Six SSBA volunteers spent Friday, May 1st installing 21 nest boxes on three sites in Mason County. All of these sites were chosen by Melinda Wood, SSBA Avian Science Chair, after finding bluebirds or bluebird habitat on them. Here is the rundown:
Lake Isabella State Park 6 boxes
Eel’s Hill 7 boxes
McEwan Prairie 8 boxes
It all went according to plan. Eel’s Hill is a clear-cut area owned by Green Diamond. McEwan Prairie recently had a wildfire and is also owned by Green Diamond. By later in the day on May 1st, there were already Western Bluebirds and Tree Swallows exploring those boxes. We will check back later in the spring to see if nesting is taking place. We don’t have a report yet on box usage at Lake Isabella.
On a less cheerful note, for some unknown reason, the 10 nest boxes that were installed on Johns Prairie in Shelton last year are going unused. The birds that we saw last summer are nowhere to be found this spring. The May field trip to this site was cancelled due to the lack of birds.
South Sound now has over 170 nest boxes on 11 prairies in Thurston and Mason counties. If you are interested in helping (especially in nest box construction), please contact Kathleen at ksnyder75@gmail.com.
Photo – Lake Isabella nest box installation by Kathleen Snyder
