Calgary Area Nest-box Monitors SocietyMarijke, Wim Jalink W Millarville 70 16 11 100 Gayleen...
Transcript of Calgary Area Nest-box Monitors SocietyMarijke, Wim Jalink W Millarville 70 16 11 100 Gayleen...
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Calgary Area Nest-box Monitors Society
Annual Report 2019
Edited by Bill Taylor ([email protected]); Don Stiles
([email protected]); and Donna Holton ([email protected])
Sharp Decline in Our Monitored Species
The long stretches of cold and wet weather this summer played havoc with our activities
involving nest-boxes and their inhabitants. Both species declined considerably after reaching highs in the
previous two smoky summers. We had somewhat fewer monitors reporting for various reasons. House
Wrens increased their presence a great deal. Many interesting recoveries were made. We are
transitioning the production of the Annual Report during this year. Read all about it!
Trails and Monitors 2-4
Mountain Bluebirds 4-7
Tree Swallows 7-9
Nest Failures 10
Banders 11
Recoveries 12-17
Awards 18
Recent Research 19
Millarville Fair 20
Rehabilitation 20-22
Photo by Barry Trakalo
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Trails and Monitors
East of Highway #2:
North of Bow River and West of Highway #2:
First Name
Last Name
Trail
Location #
Boxes
Not
Used
KM
Trail
Rnd
Trip
NW Lynda Alderman Bottrel 100 7 20 90
NW Dan Arndt Horse Creek 43 4 20 175
NW Joanne Black Westbrook School 56 0 8 128
NW Jack, Karen Borno RR 264 Ghost River 27 7 4 52
NW Susan Church Glenbow Ranch 63 17 30 300
NW Sue Collis Hwy 1A, RR51,53 50 5 97
NW Bob Dunn Water Valley 75 7 34 160
NW Jean Dunn Beaverdam Creek RR34 54 3 15 110
NW Bert Gracey Lochend Lake, W Airdrie 92 33 71
NW Diana Halladay Glennifer Lake 247 42 253 253
NW Orville Lammle Hwy 1A, Beaupre Creek 79 3 48 80
NW Natasha Lloyd RR30 & Twp 282 38 5 3 95
NW Pat Mitchell Big Hill Springs 65 5 155 185
NW Colleen Rittwage 4 trails NW of Cochrane 56
NW Myrna, Jerry Sentes Horse Crk Rd, Twp 272 49 3 20 70
NW Dick Stauffer Olds Golf Course 257 27 100 310
NW Les Stegenga NE, NW Cochrane 70 4 90 150
NW Monty, Deb Stevenson Hwy 567, Big Hill Springs 20 3 10 20
NW Bill Taylor N of RR 52 and 302 6 1 1 190
NW Ed Tischer Cremona-Water Valley 50 3 14 150
NW Anne, Bryne Weerstra Jamieson Rd 99 36 19 32
NW Donna, Art Wieckowski Dgpound Hwy 766, RR35 81 6 37 185
NW Heather, Pat Wiens Hwy 766, Twp 280 53 9 5 90
NW Ray, Agnes Woods Elkton 58 2 45 225
NW Marjorie Young TW 274 Hwy 22 RR40 23 0 3 113
Total 1811 194 972 3331
First Last Trail #
Boxes
Not
Used
KM
Trail
Round
Trip
NE Ted Koziel Rockyford 37 3 11 230
NE Ron Reist East Olds 474 28 225 275
NE Don Stiles East Didsbury 91 5 78 260
SE Russ Amy Frank Lake 51 2 36 154
SE Ken McNeil Lynnwood Ranch 26 112
Total 679 38 350 1031
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SW First
Last Name
Trail Location of these
Trails S of the Bow, +
W of Highway 2
#
Boxes
Not
Used
Km
Trail
Round
Trip
Erika Almasi-Klausz Millarville 7 2 1 2
Laura Brule Longview 36 100
Bob Cooper Jumping Pound West 199 4 45 110
Jim Critchley Priddis Grn Golf Course 121 23 17 77
Bill, Evonne Cutress HWY 546 W Turner Valley 33 1 20 80
Karen Davidson SW Longview Ave 594 76 3 13 25
Barry, Nancy Davis Sibbald Creek Hwy 68 75 10 13 26
Sherrill, Randy Hanson Millarville 338 Ave to 370 43 4 14 62
Andrew,Mavis Holder Priddis 63 14 21 250 Alice, Alison,
Marg Holton et al Jumping Pound 55 2 7 94
Donna Holton Springbank 25 1 3.5 82
Mary Jane, Mike Hunter Royalties, Sp, Longview 95 19 22 240
Florence Husted W Stavely 80 5 35 70
Marijke, Wim Jalink W Millarville 70 16 11 100
Gayleen Jorgensen W Hwy 22Twp 242, RR43 39 0 5 88
Lori, Rick Lahnert 192 St S of 274 Ave 26 0 9 90
Alex Lavery SW Priddis 93 4 28 68
Dianne Leonhardt JFW- RDL to Mèville 84 0 22 100
Dianne Leonhardt 192 St Hwy 22X-274 Av 38 16 100
Shelley MacLellan Hartell 59 0 16 180
Susanne Maidment Jumping Pond S 53 2 11 72
Lise, Jeremy Mayne H 533, Nanton, Chain Lake 65 3 22 74
Gary McGonigle Turner Valley Golf 62 15
Shonna McLeod Leighton Trail 87 0 50 100
Ken McNeil Big Rock Black Diamond 66 1 296
Bob, Barbara Nelson Hwy 22, Hwy 540-532 63 3 22 246
Allan, Marg. Nielsen S Turner Valley 38 0 6 130
Gene Ostapovich Hwy 1 Hwy 68 101 St. 44 2 12 175
Wayne Petryshen Hwy 8 Elbow Valley 17 0
Diane, Bob Ramsay Plummer's Rd 60 6 17 88
Rick Robb Calgary Firearms 37 3 2 32
Doug Robertson 338 Ave W Hwy 22 24 1 10 20
Jean, Faith Slemko,Styart Graham Ranch 22 2
Don Stiles Red Deer Lake 30 3 24 56
Bill Taylor 5 trails SW 92 9 11 208
Barry Trakalo Granary market-MV track 109 2 27 100
Mike Truch Nanton, Stavely 193 9 52 368
Dianne Vallee Hwy 541 W Longview 117 27 28 83
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Mary Vicars W Turner Valley 36 3 9 13
Laurie, Jack Whittaker Hwy 22 from Hwy 549 25 6 12 97
Ken Wilson Millarville 65 6 22 88
Total 2642 211 655.5 4188
Grand Totals 5112 Boxes 443 Empty Boxes 2978 Km of Trails 8550 Km of Round Trips
Changes to Nest-box Trails 2019
Data from 2018 (or prior)
2019 monitor Location Nest-boxes Bluebird Attempts 2018 Monitor
Laura Brule S & E of Longview 41 2 Cindy Wimmenhove
Bob Dunn Water Valley 75 28 Walt Glanville
Natasha Lloyd/ Airdrie Jr Forest 37 2 Monika Hoyer
Owen Slater Wardens
Rick Robb Calgary Firearms Club, 37 2 Cassie Williams
DeWinton
We welcome our new monitors!
Mike Truch took over Gord Orchard’s trail midway through the season.
Matt Ginn moved to P.E.I. He did not have a trail in 2018.
This year there were 71 teams, some just one monitor, some with more. At least 92 people were
involved. The average number of boxes checked by a team was about 74. The proportion of boxes NOT
used (i.e. in which no egg was ever laid) was about 9 %. Each team drove about 125 km to cover the
route. Given that many monitors checked boxes three or more times, a considerable distance was
covered by our faithful hard-working monitors!
Bluebird Monitoring
A = Attempts S = Successful nests E = Eggs H = Hatchlings F = Fledglings
MOBL
First
Brood
MOBL
Late
Brood
(hatch
ed
after June 20
East A S E H F A S E H F Koziel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reist 137 117 746 593 571 21 18 97 78 75
Stiles 23 22 130 110 106 1 1 3 3 3
Amy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
McNeil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 160 139 876 703 677 22 19 100 81 78
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The east routes rarely have Mountain Bluebirds, except, of course, the Ron Reist and Don Stiles
trails, which are further north than the others are. Another exception, farther east:
Dorothy Hill reported: On the long weekend I was camping at a friend's acreage overlooking the
Rosebud River near Drumheller. Bluebirds decided to nest in the corner of their gazebo. I was amazed at
how tolerant the parents were of all the comings and goings, but it was a predator-free place to nest. On
the last day (July 1st) the young were getting ready to fledge.
MOBL First Brood MOBL Second (Late) Brood
Total 1811 194 972 3331
NW A S E H F A S E H F
Alderman 31 27 162 145 128 2 2 10 10 10
Arndt 17 15 97 79 75 0 0 0 0 0
Black 17 16 87 76 64 0 0 0 0 0
Borno 4 1 20 11 5 0 0 0 0 0
Church 12 11 65 65 53 1 1 6 6 6
Collis 6 6 32 31 25 1 1 5 5 5
Dunn B 34 29 174 134 127 1 1 4 4 4
Dunn J 20 19 105 95 89 3 3 13 12 9
Gracey 18 18 98 86 78 3 3 13 6 6
Halladay 62 57 292 291 261 9 9 33 33 30
Lammle 24 22 136 117 112 2 1 9 3 3
Lloyd 3 2 16 12 6 0 0 0 0 0
Mitchell 19 16 93 81 70 3 2 6 3 2
Rittwage 6 6 34 30 30 0 0 0 0 0
Sentes 19 19 105 104 103 1 1 5 5 5
Stauffer 30 25 158 151 124 0 0 0 0 0
Stegenga 35 35 180 174 172 1 1 5 5 5
Stevenson 2 1 7 6 4 0 0 0 0 0
Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 6 6
Tischer 18 17 87 76 67 0 0 0 0 0
Weerstra 15 13 78 66 57 2 0 10 5 0
Wieckowski 20 17 109 91 63 2 1 9 5 4
Wiens 3 3 16 13 12 0 0 0 0 0
Woods 26 21 147 120 106 1 0 5 1 0
Young 6 5 29 29 25 0 0 0 0 0
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First sightings
Mar. 23 - at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park – Susan Church
Mar. 21 - Ray Woods W of Turner Valley
Mar. 22 - A male bluebird seen by Shonna McLeod on her Leighton Centre trail SW of Calgary.
Mar. 22 - One male seen by Bryne Weerstra on Anne’s trail north of Morley.
SW First Brood 2nd Brood
A S E H F A S E H F
Brule 2 2 10 8 8 0 0 0 0 0
Cooper 42 34 189 172 158 0 0 0 0 0
Critchley 5 5 35 34 34 0 0 0 0 0
Cutress 17 14 66 64 63 4 4 16 7 7
Davidson 16 16 90 89 85 4 4 23 23 23
Davis 19 16 110 96 73 0 0 0 0 0
Hanson 14 13 80 74 68 2 0 2 0 0
Holder 10 9 52 46 46 1 1 3 3 3
Holton et al 17 16 96 92 77 1 1 4 4 4
Holton 5 4 29 26 18 0 0 0 0 0
Hunter 31 26 170 142 135 2 2 9 8 8
Husted 20 16 102 89 82 1 1 6 6 6
Jalink 18 16 102 81 81 1 1 5 5 5
Jorgensen 12 12 69 56 56 0 0 0 0 0
Lahnert 6 5 17 10 10 0 0 0 0 0
Lavery 20 20 103 89 87 1 0 4 0 0
Lewonhardt 16 15 89 83 79 2 1 7 7 3
JFWé é192 St 19 17 93 89 79 3 2 11 7 7
MacLellan 28 24 154 130 109 3 1 10 9 4
Maidment 24 20 123 90 86 2 0 10 0 0
Mayne 17 13 75 63 57 2 2 10 10 10
McGonigle 2 2 10 10 10 0 0 0 0 0
McLeod 48 38 233 192 147 10 7 47 32 29
McNeil 18 8 86 71 49 7 0 10 4 0
Nelson 5 2 27 12 12 0 0 0 0 0
Nielsen 16 16 81 81 79 1 1 5 5 5
Ostapovich 14 13 72 68 63 3 11 4 6 4
Petryshen 9 8 56 53 47 0 0 0 0 0
Ramsay 27 23 155 116 95 2 2 7 6 6
Robb 6 5 24 20 20 1 1 5 3 3
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Robertson 10 9 45 45 43 0 0 0 0 0
Slemko.Stuart 6 6 24 19 19 0 0 0 0 0
Stiles 8 8 46 42 40 0 0 0 0 0
Taylor 5 3 26 17 17 3 1 16 5 1
Trakalo 40 36 217 197 176 6 5 22 11 11
Truch 53 46 284 247 225 10 6 42 22 20
Vallee 43 30 240 170 147 3 1 14 2 2
Vicars 11 8 44 37 27 3 3 14 14 9
Whittaker 7 5 35 22 20 1 1 4 4 4
Wilson 24 24 132 129 122 2 2 12 7 7
Total 710 603 3691 3171 2849 81 51 329 210 181
Analysis of Mountain Bluebird Results 2019
The 2019 totals for all 3 areas (E, NW, SW) are as follows:
First Brood Second (Late) Brood Total Fledged
A S E H F A S E H F Total
1317 1143 6894 5957 5382 136 97 568 400 354 5736
2018 1439
1276
8312
6574
6208
405
344
1815
1449
1324
7532
The second or late broods were considerably down from 2018, due in large measure to the very cold
and wet July. This year’s total fledglings from the second brood were 26% from the 2018 total.
The first broods were also down, but since May and June were relatively benign weather-wise, the totals
were not as low as the second broods were. This year’s first brood fledglings were 83% of last year’s.
The total fledged this year reflects those drops: The 2019 production was only 74.7% of that in 2018.
The survival rate (Fledglings to Eggs) in 2019 was 76.9% compared to 2018’s 75.8%. Very similar.
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Tree Swallow Monitoring L
ise Mayne photo
East A S E H F Koziel 30 28 158 154 150
Reist 253 217 1524 1298 1225
Stiles 60 52 358 307 260
Amy 49 49 342 300 293
McNeil 25 18 106 80 74
Total 417 364 2488 2139 2002
Russell Amy: Feet on young swallows in 2 nests had large balls of hard mud or poop. It was just like cement. I washed and dried them and they fledged 3 days later.
A S E H F Alderman 54 38 308 244 168
Arndt 21 9 114 107 43
Black 30 27 141 123 123
Borno 13 9 84 63 42
Church 38 37 223 210 205
Collis 29 28 171 163 146
Dunn 32 32 173 128 108
Dunn 26 21 125 96 76
Halladay 126 119 627 590 500
Lammle 54 28 342 258 109
Lloyd 25 11 123 95 36
Mitchell 45 32 222 195 167
Rittwage 28 10 141 40 30
Sentes 26 26 137 129 121
Stauffer 171 132 882 780 624
Stegenga 25 25 145 129 120
Stevenson 13 7 59 49 36
Taylor 4 0 20 0 0
Tischer 20 20 117 96 69
Weerstra 43 16 257 171 72
Wieckowski 51 27 274 210 95
Wiens 37 32 149 107 69
Woods 33 26 198 158 127
Young 14 7 64 59 30
Total 958 719 5096 4200 3116
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Pat Wiens: We found the TRES were very late in producing this year, and the final
ones we were unable to count, as there were still eggs on July 29th!
Note: Several monitors did not turn in statistics this year. Some (Rand,
Konopnicki) were due to health problems; 8 others have not been heard from yet
SW A S E H F
Almasi-Klausz 4 3 15 10 3
Brule 35 35 157 127 117
Cooper 112 67 651 551 313
Critchley 73 63 357 266 182
Cutress 17 13 67 63 46
Davidson 52 45 278 263 224
Davis 46 30 280 213 152
Hanson 23 20 144 92 86
Holder 25 17 115 101 79
Holton et al 39 31 212 181 124
Holton 19 16 118 98 91
Hunter 49 34 281 222 151
Husted 54 35 300 240 165
Jalink 35 18 187 147 91
Jorgensen 33 25 151 134 109
Lahnert 16 15 38 30 30
Lavery 63 60 342 316 281
Leonhardt JFW 62 54 349 285 197
Leonhardt 192 St. 19 15 107 78 67
MacLellan 32 15 168 91 74
Maidment 36 24 198 133 115
Mayne 56 47 260 216 199
McGonigle 23 19 96 84 75
McLeod 42 21 117 103 82
McNeil 47 15 250 147 58
Nelson 57 43 260 236 179
Nielsen 21 18 107 96 78
Ostapovich 31 26 171 150 143
Petryshen 8 8 45 42 42
Ramsay 32 28 183 137 119
Robb 26 21 145 130 100
Robertson 14 12 72 68 62
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Slemko, Stuart 17 5 75 42
Stiles 18 18 103 92 92
Taylor 63 42 322 252 177
Trakalo 66 38 327 245 153
Truch 108 83 556 460 311
Vallee 56 48 320 253 249
Vicars 9 8 30 19 14
Whittaker 13 8 75 74 42
Wilson 32 31 179 174 165
Total 1583 1144 8208 6661 5058
Nest Failures 2019
The most prominent cause of nest failure this year was the weather: the long spell of cold wet weather
caused many Tree Swallow nests to fail, and some Mountain Bluebirds too. Many monitors reported
opening boxes to find dead hatchlings, abandoned eggs, etc.
Another cause was the high increase of House Wren nests. These songbirds will fill several nests with
twigs to discourage other species from nesting, then use only one box for their nest. They will also peck
the heads of incubating mothers to induce them to leave, and peck holes in eggs, and then push the
eggs out of the box.
House Sparrows build nests with an overlap of grass (they are weaver finches, after all). They are an
introduced species (thanks to Shakespeare!) and we can destroy their nests and eggs. They are
persistent and will rebuild rapidly but will desist after we destroy their nests often enough.
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Barry Trakalo photo
Our Intrepid Band of Banders
MOBL Banding TRES Banding
East Adult Chick All Adult Chick All
Reist 52 660 712 130 0 130
Total East 52 660 712 130 0 130
NW
Borno 1 5 6 9 35 44
Mitchell 2 35 37 13 34 47
Stauffer 10 128 138 45 201 246
Stiles 8 37 45 39 150 189
Taylor 0 6 6 1 0 1
Weerstra 7 56 63 28 74 102
Wieckowski 9 63 72 9 36 45
Woods 10 95 105 21 51 72
Total NW 47 425 472 165 581 846
SW
Cooper 6 56 62 3 9 12
Critchley 5 34 39 46 78 124
Holder 1 13 14 12 8 20
Holton 3 80 83 3 75 78
Holton 0 18 18 0 91 91
Hunter 12 148 160 24 157 181
Husted 6 93 99 28 131 159
Jalink 3 86 89 0 0 0
Jorgensen 2 56 58 13 116 129
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Maidment 5 88 93 7 75 82
McLeod 9 125 134 25 121 146
Ramsay 11 61 72 12 38 50
Robb 0 3 3 0 19 19
Stiles 1 26 27 9 8 17
Taylor 0 22 22 15 197 212
Trakalo 10 187 197 0 0 0
Truch 3 245 248 6 231 237
Total SW 77 1341 1418 203 1354 1557
TOTAL 168 2389 2557 459 1785 2244
Banding Highlights and Recoveries 2019
MOBL recoveries were 149 and TRES recoveries were 169 well above last year’s 125 and 114 mainly due
to the efforts of Ron Reist, our most prolific bander. See Tables 1A and 1B – Summary of 2019
Recoveries for distance moved, whether banded as an adult or young, and age distribution.
Distance moved indicates distance between banding locations and finding locations. In nearly all cases,
one or more migrations will have happened in between.
The most interesting finding re banding in 2019 was a proof through banding that TRES can re-nest after having small dead young (no doubt due to heavy rains the week before) – see the item below on two nests as reported by Ron Reist.
Re-nesting TRES
Box 151/151b - June 3 in box 151 recaptured 2621-95730 (2+ years old) - (nested in same box previous
year)
- brooding 7 eggs, returned ~ 17 days later to find 1 egg, and 6 nestlings deceased (~ 4-5 days old).
- June 28 in box 151b (~20 feet away from 151) - recaptured same female (2621-95730) brooding 5 eggs
- all hatched and all young fledged.
Box 8b - June 5 in box 8b captured and banded (2591-78855) brooding 7 eggs.
- returned Jun 19 to find 2 infertile eggs and 5 deceased nestlings ~ 2-3 days old (cleaned out box)
- June 28 recaptured same female (2591-78855), in same box, brooding 4 eggs - all hatched and young
fledged.
Ron reported that these were the first and only experiences of re-nesting TRES on his trail.
Don Stiles had four TRES which re-nested after having small dead young, (although without capturing
the females).
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- On June 8 these four nests had 27 eggs.
- On June 22 there were 23 young, all dead, and all less than 7 days old.
This loss of young tree swallows was no doubt due to heavy rains the week before. - By July 13 there was re-nesting in these four boxes with 18 eggs.
- A final count on July 31 revealed 3 nests fledged 13 young with one nest having 4 dead a second time.
Although TRES were successful in re-nesting after having small dead young in both trails above, the
number of young fledged was much less than if they had raised their first broods.
MOBL Recoveries
Ron Reist of Olds recovered 71 MOBL banded by himself. 55 were banded as young, 16 were banded as
adults.
In 2018 he banded 149 adult TRES and recovered 51 of these in 2019, for remarkable recovery rate of
34.2%. All but 4 of these were recovered within 5 km (3 mi).
In total, he recovered 61 TRES all banded as adults.
Ron recovered 3 MOBL and 6 TRES, all banded as young (except for two TRES banded as adults) by Don
Stiles on his adjacent trail to the south.
Don Stiles recovered 3 MOBL banded as young by Ron Reist on his adjacent trail to the north.
All moved similar distances between 5 and 24 km.
Coincidence of two long distance MOBL recoveries in the same nest
MOBL 2641-18958, was banded by Bill Taylor as a young on June 13, 2016 on Hwy 22 near Millarville
and moved 107.3 km N to Dick Stauffer’s box 172-16 on June 5, 2019 west of Olds. This was a failed and
abandoned nest.
Dick was surprised to recover a similar numbered MOBL, 2641-18952 in a second nesting in the same
box 172-16 on June 17, 2019. He double checked the number because he didn’t believe what he was
seeing.
This bird was banded by Bill Taylor on the Bar-U ranch road also as a young in 2016 on June 11, 2016 and
moved 146.6 km N to the same box.
Other Long-Distance Bluebird Recoveries
Mary Jane Hunter recorded recoveries of the 2 long-distance MOBL recoveries on her trails near
Longview.
2741-72165 banded by Donna Wieckowski as a young in 2017 near Dogpound moved 101 km S.
2641-37498 banded as a young in 2016 by Don Stiles near Hwy 22X moved 40.2 km S.
8051-81138 was banded by Myrna Pearman as a young in 2018, moved 75 km SW to Dick Stauffer’s trail
W or Olds.
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Long Distance Tree Swallow Recoveries
2621-95386 was banded as a young in 2016 by Mary Jane Hunter near Longview and moved 134 km N
to Dick Stauffer’s trail W of Olds.
Jim Critchley recovered 1921-90196 on his trail near Leighton Centre. It was banded as a young in 2018
and moved 104 km S.
Donna Wieckowski recovered 1921-88782 near Dogpound. It was banded as a young in 2017 and
moved 44.9 km SW.
Dick Stauffer recovered (found dead) 2621-63243 SW of Olds. It was banded as a young in 2015 and
moved 39.2 km WNW.
As a coincidence, the three TRES listed above were all banded by Don Stiles east of Didsbury.
Oldest Birds We had only one TRES older than 6 years old. That was a 9-year old, recovered by Nancy Davis. It was
banded by Susanne Maidment as a young in 2010 on her adjacent trail in the Jumping Pound area and
moved 11.1 km WNW to Nancy’s trail on Hwy 68.
Rather surprising, it had not been recovered previously.
In 2018 our oldest MOBL recovered was 4 years old. We usually recover a 6-year old and two or more 5
years olds. We haven’t had a 7-year old since 2015.
Members of the Public We had two recoveries of MOBL, both banded by Susanne Maidment. One was reported as a window
strike 5 km NW of Cochrane and turned in to a vet clinic. It was banded as a young in 2018 and moved
28 km N.
The second was reported by Terry Korolyk as “found dead in a farmyard about 20 mi SW of Cochrane”
so the distance moved is indeterminate. It was banded as a young in 2016.
One MOBL was a window strike of a bird banded by Diane Ramsay as a young on June 13, 2019. It was
recovered by Brooke Greening on July 23, 2019 (a very short life) at an acreage 10.8 km (6.7 mi) W of
DeWinton. The estimated distance moved was 10 km (6.2 mi) E.
One TRES was recovered by Kirsten Pearson found dead on a road near Millarville. It was banded by
Diane Ramsay as a young 4 km S of Priddis and moved about 9 km S.
Site Fidelity Bob Cooper recovered two MOBL banded on other trails as young in 2016 which moved to his trail in
2017 and stayed.
MOBL 2771-6113 banded by Nancy Davis on Hwy 68 moved about 6.7 km ESE. MOBL 2771-8447 banded by Susanne Maidment moved about 4.8 km SE. Both these birds were recovered in 2018 and 2019, either in the same box as in 2017 or in a nearby box.
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He also recovered TRES 2511-97194 banded as an adult in 2014 by Susanne Maidment. This bird moved about 3.4 km WNW to Bob’s trail in 2015. It was recovered in the same box or a nearby box in 2016 and 2019. Anne Weerstra recovered a TRES banded as an adult on her trail in 2015 which has been recovered in the same box every year since. Anne recovers most of her adult birds, especially TRES as she lives on her trail and can go out at dusk
and catch the adults when they are settling in their nests for the night.
TRES which switched boxes TRES 2621-52979 banded by Susanne Maidment as an adult on June 12, 2018 in box 197, moved 0.3 km E to box 312 in 2019. (Reported by Gayleen Jorgensen.) TRES 2621-52976 banded by Susanne Maidment as an adult on June 6, 2018 in box 312, moved 0.3 km W to box 197 in 2019. (Susanne and Gayleen share banding duties on this trail in the Jumping Pound area).
TRES Which Moved to Another Trail and Back Again
TRES 2621-63625 was banded by Gayleen Jorgensen as a young in 2016 in her box 75. In 2017 it moved
3.5 km ESE to Sue Konopnicki’s box 5. In 2019 it moved back to Gayleen Jorgensen’s box 77, nearby to
box 75 where it was banded.
Two MOBL banded as young in the same nest recovered
MOBL 2471-60361 and 20363 were banded as young on June 18, 2018 by Susanne Maidment in box 427
on her Jumping Pound South trail.
2471-60361 was recovered by Nancy Davis on Hwy 68 having moved 10.5 km W.
2471-60363 was recovered by Diane Ramsay south of Priddis having moved 26.5 km SSE. Both birds
were recovered on June 4, 2019. Submitted by Don Stiles
Dana Prediger Mixed batch of MOBL & TRES eggs. Bill Taylor: Bat house with 4 nest-boxes below, to encourage birds to
avoid using bat house
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Lise Mayne photos and comments: There were no second broods for the bluebirds in 2019. That is a first since
we started reporting 6 years ago. Wet, cold weather affected at least 4 boxes, animal predation another
4 boxes, a couple of boxes at least were vandalized, and another 6 boxes were filled with twigs by wrens.
Recoveries of Mountain Bluebirds
Table 1 B- Summary of 2019 Recoveries
•Distance Moved Banded as Age at
Recapture
Same >5km >24km
Mountain
Bluebirds
Box to Adult Young Total
(MOBL) or<5km <24km 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Ron Reist 50 21 16 55 31 22 11 7 71
Shonna
McLeod
10 2 4 8 3 7 2 12
Mary Jane
Hunter
7 2 6 3 5 3 1 9
Anne
Weerstra
7 5 2 1 4 2 7
Don Stiles 3 2 5 4 1 5
Barry
Trakalo
4 4 4 4
Bob
Cooper
4 1 3 1 3 4
Ray
Woods
3 2 1 1 1 1 3
Other
Banders
8 6 2 4 2
1 1 8
Total
Banders
96 27 44 79 0 45 45 23 10 123
Cross
Trail
2 15 6 23 10 6 5 2 23
Members
of the
Public
2 1 3 1 1 1 3
Total 98 44 74 44 105 1 56 51 29 12 149
Other
Banders:
Bill Taylor 2, Donna Wieckowski 1, Diane Ramsay 1,
Florence Husted 1, Susanne Maidment 1,
Mike Truch 1, Pat Mitchell 1
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Other Banders who submitted cross trail recoveries:
Diana Halladay 1, Ken McNeil 1, Dianne Leonhardt 1,
Nancy Davis 2
Sheila Palmer photo Michelle Stewart photo
Recoveries of Tree Swallows
Table 1 B- Summary of 2019 Recoveries
•Distance Moved Banded as Age at
Recapture
Same >5km >24k
m
Tree
Swallows
Box to Adult Youn
g Total
(TRES) or<5k
m
<24km 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Ron Reist 57 4 61 50 2 3 5 1 61
Anne Weerstra 15 15 7 4 1 3 15
Shonna
McLeod
8 1 8 1 5 3 1 9
Florence
Husted
7 6 1 1 6 7
Mary Jane
Hunter
7 7 5 2 7
Dick
Stauffer
5 1 2 4 3 3 6
Bob Cooper 5 1 4 2 1 1 3 1 6
Gayleen
Jorgensen
6 6 5 1 6
Don Stiles 3 3 5 1 2 3 1 6
Barry Trakalo 5 5 1 1 3 5
Mike Truch 3 3 3 3
Other Banders 12 10 2 1 6
2 3 12
Total Banders 134 13 0 138 9 0 3 95 25 14 8 2 1 147
Cross Trail 3 14 4 5 16 3 9 4 2 1 1 1 21
Members of
the Public
1 1 1 1
Total 137 28 4 143 26 0 7 104 29 16 9 3 1 169
Other Banders: Donna Wieckowski 2, Susanne Maidment 2, Andrew
Holder 2, Bill Taylor 1, Jim Critchley 1, Diane
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Ramsay 1, Ray Woods 1, Pat Mitchell 2
Other banders who submitted cross trail recoveries:
Jim Critchley 3, Donna Wieckowski 2, Susanne Maidment 1, Nancy Davis 1, Diane Ramsay 1
Blue Feather Awards
Ellis Bird Farm has been handing out the Blue Feather Award each year to long time bluebird trail
monitors. This year, the 20th year of the awards, two awards were handed out to long term Calgary
Area monitors. See below for their citations
Ray and Agnes Woods
Ray and Agnes Woods became monitors for the Elkton Bluebird Trail, just north of Cremona, in 1979.
They began banding in 1982. In 1979, when their three children were young, monitoring the trail
became a family affair, affording all of them an opportunity to learn more about nature and the value of
conservation.
Ray and Agnes monitor the boxes together and band the birds as a team. They have made many
monitoring trips with family and friends in tow, always stopping to enjoy a picnic lunch at different
favourite spots along the banks of the Little Red Deer River. In recent years, grandchildren as well as
nieces and nephews have been taken along.
Together, Ray and Agnes have monitored their trail every year except when Ray’s job took them
overseas for five years in the mid-1990s. Together, they have made the 235-km round trip about seven
times each year for 35 years. They have monitored between 58 and 98 boxes, have fledged more than
6,500 young Mountain Bluebirds, and have banded approximately 4,600 bluebirds and 3,700 Tree
Swallows. It’s been a huge commitment but a rewarding and enjoyable one.
Marijke and Wim Jalink
Beware! If you happen to meet Don Stiles, by the time you say goodbye you may have agreed to
monitor a bluebird trail! It happened to the Jalinks: they met Don in church in 1987 and asked if they
could come along to observe his bluebird trail because Marijke wanted to write an article about bluebird
trails for a Dutch publication. A week later, they had inherited a bluebird trail in a small valley west of
the hamlet of Millarville, Alberta, with a breath-taking view of the Foothills and Rocky Mountains.
The Jalinks upgraded their trail, which is about 7 km long, by replacing and twinning all the boxes.
Marijke then got a banding permit and they have banded thousands of bluebirds and swallows. They
have had some interesting experiences, endured floods, nest failures (mostly caused by animals) and
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interference (other people placing boxes along the trail) but have been privileged to see a wide variety
of wildlife while out monitoring their boxes.
They have given several presentations about their bluebird trail and have taken many visitors out to see
the bluebirds, including from the Netherlands and Germany.
While the area is now dotted with mansions and there is more traffic, Marijke and Wim are still known
by the long-time landowners as ‘the old couple’ who look after the bluebirds. When folks stop to inquire
how the birds are doing, they have a sense of belonging. The ashes of their beloved pointers are buried
on the high ridge. It still is their little valley.
Recent Research: MOBL Clutch Sizes
In the June 2019 issue of Journal of Field Ornithology, authors report a study of clutch sizes of Mountain
Bluebirds in a mountainous area in Wyoming in 2018. Their concern was whether larger clutches (seven
as opposed to the normal 6 or 5) inhibited females’ ability to heat all eggs. Clutches of 6 are usually in
two parallel rows of 3; those of 7 are usually circular.
Did that mean the outer eggs received less heat? the authors wondered. More eggs would require more
energy to heat. Results: there did not seem to be any different in the two clutch sizes. in normal
conditions: the females were able to incubate either satisfactorily. However, factors such as inclement
weather tended to cause abandonment of the larger-sized clutches before hatching.
[This may also be true for other species such as Tree Swallows. This year our area experienced much
inclement weather during the normal incubation period for TRES. Monitors reported many abandoned
nests. TRES clutches tend to be 5 or 6 on the average, but we have experienced clutches of 7, and
rarely, 8. It is believed that females lay as many eggs as they are confident of being able to incubate.
They may not be able to forecast future climate conditions at the time of laying.]
6 eggs – Lise Mayne 5 eggs – Lise Mayne Possibly 7 eggs – Laurie Whittaker
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Lise Mayne photos
BLUEBIRD is the quarterly publication of the North American Bluebird Society. It comes with
joining NABS by sending US $20 to NABS Treasurer, P.O. Box 7844, Bloomington IN 47407 USA.
As CANMS is an affiliate of Nature Albertam you are eligible to receive at no charge their
quarterly magazine, by emailing [email protected] and requesting a subscription.
Millarville Fair Booth Poster
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD
Contact one of the following members of the CALGARY AREA NESTBOX
MONITORS SOCIETY if you’d like to talk about starting your own nest box trail or
building a few nest boxes or just hanging a few nest boxes around your property.
• Don Stiles ([email protected]) Mr Bluebird, Calgary
• Bob Cooper ([email protected]) next boxes or plans available. Calgary
• Sue Konopnicki ([email protected]) Calgary
• Susanne Maidment ([email protected]) Hummingbirds are Cool, Calgary
• Ron Reist ([email protected]) Olds
• Dick Stauffer ([email protected]) Olds
• Bill Taylor ([email protected]) Calgary
Susanne Maidment and Bob Cooper used this poster at the Millarville Fair
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A Rehabilitation Success
A Bitter-sweet Story by Anne Weerstra
It was a pleasant evening on June 29th when I was checking a few of my bird boxes to see if the young
were ready to band. I had already banded a handful of Bluebird young, including in Box 14. Since I was
nearby this box, I decided to have a peak inside to see if they’d fledged yet. What I saw is hard to
imagine, five little statues covered in bird poop. Then I realised that two of them had their heads cocked
slightly and were looking up at me. The other three stood motionless having died standing, facing into
the corner. On closer examination, I realised they were slightly smaller, so had been dead for a while,
whereas the other two were obviously still being fed by the adults and had grown. A female bluebird was
softly calling from the hydro wire above the box, presumably the mother bird still taking care of the two
that were left.
What to do? I knew they wouldn’t survive being
covered from head to toe in poop. There’s no way
they could clean themselves. The only thing to do
was to contact an expert who could clean them.
Since I volunteer at the Alberta Institute for
Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), that’s who I called.
The next morning I arranged to get them there.
The adult pair was not happy with me. They didn’t
understand that I was actually doing them a good
deed, dive-bombing me as I boxed up the two
survivors and carried them to my car.
At AIWC, they were carefully cleaned. I had wondered if it might be possible to return them to the nest-
box within a day or so, possibly before the adults abandoned the box, but the youngsters also had a skin
infection on their legs and bodies, no doubt due to being covered in damp bird poop. So they received
antibiotics for that and gradually recovered in the care of the rehab centre.
But how could this have happened? It of
course had been a very rainy summer with
some violent and heavy storms. All I could
think is that the wind must have been so
strong one time that it was blowing the rain
more or less horizontally, perhaps only briefly,
and the rain came directly through the hole in
the box, splattering the young. Unfortunately,
this was a box where the adults didn’t do a
good job of removing fecal sacs as the chicks
grew bigger so it had become a poopy-floored
nest. The box was exposed to the west. None
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of my other west-facing boxes had experienced this, but they did tend to be in different positions on the
landscape. The only other explanation I could think of was human tampering, but I would consider it to
be extremely unlikely that someone would have sprayed water into the box. On July 25th, after being
treated and proving that they could fly well, the two bluebirds were given the green light to come home.
I arranged for pickup and brought them back to Box 14. I’d seen a flock of bluebirds the day before and
hoped that several would still be around for these two to hook up with. When I opened the cardboard
box, it was such a pleasure this time to see two clean healthy fledglings peering up at me.
I placed the cardboard box on top of the nest-box and opened it up. The birds were unsure what to do
and hesitated. Freedom? Really? So I had to give a nudge, taking one out and releasing it which made
the other one immediately fly up and out too.
And within seconds they were gone. Hopefully
a happy ending for these two and fingers
crossed that I see them again next year.
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