Making Loudoun a Home for the Birds

By Jeff Koslofsky

Monday, March 2, 2009

As we head into spring, bluebirds nesting in Loudoun County will be looking for new homes.

To help make the county a little homier, Elizabeth Evans and Debra Gutenson of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy were at the Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Leesburg Saturday to make sure that the nest box monitors in the area were prepared.

In 22 of the county’s trails, volunteers help monitor between 12 and 24 nest boxes placed on poles once a week to note the activity going on inside. The volunteers’ work helps the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy track trends for the species, which almost went extinct in the 1980s, in order to understand what they need to stay alive.

During the presentation, Evans and Gutenson provided tips and procedures necessary for taking care of the nest boxes. They pointed out how to clean the boxes, how to build a safe box and, most importantly, which predators to watch out for, such as the house sparrow bird.

Photo: Jeff Koslofsky

Cathy Darby of Purcellville explains her game to the bluebird volunteers. The object was to match the picture of the birds with their correct nest on the poster board.

“The most important thing is if you’re going to put up a bluebird box, make sure that it’s got predator guards on it and make sure you monitor it,” Gutenson said. “If not, you’re just creating a lunch box.”

Evans explained that bluebirds continue to lose their habitats because of so much human activity. Other, more aggressive birds also compete with the bluebirds for their nest boxes.

“They kick the bluebirds out,” she said. “They even sometimes kill the bluebirds, so these birds need a little extra help.”

To help with the education process, especially for newbies, Cathy Darby of Purcellville, a monitor for the Mountain View Elementary trail, created a game for Saturday’s event in which players had to match pictures of birds with photos of their nests.

Darby said that people in Loudoun County expect to see wildlife here, which is why these types of events are so important.

“Loudoun County is very in tune with wildlife,” she said. “People move out here because they want to see more wildlife; they want to see the bluebirds.”

Photo: Jeff Koslofsky

Old bluebird nest boxes were on display Saturday at a presentation Saturday to show volunteers what they are supposed to look like.

“This is twice as big as it was last year, so slowly we’re seeing such an increase.”

The conservancy also sponsors at least two bird walks a month at Banshee Reeks and at the Blue Ridge Environmental Center. Gutenson said these walks are a great way for people interested in the preservation of wildlife to get involved.

“You go out with a group, and there’s always a handful of really expert birders,” Gutenson explained. “That’s how you learn, you go out with those guys.”

The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy is always looking for new volunteers to help in monitoring the bluebird species. As one slide read during the presentation, “Nestboxes + Volunteers = Bluebirds.”

Tagged: animals, Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve, Leesburg

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