Great Blog post about our Bluebird Nestbox party!

Tara Cason wrote an awesome post in her blog about our nestbox building party on March 5th.  Check out her blog Granite NW at http://babyamoeba.blogspot.com/2011/03/theres-bluebird-on-my-shoulder.html  Thank you Tara for letting people know about our organization! :-)

Establishing our first Bluebird Trails

Christmas Tree Trail, Port Orchard, WA

Bob Wiltermood and Susan Ford check out the farm

Lew, Scott, and Bob get the pole in the ground

On Saturday, March 12, 2011, mother nature gave us a break in the rain long enough to head out to Port Orchard to establish our first bluebird trail for PSBRP--the Christmas Tree Trail and the Hunter Trail.  Phil and Fran Hunter and Bill Hunter graciously offered the land on their farms for our first bluebird trails.  Bob Wiltermood, and Scott and Susan Ford had checked out the property earlier that week, with Phil giving a tour of his Christmas Tree Farm, so we knew exactly where to place the boxes when we got a break from the rain on March 12th.  In our rain gear and with the help of Lewis and Kathleen Ford and Esther Merrick, we erected 6 bluebird boxes amongst the Christmas Trees.  Because we had had so much rain, the poles went into the ground easily without any problems.  Then we headed out to Bill Hunter's farm and met Bill with the family dogs "Sam" and "Annie"as we erected 2 more boxes at that site.  Just as the last box went up, the rains returned--perfect timing!  A big thank you to Phil, Fran, and Bill Hunter (Sam and Annie too!) for offering to let us have bluebird trails on their property.  They have been very supportive and helpful of our cause, and we appreciate them very much!  Even though it is still a bit early in the season for bluebirds, I have started monitoring these trails for bluebirds.  Check back regularly to this blog for more updates on these trails!

Bob and Scott attach a box to the pole

A view of the sky!

Lew makes sure the pole is sturdy in the soil

Bluebird box on the Christmas Tree Trail

Bluebird box on the Hunter Trail

                                                                                                    

Some of the boxes used on the trails-Christmas Tree Trail

Christmas Tree Trail

Christmas Tree/Hunter Trails

Hunter Trail

Christmas Tree Trail

Christmas Tree Trail

Bluebird Nestbox Building Party!

Bob Wiltermood and Scott Ford work on a box

On March 5, 2011, the Puget Sound Bluebird Recovery Project had it's first ever community event: a Bluebird Nestbox Building Party!  We were very happy with how well it turned out and were thrilled with the support we had from friends and the public who came out to help.  The party was hosted at Ruby Creek Wildlife Preserve in Port Orchard, WA, which is the home of one of our board members, Bob Wiltermood. 

Bluebird Nestbox-Divine Photos 2011

Bob and Marylou Vail put together a box

Adam Morris nails the pieces together with a nail gun

Tara and Chad Carson show their finished box

Board Member Chris Susumi shows us her beautiful nestbox

Our 20 autographed nestboxes ready for the trails!

We all gathered at Bob's home at 10am, and after mingling a bit and having some coffee to drink, we received a quick tutorial from Bob on how to go about constructing the nestboxes out of the pre-cut wood pieces.  Everyone got to work building their boxes, and by 12:30pm, we had 20 beautiful autographed boxes that were ready to go out to our bluebird trails this year (everyone who built a bluebird box autographed the bottom of the box that they made--a fun way to look at the boxes on the trails as we monitor them and remember the people who helped us make the boxes a reality!).  A lunch of hot dogs, chips, beans, and drinks was provided to all who helped, and later on, Bob gave our guests a tour of his beautiful wildlife preserve.  We couldn't have asked for a better day--the weather and setting was beautiful and we made new friends and contacts with people in the community who are interested in learning more about Western and Mountain Bluebirds and how we can help bring them back to Western Washington.  A great big thank you goes out to Hartnagel's Building Supply in Port Angeles, WA, who provided all the wood and materials that were needed to build our nestboxes.  Arnold, Deb, and the staff at Hartnagel's were very supportive of our cause, and we greatly appreciate all their help and support!  www.hartnagels.com  Also, a thank you to Bob Wiltermood for offering his beautiful home and wildlife preserve to host our event, and to Tania Nachsel of Divine Photos, who donated photos of our event www.divinephotos.net

At Ruby Creek Wildlife Preserve (left to right) Scott Ford, Susan Ford, Marylou Vail, Bob Vail, Lewis Ford, Tania Nachsel, Adam Morris, Bob Wiltermood, Chris Susumi