Kitty & Harvey, Jim & Kathy, Vicki & Victor.

Jim showing Avery and her father Jed

the bluebird nest box she got for Christmas.

On the first terrace up from the garden you can see a bluebird feeder and a birdbath that have been installed.  If bluebirds eat insects, why have bird feeders you ask?  They also eat suet, cracked pecan meats, sunflower meats, dried and live mealworms and any live grubs we happen to dig up in the garden. (Denise has donated dried mealworms to feed the bluebirds.)

Jim is going to put a small feeder on the fence so we don't have to leave the garden when we find grubs to feed the bluebirds. Providing more food sources means the bluebirds will stay around, have babies in the nest boxes and eat our pestiferous bugs as well.

Where is the food? Where are those humans that are

bringing the bird seed out? Mike? Jim?

 

Be sure and watch all the activity around the bird feeders and birdbath! There is already lots of action to watch around the 2 boxes near the garden. The males are investigating the houses and trying to get females to accept check them (and the nest boxes).  In another 6 weeks or so they will get serious and start building nests.