[obol] [birding] matter of perception; starlings and bluebirds

[Paula Vanderheul]

Elsie's team consists of 4 subbanders, nest box coordinator, many individual 
home owners bluebird trails, other volunteers monitoring trails from Kings 
Valley, Dallas, Corvallis, Philomath, Monroe, and Raylene Gordin is 
coordinator of all of Linn County bluebird trails. Plus other volunteers 
that raise meal worms to supplement where needed along the trail when one of 
bluebird parents is left to feed alone. All Audubon Society of Corvallis 
Western Bluebird trail information is available on their website. 
www.audubon.codrvallis.or.us

Happy Birding,
Paula Vanderheul


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Geier" <clearwater at peak.org>
To: "Dave Mellinger" <David.K.Mellinger at noaa.gov>
Cc: <Bryce.Sandy at epamail.epa.gov>; "MidValley Birds" 
<list at midvalleybirding.org>; <obol at oregonbirdwatch.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [birding] matter of perception; starlings and bluebirds


> Hi Dave & Sandy All,
>
> Raylene Gordin is the person who's trying to fill Elsie's amazing boots,
> with Corvallis Audubon's Bluebird Trail program. And as you suggest,
> there is a small army of volunteers we can thank for the presence of
> bluebirds, along with Elsie, but Elsie definitely gets the biggest
> thanks.
>
> Happy birding,
> Joel
>
> On Thu, 2008-04-24 at 13:31 -0700, Dave Mellinger wrote:
>> If you see bluebirds in the mid-Willamette Valley, thank Elsie Elzroth. 
>> She started, built up, and still helps maintain a "bluebird trail" here, 
>> which essentially consists of many hundreds of bluebird nest boxes around 
>> the area.  A small army of volunteers helps in this effort, but Elsie is 
>> the person who made it happen.  Without her there would might still be 
>> bluebirds, but certainly nearly as many.  I believe that as part of this 
>> effort, she dispatches Starlings (particularly ones in bluebird boxes) 
>> with abandon.
>>
>> Someone (perhaps Tara Robinson?) is said to be taking over the trail from 
>> Elsie, who is elderly, though I don't know the details.
>>
>> Dave Mellinger
>>
>>
>> > Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:40:29 -0700
>> > From: Bryce.Sandy at epamail.epa.gov
>> > Subject: [obol] matter of perception; starlings and bluebirds
>> > To: obol at oregonbirdwatch.org
>> >
>> > Hello all,
>> >
>> > I have to interject an anecdote into this starling thread.
>> > I have a half acre wedged in a gentrifying neighborhood on the 
>> > southwest
>> > side of Corvallis. This past winter another middle class ranch house 
>> > was
>> > torn down and all trees and vegetation scraped from the lot behind me 
>> > in
>> > preparation for the construction of another large house. Apparently 
>> > this
>> > devegetating disturbed the local starling flock because even though
>> > there are plenty of tall trees on my lot and  and a nice dense laurel
>> > hedge nearby the flock of 50 or so starlings seems to have gone
>> > elsewhere.
>> > Coincidentally this spring I have been hearing daily the calls of a 
>> > pair
>> > of bluebirds. I have lived in this house for almost 30 years and this 
>> > is
>> > the first time bluebirds have frequented the neighborhood for 
>> > days/weeks
>> > at a time.  I only hope they will stay on.
>> > I have read that bluebirds once commonly nested in neighborhoods until
>> > starlings and English sparrows outcompeted them.
>> >
>> > And while on this topic, I would like to thank those responsible for 
>> > the
>> > bluebird boxes at Bald Hill in west Corvallis. That nestbox effort 
>> > seems
>> > to have been very successful and it allows the birds' activities to be
>> > viewed by so many people.
>> >
>> > Sandy Bryce
>>
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