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Final Report Fall 2009
Bluebird Numbers Remained High in 2009!
The cold, wet weather this spring and summer took a toll on the number of bluebirds fledged. However, since we monitored 109 houses this year compared to 92 houses last season, we were able to fledge one more bluebird than last year (67 versus 66). This Bluebird Trail Project, which is part of a statewide and nationwide conservation effort, would not be possible if we did not have such hard-working and enthusiastic volunteers. This year our volunteers monitored 11 trails with 109 houses once a week from March through August. We had two family teams of monitors: Winnie Haggard and her daughters, Alicia, Lydia and Aliyyah monitored the Upper Farm Road Extension Trail while Lorrie and John Posobiec and Lorrie’s father, Joe Doyle, monitored the Doctor’s House, Lower Farm Road and Meadow Trails. Stan Robinson also participated in monitoring the latter two trails. Sadly, Joe Doyle died this fall (please see article on p. 7 ). Having kids involved is important: becoming aware of the natural world when they are young will increase the chance that they will be conservationists when they grow up! Unfortunately, our other two family monitoring teams (Lower Farm Road and Meadow Trails) moved away from the area this spring. Luckily, Stan Robinson and Lorrie and John Posobiec jumped in to help complete the monitoring of these two trails. If any of our members have young children and would like to participate in the Bluebird Trail Project, now is the time to volunteer! Email me at diana.cassel@comcast.net or FPPAssociation@aol.com. Barb Schindler and Robin Alderfer monitored two trails: the Pavilion Fence Trail and 14 houses on the Upper Farm Road Trail. Sheila Darden of the Centerpoint Training Center and Fran Ciotti of the Norristown Training Center led volunteers from these centers in monitoring four boxes on the Upper Farm Road Trail. Norm Hagerman again monitored more trails than anyone: the Stony Creek Road, the Stony Creek Road Extension and the Whitehall Road Trails! I monitored a new trail, the Wetlands Trail (on the site of the old ballpark). Finally, Michael Santangelo again monitored the Dairy Barn Trail, the trail he set up last year. For the building of new boxes, for the repair and replacement of old, worn boxes and for setting up the new trail, we also had lots of help from FPPA board members, Larry Briggs, Jim Cassel, Ed Duffy, Joe Gallagher, and Tina Howell and from Michael Santangelo and his dad, Mike Santangelo. End of Season Tally At the end of the season, we record the data for each Trail: type of box, type of nest, number and color of eggs, number of hatchlings, and number of fledglings. Volunteers send all the data for each species inhabiting boxes on each Trail to me, and then I compile the data, fill out the Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania’s Annual Bluebird Nest Box Report Form and send it in. The Bluebird Society of Pennsylvania uses the information for their purposes and shares it with the National Bluebird Society. Thus, the Farm Park Preservation Association’s Bluebird Trail Project is part of a national conservation effort that has been successful in greatly increasing the number of eastern bluebirds since 1970 when they were nearing extinction. Now for More Details Bluebirds in Norristown Farm Park built 25 nests in 2009 on our Trails. Of these nests, 20 were successful in fledging at least one bluebird. Eighty-seven eggs were laid. Seventy-five babies hatched, but only 67 survived to fledglinghood. Although we had 11 trails, the 67 bluebird fledglings came from only 9 of those trails. The most prolific trails were the Upper Farm Road Trail with 18 fledglings, the Whitehall Trail with 14 fledglings and the Stony Creek Road Extension and the Doctor’s House Trails with 7 each. The numbers for the other trails are as follows: Lower Farm Road and Wetlands Trails with 5 fledglings each, the Pavilion and Stony Creek Road Trails with 4 fledglings each and the Upper Farm Road Extension Trail with 3 fledglings. There were no fledglings for the Meadow or Dairy Barn Trails. After the season was over, I discovered that Chas Wood, President of the Stony Creek Anglers and FPPA Board Member, had been monitoring some bluebird houses at the Trout Nursery and had 8 bluebird fledglings. Next year, we will add him to our Project! The most successful birds in NFP that we monitored in our birdhouses were the tree swallows (132 fledged), followed by the house wrens with 99 fledglings. There were 16 chickadees fledged this season and 5 tufted titmice. Because of our prompt removal of the nests and eggs of the house sparrow, a non-native species that competes aggressively with the bluebird, we kept the number of house sparrow fledglings low (10).
Tree Swallow House Wren Chickadee Tufted Titmouse House Sparrow A Final Word Our Farm Park Preservation Association’s Bluebird Trail Project at NFP includes planning sessions, building and repairing birdhouses, setting up new trails and modifying old ones, monitoring the birdhouses during breeding season and compiling the data. If you would like to become involved in any aspect of the Project (no experience needed!), please give me a call at 610-584-9217 or email me at FPPAssociation@aol.com or diana.cassel@comcast.net. Next season we could really use some new volunteers. Volunteering will give you a chance to participate “hands on” in a state and nation-wide conservation research project. I can assure you that you will find participation both rewarding and enlightening about bird behavior! Let me end with a final THANK YOU to all our 2009 volunteers. I hope to see you and new “bluebirders” at our first 2010 season planning session in March. Diana Cassel, Ph.D. Bluebird Trail Project Coordinator
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