Dedicated to increasing & protecting the bluebird population of Bella Vista, AR
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The volunteers meeting was held from 9-10:30 am at Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, in Bella Vista.
I. Thirty seven (37) volunteers & three (3) guests were in attendance: Kathy Allen, Jerry Argetsinger, John Bozarth, Jerry Butler, Laura Claggett, Tim Garton, Carmen Greenup, Randy Hamm, Gayle & Bob Hilgart, , Judy Lathen, Ling Ma, Cynthia Marshall, Bonnie Martineck, Ray Matkowski, Al Melton, Patrice Murphy, Ken Ness, George Pickell, Glenna Pickens, Susan & Andy Pilkerton, Rosalee Rainbolt, Harrison Ramey, Shari Reed, Mark Richardson, Buzz Schoenhard, Troy Shaffer, Steve & Susan Skaggs, Lorna Sterrett, Bill & Rose Theiss, Grace Turley, Deb Webber, Leon Wehmeyer and Myrlene Zimmerman. Guests were Jacqueline Stockman and Ros Ramey. Guest speaker was Kevin Corwin from the North American Bluebird Society.
II. President Leon Wehmeyer opened the meeting with a welcome to those in attendance and an announcement that he would be turning the presidency over to Laura Claggett as he plans to pursue a statewide bluebird society in Arkansas, starting first in Northwest Arkansas.
III. Service Awards were presented:
2 years: Kathy Allen, Al Melton, Charlie Murray, Glenna Pickens and Sherri Reed. Although not in attendance, Jim and Gwen Janssen were recognized for 30 years of service. Leon stated that Jim was president, box builder, monitor and took on all the duties over those years. Because of failing health, they will be leaving Bella Vista to be closer to their family. Leon displayed a beautiful plaque that he will present to Jim and Gwen at their home. They will also receive a $100 gift card to Lakepoint/Bella Vista Bar & Grill.
Acknowledgments for Services: Jerry Argetsinger, Jerry Butler for creating numbers and letters for all the boxes with their 3-D printers, and Steve Skaggs who created and showed a guard made out of wire that can go over the slotted bird house entry. These should prevent raccoons from reaching into the box and also the cut edges will deter snakes. If a monitor has trouble with predators, they should contact their trail boss who can talk to Steve about a guard.
IV. Election of Officers:
Leon presented the volunteers with the slate of officers. President, Laura Claggett; Past President, Leon Wehmeyer; Treasurer, Lorna Sterrett; Secretary, Buzz Schoenhard; TB/BB Coordinator, Ray Matkowski; Board Members At Large, Randy Hamm & George Pickell; and Honorary Member, Jim Janssen. Leon asked for nominations from the floor and there were none. Leon asked for a show of hands to approve the slate of officers and all raised their hands. After the approval of the officers, Laura Claggett resumed the president’s role for the rest of the meeting.
The first order of business was to present Leon with a beautiful sweatshirt that was embroidered with a flying bluebird on the back. Leon has been the president since 2015 but has been a member for many years.
V. New Bluebird Trails:
New trails have been established at the Plaza at Highlands Crossing (5 boxes), Inn at Bella Vista (5 boxes) and BV Bike Trails to include the Artist Retreat Center and Blowing Springs. The Bike Trails want up to 100 boxes.
VI. New Volunteers:
New Box Builders: Tim Garton and Mark Richardson.
New Monitors: Elaine Cobb (Glasgow Car Trail), Claudia Davis (Kingswood), Linda Guthrie (Scotsdale), Susan Pilkerton (Berksdale), Bill & Linda Van Cleve (Highlands), Pat Schrad (Highlands), Ed & Claudia Shelton (Scotsdale) and Susan Skaggs (Inn at Bella Vista).
First Time Trail Bosses: Randy Hamm (Berksdale with John Bozarth) and George Pickell (Scotsdale).
VII. Other Business:
Laura did a presentation on other birds that nest in the bluebird boxes and asked that members pick up a copy of the NABS Factsheet on Monitoring Bluebird Nestboxes.
Discussion was also held on nest box predators and troubleshooting. Common predators are raccoons, snakes and cats. Someone had seen a young heron reach into a box on Berksdale and eat the chicks. The house wren will peck the bluebird eggs, but are a protected species.
All members received their monitoring sheets via email and Laura reviewed the procedures for completion. Boxes should be monitored weekly. If unable to monitor, contact another member of your team, your trail boss or Laura/Leon.
Numbering of the boxes was discussed. With the Berksdale course, the course has been divided into 7 blocks and all the boxes must be renumbered. Jerry Argetsinger’s & Jerry Butler’s 3-D printed royal blue numbers and letters will be used. Each letter has two tiny holes that can be used to tack the letters to the boxes. He suggested using a ½ inch stainless steel brad. The letters and numbers will be made available to ALL trail bosses. Since the weather seems to destroy the pen marked numbers, using the new plastic numbers should prevent this problem.
VIII. Presentation by VP Affiliate Relations from NABS:
Kevin Corwin, from Colorado, is one of the 14 volunteer board members. He gave an overview of NABS (North American Bluebird Society). He encouraged our members to become members of NABS as those dues support the Society and provide each member with a quarterly Journal that has many colorful and interesting articles. Examples were provided to members. To become a member, log onto www.nabluebirdsociety.org. The website also provides a host of information regarding the bluebirds. Mr. Corwin also showed a video of the bluebird from making the nest to fledgling. He also took questions from the members.
Respectfully submitted – Buzz Schoenhard.
Photo courtesy of Debbie Rasberry