 Bluebird egg in box by Lisa Gerbec Monitoring of the bluebird boxes at the WCAS Lewis Road Riding Ring Bluebird Trail has begun. The 9 nest boxes were inspected and found to be clean and ready for the 2025 breeding season. On April 1, monitors were pleasantly surprised to find a bluebird nest with one egg in Box 9! This is the earliest we have had an egg in the 5 year history of this trail. A sparrow spooker has been installed.
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 Photo: Bluebird eggs in Box 5, April 2024 by George Coleman by Kurt Miske, WCAS Board Member and Bluebird Trail Coordinator As many members know, WCAS is responsible for nine bluebird nesting boxes in the open area along the edge of Cleveland Metroparks’ property which also features Lewis Road Riding Ring. Working in conjunction with the Metroparks, WCAS obtained and installed five nesting boxes in 2021. A Boy Scout Eagle project, permitted by the Metroparks, added four boxes in 2023. To date, these boxes have resulted in 33 Eastern Bluebird fledglings and 44 Tree Swallow fledglings! Currently there are five more young bluebirds and nine more young Tree Swallows that should be fledging soon. And the 2024 breeding season isn’t over yet! Bluebird trails are much more than simply building and installing nesting boxes in strategic locations. Once the boxes are in place and the month of March begins, monitoring also begins. If the boxes are existing (i.e. have been up all winter), they need to be cleaned in preparation for the arrival of the birds. Boxes are checked every week or so to watch for nest-building. Monitors ascertain what type of bird is building a nest. If it is a native bird, typically an Eastern Bluebird or a Tree Swallow, we note the progress being made. If eggs are present, the frequency of the monitoring increases to about every three days. We track the number of eggs, the number that hatch, and when the birds fledge. After the young fledge and the adults leave, the box is cleaned and made ready for either another brood or over-wintering. Each box is built with a side that opens like a door. This facilitates making accurate observations. The adults tolerate occasional short checks. On some occasions, the female bird may not leave the nest when the monitors open the door! The female typically lays one egg per day. Because we know the day the last egg was laid we can determine when the eggs will hatch and when the chicks will fledge. We also are able to calculate the day when the chicks are developed enough that we should no longer open the door as a chick could ‘escape’. Once out of the nest, a chick will not tolerate being reintroduced to the nest. Monitors not only record data, but also help keep the nest boxes safe for the intended occupants. Our boxes, like almost all nesting boxes, have predator baffles (pictured) that help keep out such enemies as raccoons, cats, and snakes. But there are other possible threats that the monitors must detect and eliminate, such as wasps and lice. The biggest problem we have is with House Sparrows. If a House Sparrow enters a box containing a bluebird or Tree Swallow, the House Sparrow will brutally murder the other bird. The House Sparrow may even build a nest on top of the dead bird and any existing eggs or hatchlings. House Sparrow breeding season starts before either bluebird or Tree Swallow breeding season. This is facilitated by the fact that House Sparrows are year-round residents, whereas bluebirds and Tree Swallows migrate to the breeding area. Monitors must be aware of House Sparrows constructing nests before bluebirds or swallows arrive. While federal law prohibits harming the nest of native birds, House Sparrows are not native. To date, we have not allowed a single House Sparrow to fledge from our nest boxes. We have another tool to control House Sparrows, a device called a sparrow-spooker (pictured) that is built and installed as needed. For some reason, House Sparrows do not like the fluttering strips of Mylar, yet bluebirds and Tree Swallows are not bothered by them and are often seen using the sparrow-spooker as a perch. As soon as a monitor finds a native bird’s egg in a nest, a sparrow-spooker is installed on the box. Sparrow-spookers must only be used when the box is occupied; otherwise sparrows would get used to them and they would lose their effectiveness.  Photo: Box 8, June 2024, showing sparrow-spooker & predator baffle, by Kurt Miske WCAS has been extremely fortunate to have George Coleman and Alisa (Lisa) Gerbec as monitors from Day 1 in 2021. They have had a hand in helping each fledgling that the trail has produced. They have cleaned boxes, kept up the spreadsheets we use to record data, and done anything else that needed to be done. Also helping out when her educational pursuits allow is Jess Kowalski. Many, many thanks! Data is tabulated and submitted to both Cleveland Metroparks and Cornell’s NestWatch on a yearly basis. We hope to continue for years to come.
 Eastern Bluebird perched on a tree branch by the bluebird trail. Photo by Lisa Gerbec The WCAS Lewis Road Riding Ring Bluebird Trail has been pretty active this summer.
Boxes 1 and 4 just had 4 and 5 respectively Tree Swallows fledge. This brings the total number of Tree Swallows that have fledged this summer to 20. Boxes 6 (five birds) and 9 (four birds) had nests earlier. Box 5 has 5 Eastern bluebirds that will be fledging soon. This is the second brood this summer for Box 5. We like to think the parents of the first brood liked Box 5 so much, they decided to do it again! This will bring Box 5’s 2024 total to ten bluebirds. Box 8 had four bluebirds fledge earlier, so the total of 2024 bluebirds is 14. It may not be too late for additional broods this year. Time will tell. If you would like additional information on the trail and trail monitoring in general, please see the WCAS August newsletter.  Sparrow Spooker by Lisa Gerbec With the breeding season well underway, there has been activity on the Lewis Riding Ring Bluebird Trail.
Happily, Box 5 is currently housing 4 or 5 young Eastern Bluebirds. These birds are due to fledge on or about May 12 or May 13. Box 8 has 4 Eastern Bluebird eggs that are due to hatch any time now. Once that happens, we will be better able to determine the likely fledge date. Unhappily, on April 24, monitors found a dead Tree Swallow in Box 2. A House Sparrow left the box as monitors approached. The Tree Swallow had damage to its head, so was likely killed by the House Sparrow. On April 29, monitors found a dead Tree Swallow in Box 1. This bird also had damage to the head. Once eggs are found in a bluebird or Tree Sparrow nest in one of our boxes, we install a sparrow-spooker on top of the box. House Sparrows typically do not like the flapping Mylar streamers and will not disturb that box. However, extended use of the spookers is likely to result in familiarity, which could make the spookers ineffective. For this reason, we cannot simply cover every box with a sparrow-spooker. Monitoring will continue throughout the season.  By Kurt Miske, Bluebird Project Coordinator
The days have grown cooler, the leaves are starting to change hue and birds are losing their breeding plumage. Our Lewis Road Riding Ring area bluebirds and tree swallows have left the grounds for their winter territory, declaring an end to the 2023 breeding season. All in all, it was a successful year with 14 bluebirds and 14 tree swallows fledging from 7 different broods.  Eastern Bluebird by Michelle Brosius By Kurt Miske, Bluebird Project Coordinator
We have had a decent year so far, with five of our nine boxes being used by native birds. Here is the run down:
Monitoring continues at least twice per week. While we have not had any birds start a second brood in the 3 years the trail has been active, we are still hoping for additional broods!  Eastern Bluebird on nest by Lisa Gerbec. Mama didn’t want to abandon the nest, even for a minute! We have had a lot of activity in our now 9 nest boxes this year. As of May 30, we have
Unfortunately, we have also had a total of 6 tree swallows found dead in boxes so far this year. The birds do not appear to have been attacked nor starved (an early theory), but seem to have had a severe case of diarrhea. Perhaps a disease? Boxes that were found with dead birds have been sanitized. 4 of the corpses have been turned in to the regional office of ODNR. We are hoping an evaluation will give us some answers. If you have any information, please contact WCAS. Monitoring continues at least twice per week. We are hoping for additional broods!  Eastern Bluebird on nest by Lisa Gerbec Box #8 has the first nest of the year! Box monitor Lisa Gerbec opened the box and took the above picture. Stay tuned for further updates.
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