In my last post I told how we had been visiting the Ellis Bird farm . Some asked questions about the farm. I had on my list to do a post of the bird farm.
The entrance with all kinds of nest boxes
The original gate and driveway. Notice the
Texas gate.
First some history. The province of Alberta in Canada is rich in oil and gas. For a number of years some Petro chemical companies had been planning some large plants to process the gas into other products. In the 1970's they started building these plants.
Modern industry thinks they need large acreages to build on. They also build away from urban areas. It's no big deal for them to build pipelines or railroads to their plants. At one time they had 4000 construction workers so it gives you an idea of the size of the plants. They've added since that time.
So one of the farms that was bought was owned by Charlie Ellis. Charlie and his sister Winnie owned 800 acres.
Charlie was an excellent farmer and naturalist. In the 1950's he noticed a decline in the bluebird population. Being a resourceful man he set up blue bird nesting boxes. It was new territory. He had to experiment to find the right size of the box and the hole size.
One of the interpretive centers
One of Charlies tractors
The original barn and coral.
Beautiful rolling farmland now used for hay production
Another one of charlie's tractors.
Naturalists were horrified that this property was going to be used for industry. Well, part of it was going to be used. The Ellis Blue Bird farm was set up to preserve the land and habitat. The land was still going to be farmed. The Company agreed to this arrangement and sweetened the pot with lots of money over the years.
All habitat has been maintained and the original homestead has been developed into a tourist destination. Most of the original farm buildings are still there. The house has been made into a tea room.
Now in photos you will see hundreds of nest boxes. Most of them are fund raising projects. Interpretive centers have been developed with all kinds of information.
Unfortunately the blue bird population has continued to decline. I saw only two bluebirds on June 18,2018 There are more on the property. On that day in 2 1/2 hours we saw thirty species of birds and did not cover the whole property.
I've had a small nest box in my backyard for years. I think this may be the third or fourth rendition of the box. It's a small box suited to small birds. The entrance is high up in the box and is a small diameter to let in only little birds.
Over the years I've had many residents that have raised families. It's fascinating to first watch for nest competition , nest building, egg incubation, young birds and then leaving the nest. I've had Red breasted nuthatches, Tree swallows, Black-capped chickadees, Boreal chickadees and House sparrows. Several nests were abandoned.
Now bout a week ago I noticed a small gray bird quickly enter and leave the box. It was so fast I couldn't identify the bird. I have no idea how long the birds were at the nest before I saw them. After a few days I could see that they were Boreal chickadees. Great! I get a bird family this summer.
Well, not so fast Red. Today house sparrows showed up. Actually quite a few House sparrows were at the nest. Then I noted House sparrows carrying nest material to the box. So the Boreal chickadees had to abandon their new nest.
It's sad to see bird's nests be destroyed . but I realize it is the order of the day in the wild. However, I will harass those dirty rotten House sparrows so that they will wish they'd never met me.
A great photo of a boreal chickadee by Angela Maclean
Since I have a link on my blog to web cams on a peregrine falcon nest box, I have some interest in what is happening. I don't check the web cams very often but I do know what's happening. There are two birds at the nest box now. They are busy moving pebbles around in the box. At this time we have no idea whether they are the same pair as last year. We do know that the first egg was laid May 1st last year and so are hoping that a first egg is laid around the first of May.
After the eggs are laid there is a long incubation period where very little happens. Both birds take turns incubating so there is some coming and going. The exchange is made quickly so you have to be lucky to see it take place. This year you have a better chance at seeing the trading of positions as we have an external camera so you can see a bird that lands outside the nest box.
Once the hatching takes place there's much more action.
These birds are quite large and are spectacular fliers. They are the fastest animal on earth.
They are also a poster bird as they nearly became extinct because of DDT usage. They have been brought back from near extinction by a very active recovery program.
So I hope that you check in on the peregrines from time to time and learn something about these awesome birds.
I have just set up a peregrine web cam link on my blog. So click on the link and it will take you to the peregrine web cam.
This year we have set up a much better system so that you can watch a peregrine nest located on the top of the 101 m Telus Tower at Red Deer Alberta. We have installed 4 cameras this year. One camera is outside the box so that you can see the area outside the nest box. Last your you could tell that something was outside the box by the behavior of the birds inside. This year when the birds are changing sitting on the nest you will be able to see them outside the box. A second camera is capable of night vision so that you can see what goes on in the box at night. There are two regular cameras in the box so that we get more of a 3 D effect.
So whenever you watch the web cam this year you will get a much better view. The color is also much better.
So enjoy watching the peregrine falcons this year! They are an awesome bird.
