WRN Teens - Nest Box Project

29 February 2020

     Leap Year! A day that occurs only once every four years, and I spent part of this special day with an exceptional group of people.

    By way of background, Waterloo Region Nature (hereafter WRN) Teens came into existence as a group just last year. Marg Paré who had been involved for several years with WRN Kids felt the need for an organized group for youngsters who exceeded the age cutoff for the young children, and thus, WRN Teens was born. From its embryonic stage it has been a resounding success, now having matured to about twenty members, due entirely to the hard work and dedication of Marg and Linda Dutka, and the eager participation of these outstanding young people. The encouragement and support they receive from their parents should be the standard for good parenting.

Marg, Linda

     The teens have been involved in a wide range of activities including salamander monitoring, visits to the Ecology Lab at the University of Waterloo for scientific training, invasive species removal, winter tracking, environmental cleanup and other endeavours.

     At SpruceHaven we have been able to allocate six nest boxes for Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) to form a designated trail for the Teens, which they will monitor this year and into the future. As a component of this venture we felt it would be instructive if they could build one of the nest boxes to cement their relationship with the birds; hence a nest box building workshop was organized.

     To facilitate this, Mike and Anita Smith (in the pictures below Mike is the one with the beard!) welcomed the Teens to their home, and Mike's well-equipped woodworking shop. Mike is a superb carpenter and a patient mentor for the Teens. I cannot say enough about these wonderful, friendly people who have done so much to help. Anita, I should mention, is our club's Conservation Director, a baker of sourdough bread and an accomplished tracker.

     The nest boxes had already been cut at a previous session and were ready for final assembly. Marg issued a few final instructions.

     The boards were ready to be transformed into avian homes.

     Ella, Nicole and Megan got to work right away and displayed an impressive level of adroitness around tools that are probably unfamiliar to them.

      Each person cooperates and has a share in the various operations needed to bring the nest box to completion.

      At the other end of the room, Eric, Jonah and Owen are busy assembling the bluebird box that will hopefully house a family in just a few weeks.

     Meanwhile, the all-girl team was hard at work and doing everything just right. Their level of confidence was impressive.

     The largest nest box was for a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) and concentration was needed. As you may see, Paula and Bennett are focused on the task at hand.

        Everything is going according to plan. The boards are lined up; it all fits together.  Better not let your attention wander, however. 

              Mike was constantly moving from group to group, offering words of encouragement and guidance where needed. It was a joy to watch the interaction between an experienced woodworker and a cadre of enthusiastic acolytes.

     Looks like this team is well satisfied with their finished product.

     The others were equally proud to show off the results of the afternoon's work. You already met Paula and Bennett; that's Cora in the centre.

     A group shot seemed to be just the token needed to memorialize this noteworthy activity.

     I had to leave after the nest building operation but Anita and Mike invited everyone into their home where Anita showed the Teens her skull collection, and served them hot chocolate and sweet treats too. Marg and Linda sent me a few pictures.

     And afterwards, the indefatigable Anita took them out for a winter-tracking session.

Deer Browse

Owl Pellets

     I would be remiss if I did not conclude this account without uttering resounding kudos to the Teens, polite, disciplined, intelligent youth; they give me hope for the future.
     And I take my hat off to Marg, Linda, Mike and Anita. Their commitment and dedication is inspirational. Furthermore their transparent joy in contributing to the future of our youth in this way is palpable. 
     Mere words fail to express my deep appreciation of their selflessness. They are my heroes.
     And one last word, Anita makes sourdough bread, and Mike mentioned that he has some excellent Tequila. Hmmm. Maybe better bar the doors if you don't want me easing my way back in! Sounds too good to pass up, doesn't it?

Bird Banding at SpruceHaven, St. Agatha, ON, Episode 2

12/13 May 2018

12 May 2018

    The weather forecast for Saturday was pretty dire, with cool temperature, high winds and rain, so Kevin made the call on Friday that banding was cancelled for Saturday. This triggered a chain reaction leading Marg Paré to cancel the planned visit by Waterloo Region Nature Kids.

     As it turned out the weather was quite decent by mid morning and the event could have gone ahead. Kevin actually went out to SpruceHaven early and managed to open a couple of nets for a brief period, so the day was not a complete wipe out. The rest of us got to sleep in a little later.

All species banded 12 May: Red-winged Blackbird (3), Black-and-white Warbler (1), Magnolia Warbler (1), American Yellow Warbler (1). Total: 4 species, 6 birds.

13 May 2018

     I was up and out of the house in time to get to SpruceHaven by 06h:00; Kevin was already there and was making the rounds to unfurl the nets. Heather and Daina arrived shortly afterwards.
     On our first round of the nets we captured a male American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), our first capture of the year for this species.

    We also retrieved a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), already banded, and in fact before the morning was out we had recaptured three individuals of this species banded at SpruceHaven in previous years as hatch year birds.

Details are as follows.

Band No. 278071727  Originally banded 16 August 2017
Band No. 278071701  Originally banded 15 October 2016
Band No. 278071677  Originally banded 02 October 2016

     It is exciting to recapture these birds and to know that they have remained at SpruceHaven but we are anxious for the day when one of our birds will be recovered elsewhere to yield information about its migratory journey, or to the equally exciting prospect of capturing a bird at SpruceHaven banded elsewhere.
     Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) seemed to be everywhere and were very vocal so it was not surprising that we caught both a male and a female. I thought I had photographed both sexes, but I only have this shot of the male.

     On the way around the nets an American Robin (Turdus migratorius) flew out of a fir tree revealing a nest with three eggs.

     Birds' eggs are surely among the most lovely of nature's jewels.
     
     House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) are feisty little birds and we know that at least one pair is nesting in the woodlot. Two individuals were retrieved from our nets.

      A Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla) was our first of the year.

  
     Last week we captured a female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and I mentioned at the time that the banders are careful to keep their fingers out of the way of the crushing beak of this species. Neither Kevin nor Heather were quite vigilant enough with this male which left each of them with a sore spot. In Kevin's case the bird actually drew blood.
     When Heather held the bird for a photograph she was more careful and the bird attacked the band newly installed on its leg.

       After we closed the nets I took Anita Smith, Conservation Director of Waterloo Region Nature, on a tour of the property, but failed to take her picture, unfortunately. In any event, she thoroughly enjoyed getting to know SpruceHaven, and generously committed her husband, Mike, to building six new chickadee nest boxes for us! Thank you, Anita. We will look forward to seeing you often.

All species banded 13 May: House Wren (2), American Robin (1), American Goldfinch (8), Nashville Warbler (1), American Redstart (1), American Yellow Warbler (1), Baltimore Oriole (2), Red-winged Blackbird (3), Song Sparrow (3), Savannah Sparrow (1), Northern Cardinal (1) Total: 11 species, 24 birds.