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 have included a link for a beaver web cam again. They put a web cam in a beaver lodge last year and it was not very successful. They now have a camera for very low light and have devised protection so that the beavers won't pile mud over the camera.
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| Photo by Judy Boyd |
This camera is located at a place called Ellis Bird Farm. A brother and sister farmed the land until the 1970's. They were bought out by a petro chemical company that constructed a large petro chemical plant. The Ellis's had developed a system for successful blue bird houses and were largely responsible for bringing back blue birds to this area. They also had houses for purple martins. Of course, they fed birds all winter.
Since this couple had single handedly helped the birds, one of the stipulations in the sale of their farmland was to leave part of the land for the birds. The company funded a board to organize and manage the area.
This has been a very successful venture as the birds have been well looked after and studied. It has been made into a sanctuary and facilities have been built to accommodate visitors and has become a tourist site.
So because of the importance of the site I like to put this link on my blog. I hope that those of you who like web cams will get some pleasure out of this one.
Today I have installed a link that takes you to a live web cam of an owl nest at the Ellis Blue Bird farm. I hope enjoy watching a great horned owl on its nest.
This great horned owl has nested for several years in this location. The nest is built in shelter belt trees of the Ellis Blue Bird farm. The Ellis blue bird farm was established when a large chemical company established a huge petro chemical plant on farmland near Red Deer Alberta. Charlie and Winnie Ellis who farmed the land had been great bird lovers. They had put out bird boxes for blue birds and had a sizable nesting population on their farm. It was decided that the original farmstead should be turned into a research facility on birds The nest boxes are still maintained and research is carried out at the site.
Visit the Ellis Blue Bird Farm website for more information.
