Nesting boxes at the course are very active already this year with over half of them already having residents staking claim for the year. Bluebirds usually have 1-3 broods of 2-7 eggs per year. The incubation period is between 11-19 days and the then they will remain in the nest from 17-21 day before fledging.
Bill and Diane Bice, Diane Johnstone, Angie Medley (Deanne and Jim Morgan, Chuck Johnstone not pictured) |
After a couple of years where we lost several nests due to predication from raccoons and snakes we installed simple wire predator guards which have made a significant difference in our success rate.
Recently our friends at TurfNet put together this video on the predator guards and why we use them.
Bluebird nesting houses can be a great addition to any golf course, or even your backyard, and are rather easy to make. There are many nesting house plans on the internet but we chose to use the Eastern Bluebird Nesting Box Plans from Audubon International. Bluebird Fact Sheet from Audubon International
All the information you could probably ever need to know about bluebirds can be found at http://www.sialis.org or at All About Birds
In order to keep up with how our nesting houses are doing Mrs. Diane Johnstone reports our nesting activity to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology Nest Watch. A real simple way to know which boxes are doing well and help to keep a count of Eastern Bluebird nesting activity at Harrison Bay.
The Bluebird Trail at the golf course has been one of the easier environmental projects that we have done and has provided suitable habitat for hundreds of hatchlings to begin their lives. If you don't have bluebird houses (or another species nesting house) on your course then I strongly encourage you to consider it. Start small with just a few and expand from there. Happy Birding!!!
Great post .. love it.. Eastern Bluebirds and their beauty and how they decorate golf course and thus whole environment .. really love your post..
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