Bluebird Trail Underway!

 

Eastern Bluebirds
CheepShot, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It was a beautiful morning on Monday for installing some bluebird boxes.

Members of the Rolling Plains Chapter Texas Master Naturalist decided to establish a bluebird trail at various points along the city's Circle Trail. The city agreed to permit the project and several chapter members donated to purchase materials. We installed the first box a couple of weeks ago to provide some OJT to other chapter members. Today, we installed two more boxes. We have materials for at least five more boxes and will be installing them over the next couple of weeks.

Installing box 

The purpose of this project is primarily to provide nest sites for Eastern bluebirds and other cavity-nesting songbirds such as Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, and tree swallows. In addition, we hope to raise awareness of the birds in our region among the general public. Chapter members will be monitoring the boxes throughout the nesting season and recording information about the numbers and types of birds who use the boxes in Nestwatch, a citizen science project through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The chapter has funds to support approximately eight boxes this year, but intend to add more boxes as funds permit. The objective is eventually to have boxes in suitable habitat locations along the entire length of the Circle Trail (approximately 24 miles). 

If you would like to donate to this project, you can mail a donation of any amount to Rolling Plains Chapter TMN, 1300 Lamar St, Wichita Falls, TX 76301. If you would like to sponsor a box and have your name included on the box, make a $100 donation (which covers the entire cost of a box plus a little extra toward upkeep/repairs and the fund for future boxes).

I'm looking forward to seeing what next summer brings.

Good birding!