Now that fall is here and our swallows are migrating and bluebirds are gathering to migrate, let us look back on the summer nesting season. This year Evergreen Audubon made changes to the locations of nesting boxes in Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters Open Space Parks. The reasons were two-fold, the first being in response to the marked decrease in the success of the production of young birds in both parks over the last two years. The second was a desire to involve the community in getting to know our box-nesting birds on a personal level.

The results have been impressive. 13 volunteers monitored 58 boxes. About half of the volunteers were first-time box monitors and all monitors had great fun looking inside the boxes. The total number of fledged birds was 145 compared to 103 in 2022. So exactly what was different this year? Boxes in both parks were placed further away from foot traffic and often out of sight of the trails. They were also moved away from locations where bears have been increasingly finding and destroying boxes. Even so, four boxes were taken down by bears.  Interestingly these were the four boxes in Alderfer/Three Sisters which were the closest to houses. Since each of these boxes had nests in them and an unknown number of eggs, those boxes cannot be included in the final tally.

A few more changes are planned for the 2024 nesting season. The boxes destroyed by bears in Alderfer/Three Sisters will not be put back in the same locations and will instead be put up in a very successful location in Elk Meadow. The number of boxes used in Alderfer/Three Sisters has been steadily going down for several years, probably related to the increased human presence in the park. Elk Meadow will have a few of the boxes moved, one in particular that now is right next to a brand new rerouting of Painter’s Pause Trail.

Here are a few interesting facts about the results. One has to do with species distribution. The number of Western Bluebird and Mountain Chickadee nests decreased dramatically from 2022. This is very concerning. The historical average of Western Bluebird nests with eggs has been 10 and the average for Mountain Chickadees has been 5.  This year there was only one nest of each! On the positive side, the success of nests was at an all-time high probably due to a rainy spring and early summer, resulting in a healthy supply of insects to feed young birds, and abundant tall grasses for the new fledglings to hide from hawks.

Hopefully, this year’s success will bring further increases in 2024 since birds tend to return to where their nesting has been successful.

Evergreen Audubon members who would like to participate in monitoring the nest boxes in 2024 are welcome to join us in our efforts to help out our beautiful birds. Send an email to me, Rachel Hutchison, at  bluebirdrachel2@gmail.com to be included in the contact list for next year’s monitors. No experience is needed and you will be paired with an experienced person.