President’s Report - Spring 2019

By Jim Leitch

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.

Now that spring has arrived, the bluebirds are back and beginning their nesting activities in the roughly 2,600 bluebird boxes we have throughout southern Alberta.

Our trail master, Steven Shumborski, has once again been very busy this past year. To date he has a record of 2,615 boxes and identified 89 trail monitors. In 2018 Steven renovated 163 boxes by repairing them as required and installing drop down bottoms for easy clean out. He has also constructed and installed 76 new boxes on new and existing trails. If you are interested in having your own trail, please contact Steven as there are existing trails available.

One of Steven's most significant accomplishments this past year, and so critical to us as a society, is the recruitment of 18 new trail monitors. Without the regular addition of new monitors to replace those who are no longer able to manage their trails for one reason or another, we would cease to exist as a society. A big thank you to all our monitors, who faithfully repair and clean out their boxes to get ready for the bluebirds in the spring, monitor the activity in the boxes and record data so that we can establish trends and patterns of behaviour. That will ultimately assist in ensuring the preservation of the mountain bluebird for the enjoyment of future generations.

All monitors should have received their new monitoring permit for 2019. It is wise to have the permit with you when checking trails so you can provide it to show your legitimacy as a trail monitor working to preserve mountain bluebird populations.