BLUEBIRD CHATTER

Summer 2013

The Maryland Bluebird Societys

The Presidents Perch

Antietam, a Special Day
by Kathy Kremnitzer It was a bright, sunny morning at Antietam, breezy and mild with not a hint of humidity in the air. Bluebirds were everywhere! It was the perfect day to take a walk back in time. Mark and Jean Raabe installed and have monitored the Antietam Battlefield Bluebird Trails approximately 100 nestboxes for more than 35 years. Nearly 9,000 bluebirds have been fledged from the trail since 1979 and they are flourishing in this beautiful setting. As we gathered to begin our tour of the battlefield and bluebird trail, Mark explained that he had chosen some specific sites for us to visit and the surprise of the day came when we found out that MBS member Don Millers ancestor would be accompanying us! Dons uncles grandfather was a soldier in the war and fought in the battle at Antietam. Don had brought along the ancestors journal and, so, as we visited each of the various sites, Mark would explain the significance of the location to the battle and then Don would read excerpts from the journal that corresponded to that location. It was as if we were transported back in time. We could almost hear the cannons booming, the clanking of sword upon sword, the firing of rifles, the shouts of men. The journal gave us a look at the battle through the eyes of one who was there and experienced it first-hand. Then, just as we were caught up in the memory of war, the song of a bluebird would bring us back to the here and now. As we looked at each other, I know we all felt as though there was a part of us in both worlds. The magic continued as Mark and Jean also shared with us the history of their nestbox trail. Their devotion to the bluebirds of Antietam is another kind of wonder and we viewed each nest, egg and hatchling with amazement. A true bluebird lover never takes these sights for granted. As I drove home after the event, I couldnt help but feel like we had all been given the most wondrous of gifts-time marches on, its true, and we try to learn from the positives and negatives in our past. The most important lesson, however, is that like our beautiful bluebirds we must never give up our effort to survive and thrive.

MBS Washington County Coordinator, Jenny Hendershot, captured this amazing shot of a male bluebird. This photo, along with many other incredible captures, can be seen on the Maryland Bluebird Societys Facebook page.

Upcoming Events
MBSs 7th Annual Membership Meeting and Picnic: Saturday, September 7th from 2 to 6 p.m. at Black Hill Regional Park, Shelter C. All are welcome to attend. Hot dogs and drinks will be provided. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Donated items for our Silent Auction are welcome. RSVPs are appreciated by not necessary. 36th Annual North American Bluebird Society Conference: October 3rd-5th, in Aiken, S.C. Theme: The Art of Bluebirding For more information, visit www.mdbluebirdsociety.org, and click on our Events page. MBS Bluebird Chatter Page 1

Its Been a Busy Year . . . . . But Were Not Done Yet!

2013 has probably been the busiest year for MBS since its inception nine years ago. Weve participated in several events around the state and have had a wonderful time going to new places and meeting new bluebirding friends. We began the years events with a Bluebird Festival at the Ward Museum for Waterfowl Art in Salisbury in early March. Janice Ward, MBS Coordinator for Worcester County helped to organize this wonderful day of bluebird information and fun. As MBS board members and County Coordinators busied themselves with getting their own bluebird trails ready for nesting season, they also fulfilled speaking engagements and assisted other bluebirders in setting up new trails and in helping to solve problems with predator and house sparrow issues. In May, the 3rd Annual Bluebirds Forever Festival was held at Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds. Despite a rainy forecast, the event was well-attended as visitors participated in trail hikes, arts and crafts, information sessions, face-painting, music and games. June found many of us visiting the Antietam National Battlefield Bluebird Trail with trail operators Mark and Jean Raabe. The weather was perfect, the bluebirds were everywhere and it is difficult to describe the feeling of standing in a place where so many gave up their lives for a cause. To understand, you must go there and feel it for yourself. I promise you will enjoy your visit. In Maryland, were right smack in the middle of nesting season and, just like our bluebirds, were not done yet! MBS will host its Annual Membership Meeting and Picnic on Saturday, September 7th at Black Hill Regional Park, Shelter C, from 2 to 6 p.m. This will be our 7th annual gathering and they get better each year. What could be more fun than spending an afternoon in the company of people who understand and share the love of bluebirds? If youve attended our picnic in the past, Im sure well see you there. If youve never been, give it a try. You cant go wrong with the beautiful park setting, tasty food and wonderful camaraderie of fellow bluebirders. In October, many of us will be heading to Aiken, South Carolina to attend the 36th Annual North American Bluebird Society (NABS) Conference, hosted by the South Carolina Bluebird Society. For more information about this event, visit the Events page at www.mdbluebirdsociety.org or the NABS web site at www.nabluebirdsociety.org .

Have You Found Us On Facebook?

A couple of years ago, MBS jumped on the bandwagon and established our own Facebook Page. While we had a few regular visitors that first year, apparently the word had not gotten out about us. During the last few months our visibility has improved and we now have 90 Likes. With your help, we can do better! Many Maryland bluebirders are visiting to ask for assistance or advice with their nestings. Through our FB page, we managed to locate a foster nest for some orphaned bluebirds, directed folks on how to install predator baffles and advised others on how to be proactive with house sparrow control. Weve also had visitors post some amazing photography, such as the photo above of a male and female bluebird taken by Washington County Coordinator, Jenny Hendershot. Wont you take a minute to visit our Facebook page to say hello? Wed love to hear about your bluebirding experiences. Please find us on Facebook and Like us! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maryland-bluebirdsociety/143423785682464

DID YOU KNOW THAT . . . . you can renew your

membership to MBS quickly and easily by visiting our web site at www.mdbluebirdsociety.org and clicking on the JOIN US page? Renewal notices were recently sent out but if you are not sure if your membership is current, you can check by e-mailing MBS Treasurer Diane Seward at trina65@verizon.net

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Bluebirds Forever Festival 2013 The 3rd Annual Bluebirds Forever Festival was held on Sunday, May 19th at Black Hill Regional Park and, as in past years, was a huge success. Though the event started slowly, probably due to the threat of rain, attendance picked up and the nature center experienced capacity crowds! Visitors were treated to face painting, games and music, story times, crafts and trail hikes. MBS volunteers were on hand to answer questions and give advice as well as to pass out information to enthusiasts. Presentations were given on Planting for Native Birds, Homeland Security-Bluebird Style, and Beautiful Bluebirds. Thanks to the Friends of Black Hill, volunteers from Black Hill Regional Park .and Maryland Bluebird Society volunteers for making this event a success. Special thanks to MBS Vice President, Stan Fisher, for his amazing organization.

Attendees at the 2013 Bluebirds Forever Festival at Black Hill Regional Park could accompany MBS Secretary Bonnie Bell on a trail walk. This nestbox located at the rear of the Nature Center housed a nesting of tree swallows.

Salisbury Bluebird Festival by Janice Ward On Saturday, March 9, 2013, the most comprehensive wildfowl carving museum in the world invited the public to join them in celebrating the bluebird. The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, Maryland, hosted its inaugural Bluebird Festival, featuring nature-themed music, art, entertainment and information. Janice Ward, Worcester County Coordinator for MBS, along with Kim Check, Education Director of the Ward Museum, organized the event. Both are long-time advocates of the bluebird. The event began with a performance by the Snow Hill Middle School Glee Club. Abundant information about bluebirds and other cavity-nesting birds, wildlife conservation was available for adults. MBSs Ed Escalante presented a lecture entitled Beautiful Bluebirds and the Maryland Bluebird Society was on hand to answer questions and offer advice to bluebird enthusiasts. Additional kid-friendly events included bluebird story times, face painting, bluebird painting, mask making, cookie decorating, crafts, puzzles and coloring activities related to bluebirds. Varieties of bluebird-themed and bird-related items were given as door prizes and were also available for purchase. The event was well attended and hopefully all left with a greater appreciation for the Eastern Bluebird.

Above: The Snow Hill Middle School Glee Club performs at the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Arts Bluebird Festival in March. Below: Children enjoy arts and crafts activities offered for their enjoyment.

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Leucistic Bluebirds
After 20 years of monitoring bluebird nestboxes, MBS member John Collier got to see something new this nesting season leucistic bluebirds! Albinism is a genetic (inherited) condition resulting in the complete absence of melanin pigmentation in eyes, skin and feathers. True albinos are extremely rare. Leucism is a type of partial albinism and is a rare genetic mutation, though not as rare as albinism. Leucistic birds have faintly colored markings and dark eyes. Both parents must have the recessive albino gene for their young to be albinos. Since each egg in a nesting has its own set of genes (and indeed, could have different parentage if the female mates with more than one male) not all young in a nesting will be albino or leucistic. This year, 2 nestboxes at Johns home had leucistic bluebirds. The top photo on the right shows 5 young bluebirds that came from a clutch of blue eggs. The bottom photo shows 4 bluebird young from a clutch of white eggs. There is no connection between egg color and leucism. John has had bluebirds lay white eggs on many occasions and the hatched young were completely normal. For more information on white bluebirds, visit this link: http://www.sialis.org/leucistic.htm

To the Bluebirds News Press By Emeline Smith From the moment Bonnie (MBS Secretary Bonnie Bell) started leading me on the bluebird trail, I knew it was extraordinary. Not many places offer free trails in nature for anyone to see. Everything about the trail was lovely. Bird songs filled my ears, fresh morning dew filled my nostrils and bird poo filled my touch. Looking around I could barely tell man had interfered with the trails. It was nice for me to see, but mostly nice for the birds. I saw lots of beautiful plants and eye-striking birds. Bonnie was an outstanding guide as she pointed out nearly everything there and filled my brain with knowledge! It was not a boring experience and I couldnt find one negative thing about the trail. The best compliment I can offer is that it was worth waking up early-and I am a teen-ager after all! I saw lots of birds, bees and plants. Thank you, Bonnie, for giving me an experience I will surely never forget!

Emeline, age 13, and her sister, Clara age 9, were visiting from Texas recently. Along with their grandmother, they visited MBS Secretary Bonnie Bells bluebird trail. Emeline wrote an article for MBS newsletter about her experience. Both girls sent Bonnie lovely thank-you notes. Claras note is pictured above.

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Maryland Bluebird Societys County Coordinators

MBSs County Coordinator Program is an important aspect of what our society is all about, helping bluebirders throughout the state when troubles arise. These volunteers accept phone calls and e-mails and are ready to assist with information and resources on the spur of the moment. Do you need help figuring out how to set up your nestbox? Maybe you have an abandoned nesting and dont know why. Perhaps house sparrows are plaguing your neighborhood and you dont know what to do. Well, an MBS County Coordinator is always willing to listen and share whatever knowledge and experience they can with you. Anne Arundel and Queen Annes Counties Dave Gillum 410 266-8775 dagmapper@verizon.net Baltimore County Matt Storms H 410 686-2089 C 410 952-4019 bigmattblue@gmail.com Calvert County Robin Wedewer C 410 474-7639 H 410 414 5718 robin@datazoneresearch.com Carroll County and Howard County Felicia Lovelett H 410 489 -7169 C 301 801-1969 flovelett@verizon.net Charles County and Prince Georges County Jacalyn Thomas 301 203-5553 j-rthomas@mindspring.com Frederick County Kathy Kremnitzer H 301 662-7818 C 301 676-9371 griffin459@myactv.net Harford County Pam Ford H 410 569-2205 C 443 617-5556 jpford@comcast.net Montgomery County Ed Escalante 301 972-3241 escalante@his.com Washington County Jenny Hendershot C 301 491-8823 djbmhendershot@aol.com Worcester County Janice Ward H 410 632-0671 C 443 614-8318 Jward43.jw@gmail.com

If you do not see your county in the above listing it is because we do not have a volunteer from your county. Please contact us if you would like to serve as County Coordinator from your area of our beautiful state.
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Nesting data and news from founding member, past president and current board member Fawzi Emad, in Southern California:
Of course here in Southern California we have Western Bluebirds (WEBL.) Last year I had the first nesting and the pair had four babies. This year they nested twice, first nesting produced four babies and one infertile egg (which was removed after four hatchlings were around for several days) and in the second nesting they had five very healthy babies (total of nine babies this season.) The babies of the first hatching (I call them the teenagers) were feeding the second-generation babies and helping the parents to take care of the younger babies I have never seen this before; it is so amazing to see one baby feeding another! I have heard about this happening in other places including the East (EABLs,) but this is the first time I was able to see it happen in my 25 years of bluebirding! The two pictures below show the nest box and the feeder I use. The nest box is the so-called Mansion designed by Linda Violett and myself in 2001. See this link for the design and construction of this nest box: http://md.fpemad.com/p2/mansion.htm . Here the female is bringing in straws to build the nest. The mealworm feeder design and construction are on this web page: http://md.fpemad.com/p2/feeder.htm . The male is on the feeder taking mealworms to the nest box to feed the mother and babies.

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Nesting News from Around the State

Montgomery County Coordinator, Ed Escalante monitors 32 nestboxes on his trail. To date, 57 bluebirds have fledged along with 48 tree swallows. In the 4 boxes at his home, 10 bluebirds have fledged as well as 10 chickadees. This is the highest number of chickadees he has fledged in a single season! He also had a Carolina wren nest in a pot of chrysanthemums. Ed reports that some nestboxes at Stella's Dream Trail, monitored by Stan Fisher, Anne Sturm, and Linda Pepe, experienced damage from a bear looking for food. In addition to his own trail responsibilities, Ed was asked to help with a house sparrow problem at Goshen Elementary School in Gaithersburg. He will also be assisting in setting up bluebird boxes at Stedwick Elementary School and will be presenting to the students and teachers on how to monitor them. Diane Seward of Montgomery County monitors 15 nestboxes. She reports that to date there have been 35 bluebirds fledged along with the loss of 10 bluebird young (one nesting due to raccoon predation). She also fledged 6 Carolina chickadees and 6 house wrens. Both species experienced loss due to predation, some by raccoon and others by unknown predators. She has 4 bluebird pairs making 2 nd nesting attempts and also 4 house wren pairs making 2nd attempts. One pair of house wrens prevented bluebirds from completing a nest but no eggs had been laid. Anne Sturm, also of Montgomery County, reports the following: From her own trail and that of friends who report to her, 29 bluebirds, 12 chickadees and 6 tree swallows have fledged. One bluebird nesting had failed and there were 5 active bluebird nestings as of her report date. From the trail she monitors at Linden Farm, 21 bluebirds fledged along with 22 tree swallows. 5 bluebird nestling died and there are 4 active bluebird nests. From 4 Streams Golf Course, 49 bluebirds have fledged, 19 tree swallows have fledged and there are 8 active bluebird nestings. Jay Jones, of Montgomery County, reports that 42 tree swallows and 33 bluebirds have fledged from the 18 nestboxes he monitors in 2 separate locations. 10 of the boxes are located at Adventure Park in Potomac and the other 8 boxes are at Blue Marsh Golf Course in Brookville. He also monitors 2 nestboxes at his home in Derwood. Bonnie Bell of Montgomery County reports that through MBSs Montgomery County Student Service Learning Program she had her first student sign up to see her bluebird trail. The student came with her father and both had a great learning experience. She also took a friend and the friends two teen-aged granddaughters visit the trail and her dedicated mowers children and grandchildren also visited. A wonderful time was had by all. (See notes page 4) Nancy Evans of Frederick County fledged 16 bluebirds and 13 chickadees from her nestboxes so far this season. She lost one clutch of 4 baby bluebirds to a house wren, so tried something different with her sparrow spooker to try and deter the wrens from interfering with future nestings. She turned the spooker backwards on the nestbox and it worked! No more predation by house wrens! Jenny Hendershot, Coordinator for Washington County, reports that she has fledged 34 bluebirds so far this season. She currently has 5 active bluebird nests with 14 eggs. Kathy Kremnitzer reports that her trails in Frederick and Washington Counties have fledged 78 bluebirds and 87 tree swallows from the 31 nestboxes she monitors. Kathy fostered young into two separate bluebird nestings this season due to emergency situations with some local bluebirders. In one instance, the mother bird had been killed by a cat. The father was not feeding the young, so the 3 babies were fostered into 2 nests with young of similar age. All fledged successfully. Stan Fisher, MBS Vice President, reports that he has had 13 bluebirds fledge from his home, Bluebird Hill and 19 bluebirds fledge from the Model Airplane Park trail in Montgomery County. He also reports that he has worked with Anne Sturm, Jay Jones and Ed Escalante to install stovepipe baffle predator guards on 20 of the nestboxes at Stellas Dream. The trail has suffered predation from snakes and raccoons for the last 2 nesting seasons. Jodi Hewitt of Carroll County has had a long a dramatic nesting season so far. Nest building began on 3/11 and was completed on 3/26. A clutch of 5 eggs was laid, 4 of the 5 hatched and all 4 young fledged successfully on 5/9. On 5/12, the female began the 2nd nest. 6 eggs were laid and all hatched on 6/3. On 6/8, Jodi observed nesting material hanging from the entrance hole and scratches on the outside of the box. 2 young were missing. Jodi moved the nestbox further away from the fence line and installed a stovepipe baffle. The 4 remaining young fledge on 6/21. On 6/24, the female began her 3rd nest. Jodi observed a male house sparrow coming out of the box (even though she has not yet removed the sparrow spooker from the previous attempt). There were blue feathers mixed in with the nesting material and the female bluebird has disappeared. Jodi attempted to trap the house sparrow, but he would not go inside the box. She tried a decoy box as well, but he still would not go in. On 6/27, Jodi placed an in-box trap on the original nestbox and concealed the trip wire with a leaf. The female bluebird reappeared and before she can enter the nestbox, the male house sparrow flew in and was trapped. The female bluebird completed her 3rd nest and laid a clutch of 5 eggs. 4 eggs hatched on 7/20 and the 5th on 7/21. On 7/28, there was a terrible thunderstorm and the female bluebird disappeared. The male continues to feed the young and Jodi can hear them peeping when he appears with food. She is hoping that the female bluebird will return. 7th grader Alia Nissley of Frederick County reports that her bluebird pair fledged 3 young this year. Matt Storms of Baltimore County reports that his nesting season has been active, though he likes to save his totals for the end of nesting season (dont count your chickens . . . . ). Matt spends much of his time offering assistance to bluebirders in the Baltimore area and will be walking a bluebird trail at Cromwell Valley Park on August 10th to offer advice and suggestions. NESTING NEWS FROM OUR FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS: Donna McCauley Shoemaker has fledged 10 bluebirds so far this season from her nestboxes in Anne Arundel County. She has fledged over 60 bluebirds in the last 4 years and her bluebirds are on their 3rd nesting of this season. Kathy Boones bluebirds fledged 4 young and are on their 2nd nesting of 4 eggs for the season. Kathy and her family live in Westminster.

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Dear MBS Members: Please check with MBS Treasurer Diane Seward trina65@verizon.net to be certain you are current with your membership. You can renew using the form below or online at www.mdbluebirdsociety.org If you know of someone who is interested in bluebirds, please feel free to pass this newsletter on to them.

THE MARYLAND BLUEBIRD SOCIETY, INC.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Mail to: Maryland Bluebird Society 10809 Rock Run Drive Potomac, MD 20854 Instructions: Print and complete this application and mail to the above address. Please remember to enclose your check payable to the Maryland Bluebird Society. Memberships and donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

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