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Time CommitmentDate: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 11:25:05 -0400 Here's a question you can all ignore if you want to but I'm just curious. I've done a lot of reading about bluebirds over the past ten years and all the books say that you shouldn't put up a bluebird house unless you can monitor it. I have a few houses around my yard but as the trees grow up I've been thinking that there are several fields nearby that would make better sites; unfortunately as a single working mother, I don't have time to hike around monitoring boxes. So my nosy question is -- are those of you who actively monitor trails all retired and if not, how do you find the time to keep track of more than one or two houses? I hope that's not too personal of a question for the list, but I assume if it is, you can just ignore it and/or delete it. Laurie DeMott Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 12:45:42 -0500 Dear Laurie, I monitor an Eastern Bluebird trail of 26 boxes around our
farm of 75 acres. It takes me about one hour per week to walk
around the trail and check the boxes. Time is of short supply
to me as well. I consider it healthful exercise to take this
walk, and just budget the time to do it. Sometimes I go very
early in the morning, before the family obligations begin. If
your children are old enough, bring them along! What better
way to instill the love of Bluebirds in your children! You could
even pull them in a wagon if they get tired walking. If you
can't bring them along, and can't leave them home alone, I would
encourage you to find a neighbor or friend who would be willing
to watch them for an hour or two a week so that you can walk
a trail. It is so peaceful and rewarding, that your children
may notice the difference in you when you return! ... Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 13:05:32 -0500 At 11:25 AM 4/17/01 -0400, you wrote: ... Some of the most active bluebirders on this list have full-time jobs and families and other activities like gardening in their lives, so if you schedule it, it can be done. But everyone's lifestyle does not lend itself to monitoring huge trails. Since you are concerned about having enough time, start with a few boxes, as you have done, then just add one or two at a time. If you find you cannot monitor, or your nestboxes become house sparrow havens, you can always take them down. Depending on the age of your children, you could take them with you when you monitor. They would enjoy sharing an activity with you and they would learn something. Kate Oschwald Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 15:53:27 -0400 That was a good question about How does a single parent find
enough time to do all one wants to do? I have experienced 8
life stages as follows: Now when I was single my pockets would jingle but I used credit cards then. Now I look forward to the next stage--Retired--Single! The happiest group of all. I expect to join as soon as Mrs Long reads this post. But in the meantime someone is seeking the secret of having enough time for life. I sought that answer for years and the more I looked the behinder I got. And the harder it was to find enough time to do all I needed to do and wanted to do so I gave up a lot of the wanted to do part of life for others wanted me to do for them. Then I discovered the secret of the joy of doing what I want to do. And suddenly life did a 180 for me! I became a true believer in the fatalist faith. That is all is pre-planned and whatever happens is meant to be and is for the best. And since then all my bad luck has turned into something good. The fear, pain, prison turned into courage, joy and freedom. It was magic, I could hardly believe it myself. And I started experiencing the most unusual. I stopped have nightmares which I had been having since I can remember from age 3. I never met a person I didn't like since my conversion. Some people even started liking me. I even read I'm ok you're ok and believed I had written it years before! Other dramatic things happened: Planes I leased and cancelled crashed on the trip I cancelled. Cars wrecked just before I got to the corner, for I had been delayed in traffic a few minutes, buildings blew up on the day and hour I was to meet, but I was laid up sick as a dog and could not get out of bed. Tornadoes made the building disappear just as I went next door. Best of all my "youth" returned with no medication. I became a raconteur, yes a teller of tall tales! But through all this and much much more my bride continues to walk the bluebird trail--just because she wants to--even though her energy level is about 33% and her MS would prefer she add another nap. She knows I have plans for her when she walks no more. I am going to the lumber yard and make a flatbed wagon with wheels and give her two bricks to hold in her hands to push herself and then we will put the boxes close to the ground where she can see inside the boxes and again break all the rules. For if a bluebirder wants to bluebird, there is no stopping such a want. People do what they want to do and they want to do what Fate has planned for them to want to do, whether they want to or not. And it is all meant to be you see? Wendell Long PS: The ME generation is a different and unrelated subject. Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 20:26:51 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Laurie, I probably monitor my trail in less time per week than most people spend watching TV. But I understand your concern. During my first year as a bluebirder, I worked part time and thought 17 boxes would keep me plenty busy. By the second year, the trail grew to 30 boxes but I still found the time to have picnic lunches on the trail and start another small trail. By the third year, the trail grew to 40+ boxes and and my job became full time. You could start with five or 10 boxes your first year (just for the exercise). Since you are a single parent, a walk around the trail would provide an excellent opportunity for your family to connect for an hour or two during the week. Depending on the age of your child (children), name the boxes and have various nestbox competitions (first egg, most fledged). Laurie DeMott wrote: Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 09:16:06 -0400 I'm retired, but with back problems, find it a "push" to get around to my 28 nestboxes 1/week. I count on my neighbors to keep an eye on their boxes (part of the 28-box trail) and let me know if they see a problem. Randy Jones ----- Original Message ----- Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 18:43:57 -0400 (EDT) "Laurie DeMott" demotlj"at"infoblvd.net wrote: I've done a lot of reading about bluebirds over the past ten I'm not a trail monitor but I am a mom with a few nestboxes and a whole bunch of birdfeeders in the yard and I just wanted to weigh in on the side of those who encouraged you to get your kids involved in any monitoring efforts you decide to undertake. I've got a 2 yr old and a 9 yr old and they're both actively involved in almost all my backyard birding activities. Many tasks we adults consider mundane are fun for kids, ya know. :) For example, my 2 year old has her very own (pint-sized) watering can that she uses to water the sunflower seedlings and fill the smallest birdbaths. (We've got a couple of clay saucers that we use as birdbaths for our smallest inhabitants.) My 9 year old was thrilled that he now gets to climb on the stepladder (with me holding it, of course) to re-fill the birdfeeders I can't reach. They both have a great time transferring mealworms from one container to another. (Remember when handling bugs was fun?) Even if you're not participating in Cornell's Birdhouse Network, you can download the data sheets and let the kids fill them out: http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse I put our Daily Summary Sheets on a clipboard. My youngest is in charge of carrying the clipboard; the oldest gets to record the data. Both of them were utterly thrilled the day we discovered that the six Carolina Chickadee eggs we'd been monitoring had become six darling little baby birds. Our backyard monitoring efforts paid an extra bonus this year when my son had to do a project for his school science fair. Many of the pictures we took ended up on his display board. It's amazing what kids will find interesting. The chickadees used a lot of our dog's fur in their nest as insulation, a fact my son and his classmates found just fascinating. If anyone else is interested in this subject, The National Bird-Feeding Society has put together a great collection of resource material aimed at kids: Learning About Backyard Birds I also recommend the book _Everything You Never Learned About Birds_ by Rebecca Rupp. Not only does it have lots of hands-on projects for kids to do, it's exceptionally well-written. (I had as much fun reading it as my son did.) -- Jordan central North Carolina |
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