MBTCS News & Updates
Bluebirds soon to return! Are your nest boxes ready?
Mountain Bluebirds return to Southern Alberta as early as the first week of March. Male bluebirds select and lure a partner to a nesting site soon after they arrive. Ideally, nest boxes should be cleaned out and repaired by the end of February in time for their arrival… so do not delay!
Don Stiles: ‘Mr. Bluebird’ did much for birds, conservation
Don Stiles of Calgary was an avid bluebird enthusiast and has helped our organization by providing advice and contact information on many occasions. Don passed away on Oct. 11 and we mourn his loss. In sharing his obituary, we honour his legacy and hope to highlight his conservation work for Bluebirds.
‘Mountain Bluebirds’ short documentary by Rick Andrews (REPOST)
This short film by MBTCS Trail Monitor Rick Andrews follows a pair of Mountain Bluebirds as they nest and raise a brood of nestlings in the foothills of southern Alberta
Trail Monitor Stories: The headless swallow by Jim Leitch
Last year, one of the pleasant surprises on my trail was having a few families of Violet-green Swallows occupy some of my boxes for the first time ever. It was beautiful to see their flashes of turquoise green on white with a distinct purple rump. They are similar to the tree swallow.
President’s Fall Report
As I pen this report for the 2022 season, I can't help but be surprised at the pleasant warm fall season we are experiencing. It seems like a repeat of last fall. Like last year as well this past season we saw some pretty extreme weather. A late arriving spring followed by an extended very hot summer.
A Simple De-nesting Tool to Clean Nest Boxes
MBTCS Trail Monitor Raymond Huel shares a simple invention that helps him with the messy annual duty of cleaning out nest boxes! His objective was to make something that would quickly push the old nest out and, at the same time, reduce the need for a heavy glove.
Trail Rejuvenation in Crowsnest Pass
An update from our Trail Master Steven Shumborski on trail redevelopment in the Crowsnest Pass. The work was coordinated around nesting season to minimize disturbance and resulted in the first 33 renovated boxes being installed on September 20, 2022.
End of Season Nest Box Cleanup & Reporting
It is that time of the year again! The bluebirds, tree swallows and maybe even the wrens (if you have them) have fledged. Now is the time that we, as trail monitors, begin our annual fall cleaning of the bluebird nest boxes.
Supporting Students Redevelop a Trail in Guernsey State Park, WY
We receive the occasional inquiry about building the ideal nest box for Mountain Bluebirds and are always happy to help as best as we can. Our Trail Master was contacted in early March with questions from Wyoming for a trail redevelopment at Guernsey State Park! He went above and beyond by sending pieces for a sample MBTCS nest box at the end of March.
Spring Orientation a Success
We are happy to report another successful spring orientation took place on Saturday June 5, 2022. There were 13 members present to learn the fundamentals of being a great Trail Monitor with the Mountain Bluebird Conservation Society (MBTCS).
Transfer of Bluebird Trails
Talking your friends into looking after a trail you are no longer able to look after leads to disaster. I regularly encounter this experience and an abandoned trail is often the result.
A new group of monitors
When teacher Derek Shackleford wanted to discover how his class could help mountain bluebird conservation, he contacted our Trail Master, Steven Shumborski to get the facts. As a result, the class assembled 10 nest boxes from MBTCS supplied parts, and installed them near the school grounds. The nest boxes will be regularly monitored and students will hopefully have the opportunity to see bluebirds, eggs, nestlings and fledglings.
Bluebird hybrids: help needed with study
Western bluebird numbers appear to be increasing in southwestern Alberta, which suggests they are expanding their range. As they expand, low starting numbers may force them to breed with the more abundant mountain bluebird and produce hybrids… To ensure we don’t miss any sample opportunities, we need the help of citizen scientists and bird enthusiasts from within the community.
‘Mountain Bluebirds’ by Rick Andrews Films
This short film by MBTCS Trail Monitor Rick Andrews follows a pair of Mountain Bluebirds as they nest and raise a brood of nestlings in the foothills of southern Alberta
Mountain Bluebirds, the ideal farm tenant
Mountain Bluebirds are great neighbours! Bluebirds provide natural pest control. They are insectivorous - which means they love to eat Coleopterans (beetles), Orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets), Arachnids (spiders), and Lepidopterans (primarily caterpillars), and other insects. They prefer habitat that is sparsely treed grasslands with suitable cavity nest locations.
Less than two months until the Bluebirds return! Are your nest boxes ready?
Mountain Bluebirds return to Southern Alberta as early as the first week of March. Male bluebirds select and lure a partner to a nesting site soon after they arrive. Nest boxes need to be cleaned out and repaired by the end of February in time for their arrival.
Reader’s Digest Feature Post: Saving Canada’s Mountain Bluebird
As a member of the Calgary Mountain Bluebird Trails Conservation Society, Ron Reist maintains more than 480 bluebird boxes along a 250-kilometre round-trip trail.
Oldman Watershed Council Feature Post: There’s a Snake in my Nest Box!
I remember the first time I found a snake in a nest box. Looking back, it was probably a plains garter snake with a distinct yellow stripe from tip to tail, but 12-year-old me didn’t care. I sprinted from the fence line back to the road…
30 years of Bluebird Monitoring of the Carol Porter Mountain Bluebird Trail at Cypress Hills
In the last 30 years of monitoring of the Carol Porter Trail there have been three seasons with low numbers of bluebirds fledged: 2002, 2009, and 2021. The weather appears to be the main factor in the number of bluebirds fledged.
Congratulations to Pres Winter, Alberta Emerald Award Lifetime Achievement
Pres Winter started The Viking Bluebird Trail in 1977. It began when John Janzen Nature Centre director provided 200 nestboxes. The Bluebird Trail is now more than 1200 boxes spanning 275 miles of country roads in Beaver County.