VA TECH Bluebird Trail

The New River Valley Bird Club established a bluebird nest box program on the VA TECH Corporate Research Center in 1997. With the help of club members who monitored the boxes, the trail has fledged 381 bluebirds, 316 tree swallows and 24 house wrens through 2006. The number of boxes has varied from 12 to 15 in those years.

2007 Report

Thirteen boxes this year produced 34 bluebirds and 48 tree swallows. A late freeze in May impacted bluebirds that had begun nesting in April. It appears that tree swallows returning from migration filled the void before the bluebirds could restart their nesting. The highest fledge count for bluebirds was year 2000 with 55 fledged and year 2002 for tree swallows 57.

Historical Data

Year	BB	TS	HW
1998	33	19	0
1999	43	26	11
2000	55	33	13
2001	53	34	0
2002	52	57	0
2003	27	48	0
2004	47	35	0
2005	27	26	0
2006	51	38	0
Total	381	316	24

Key
BBN: Bluebird Nest
BBE: Bluebird Egg
BBY: Bluebird Young
0: Empty
TS: Tree Swallow
HS: House Sparrow
FL: Fledged
ON: On Nest

Box	4/12/08	4/19/08	4/26/08	5/3/08	5/10/08	5/24/08	6/7/08	6/14/08	6/21/08	6/28/08
#1	6BBE	BBN	3BBE	6BBE	6BBE	6BBY	BBN	0	2 BBE	5BBE
#2	0	5BBE	6BBE	TSN on BBN	3TSE	3TSE	1 dead TS	2TSE	4TSE 1 damaged	3TSE
#3	BBN	BBN	BBN	TSN	5TSE	TS ON	4TSY	4-5 TSY	4TSF	0
#4	HSN	HSN	HSN	0	TSN	5TSE	5TSY	5TSY	5TSF	0
#5	BBON	3BBE	3BBE	3BBE	HSN removed	TS ON	2TSY	3TSY	3TSF	0
#6	BBN	3BBE	5BBE	BB ON	BB ON	4BBY	BBN	0	3BBE	4BBE
#7	2BBY 4BBE	4+BBY	4BBY	3 BB FL	0	0	5TSY	5TSE	2TSY 3TSE	3TSY
#8	TSN	TSN	1TSE	TS ON	6TSE	removed empty N	TSN	4TSY	3TSY	3TSF
#9	0	0	TSN	0	4TSE	4TSE	4TSY	1 dead TS	0	?
#10	TSN	5TSE	5HSE	4HSY	4HSY dead	5BBE	3BBE	5BBE	2BBY 3BBE	3BBY
#11	4BBE	6BBE	4BBE/2BBY	BB ON	4BBY	4BB FL	6BBE	6BBE	5BBY	3+BBY
#12	BBN	1BBE	1BBE	0	2TSE	5TSE	4TSY	4TSY	4TSF	0
#13	0	0	0	0	3BBE	5BBE	4TSY	4BBY	4BBF 1BBE	0

Glen Alton Trail

The first year for the Glen Alton Trail produced 33 bluebirds and 19 tree swallows in ten boxes. One box was destroyed in June by a bear and was not replaced. This was my first ever bear predation experience in over 30 years of bluebird trail operations. It was a relief that there was no further damage to the boxes the rest of the summer. As bears are so common on the property, this will be a concern for continuing the trail there.
Thanks to Jake Spiegel, Mason Spiegel, Morgan Spiegel, Katherine Chambliss, and Michelle Furguson for their help in monitoring the trail.