Visitors to the Deborah and Roger Richardson Nature Preserve will notice something new: six birdhouses designed specifically for Eastern Bluebirds. This beautiful bird migrates south for the winter and returns in the spring. The birdhouses were made by Scout Eric Carey in 2014 as part of an Eagle project and placed in the meadow at the Nickerson Walking Woods Preserve. However, not many bluebirds took residence in them.
This year we decided to move the birdhouses to the Upper and Lower Hayfields at the Richardson Preserve, where bluebirds are more common. (Thanks to the volunteers who made this happen!).
Male Eastern Bluebird – Photo by Lee R. DeHaan
John J. Audubon wrote admiringly of the bluebird as follows: “It adds to the delight imparted by spring, and enlivens the dull days of winter. Full of innocent vivacity, warbling its ever pleasing notes, and familiar as any bird can be in its natural freedom, it is one of the most agreeable of our feathered favourites.”