MBTCS News & Updates
Trail Master’s Spring Report
Our society has approximately 2,660 nest boxes with more added as nest box trails are identified and added to the inventory. There are 103 trail monitors on record! Trail sizes are being reduced to 20 or 30 boxes each so more people can be involved.
President’s Spring Report
Spring is here and the bluebirds have returned. We are looking forward to another year of monitoring the trails! There were early sightings this year in the foothills in mid-March. Spring is a wonderful time of year as it brings brings us hope for the future and the anticipation of new things and a reminder of old familiar things.
Nest box spacing - Top Recommendations for Various Habitat Locations
Spacing is one of several factors to consider when you install a new nest box. The right spacing will help you maximize occupancy for Bluebirds while minimizing other occupants. It also enhances the habitat’s available resources, giving the Mountain Bluebirds who raise their young in the nest box with the best chance of success!
Virtual AGM a success!
Thank you to all participants who took part in our first ever virtual Annual General Meeting on ZOOM! There were 18 attendees that took part in conducting the necessary annual business of our Society for 2020.
First Bluebird of the season confirmed!
It has been confirmed - the bluebirds are back for another season! A bluebird was heard on March 8, International Women's Day, north of the Oldman Reservoir west of Fort Macleod.
Nest box placement - Top 7 Recommendations
Placement is one of several factors to consider when you install a new nest box. Where you put the nest box will help you minimize repairs or the need for replacement. It will also help provide the Mountain Bluebirds who raise their young in the nest box with the best chance of success!
Are your nest boxes ready for the season?
Mountain Bluebirds return to Southern Alberta as early as the first week of March. Male bluebirds select and lure a partner to a nesting site soon after they arrive. Nest boxes need to be cleaned out and repaired by the end of February in time for their arrival.
Trail Master’s Fall Report
We have about 2,623 MBT nest boxes. There are 101 monitors on record. The number of monitors is slowly increasing as the size of trails is being decreased. When someone retires, the large trails are split into trails of 25 -35 nest boxes. The trail size has been decreased to 20 or 30 to make looking after the nest boxes more of an outing than a chore.
President’s Fall Report
As I reported in the spring newsletter this year, I find myself once again sitting in my backyard on a beautiful sunny fall afternoon and like then, I am distracted by the events that surround us. It has now been roughly seven months since the onslaught of this world-wide pandemic. Like everywhere, we as a bluebird society were not exempt from its impact, but I must say we made every effort to carry on and do the best we could.
Welcome to new interim Webmaster
The torch for the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society (MBTCS) is being passed! We welcome Curtis Goodman to the job. Over the past few years we have endeavoured to update our website and make it more interactive and useful to all the folks involved with and interested in bluebirds. I am pleased to tell you that we have found an excellent webmaster.
‘Avian Summer’ film released by MBTCS Trail Monitor
Avian Summer was filmed over the past two years by Rick Andrews, an active MBTCS Trail Monitor. The film features a number of scenes from Rick’s Mountain Bluebird Trail at Birds Eye Ranch, including interior nest box perspectives of the development of young bluebirds, from eggs to fledglings.
Spring Bluebird Trail Orientation a success!
Mountain Bluebird Trail Conservation Society (MBTCS) hosted the annual Trail Orientation on June 6, 2020 with 8 people in attendance. President Jim Leitch provided a tour of his Bluebird Trail in West Lethbridge. The three hour morning walkabout was an ideal opportunity to see a working trail, demonstrate technique, and see some amazing sights along the way.
Mountain Bluebird Learning Resources & Research
Thank you to all Bluebird enthusiasts for increasing our collective knowledge about these wonderful animals. Below is a select bibliography for this website. These references will help you to take your study of Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) to the next level. Please let us know about other great resources we can add to this page!
Nest box paint: yes or no? The results are in!
In November 2017 I installed 21 new nest boxes on the Birds Eye Ranch east of Waterton Park. The land owners have seen bluebirds in the area but there have not been any nest boxes in the area for many years. Ten of the boxes were new plywood, 11 of the boxes were painted grey.
President's Report - Fall 2019
Well, another season has come and gone with a new crop of young Mountain bluebird fledglings heading south for the winter. In spite of a late and coolish start to the season, it would appear at this stage that this was a pretty typical year for bluebird nestlings and subsequent fledglings.
Observation on New Bluebird Trail Monitors Recruitment
Recruiting monitors is an ongoing requirement to maintain the trails and keep the nest boxes in usable condition for bluebird nesting. Proximity to the mountains, recreational areas and parks provides a draw, bringing people to the foothills for recreational activities. Monitoring a bluebird trail can be one of the activities that people and families engage in when they are in bluebird habitat.
President’s Report - Spring 2019
Greetings to all, and all the best this spring and summer. We are all looking forward to another year on the bluebird trail. As your new president, I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank our outgoing president, Joe Michielsen, for his hard work and dedication in his role as president of the Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society.
About Parasites found in Mountain Bluebird Nest Boxes
The fly larvae that feed on the young bluebirds are common flies. I collected a number of the larvae and pupae from bluebird nest boxes this summer and put them in a jar. Then I left them for a couple weeks until the adults emerged from their cocoons, and what came out? Common flies, nothing special, just the everyday flies you see everywhere in fields and around cattle.
President's Report - Fall 2018
Migration in fall 2017 and spring 2018 was very rough on the mountain bluebird population. Fall and winter roared in last fall with an early snowstorm and continued with very few breaks. Then winter continued until ate April while the bluebirds were returning and looking for both food and nesting sites.
Trail Master gradually locating, upgrading nest boxes
We have approximately 2,585 Mountain Bluebird Trails nest boxes.We have GPS coordinates for 1,990 of them, but there are 595 nest boxes included in the inventory without coordinates. Thus we have GPS co-ordinates for two-thirds of our monitored trails, and 85 active trail monitors.