1

Calgary Area Nest-box Monitors Society

Annual Report 2019

Edited by Bill Taylor (durham825@shaw.ca); Don Stiles

(stilesdj@shaw.ca); and Donna Holton (donna.holton@shaw.ca)

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

2

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 na@naturealberta.ca 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 (stilesdj@shaw.ca) Mr Bluebird, Calgary

• Bob Cooper (bobcooper@shaw.ca) next boxes or plans available. Calgary

• Sue Konopnicki (konopnickis@gmail.com) Calgary

• Susanne Maidment (swadl@hotmail.com) Hummingbirds are Cool, Calgary

• Ron Reist (rreist56@gmail.com) Olds

• Dick Stauffer (sapl@telus.net) Olds

• Bill Taylor (durham825@shaw.ca) 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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