EASTERN BLUEBIRD NESTBOX TRAILS
In the Spring, CCBC volunteers monitor eastern bluebird nestbox trails in six locations on the Cape. And we always need more people to help out. This is your invitation to get involved and enjoy this wonderful bird! At the same time, take your binoculars for a walk and watch for other birds utilizing these natural areas. Our monitoring does help the bluebirds and other native cavity-nesting species succeed. To make a difference we need a cadre of volunteers who rotate the duties of monitoring, so you may be asked to monitor about one week a month during the spring and summer.
CCBC volunteers help to monitor nestbox trails at Crowes Pasture in East Dennis (14 boxes), and at Thompson’s Field (28 boxes), Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve (aka Bank Street Bogs) (45 boxes), Texeira Field (14 boxes), Cornelius Pond Woodlands (7 boxes), and Muddy Creek Headwaters Preserve (8 boxes) in Harwich. All sites are also being surveyed for bird and other animal species, as well as plants. In Harwich, the club monitors the boxes in cooperation with the Harwich Conservation Trust. We train volunteers, clean out and set up boxes for the spring, and schedule the visits to each site so that we can track the nesting cycles of the birds using each box. This involves some walking over uneven terrain, peeking inside each box and recording what is happening: nest building activity, adult sitting on eggs, young waiting to be fed or fledging time. If you are interested in helping, please email one of our coordinators.
For Crowes Pasture, Carolyn Kennedy, c2kenn2@verizon.net (508) 255-7564. For the Harwich sites, contact the Harwich Conservation Trust at 508-432-3997.
If you are unfamiliar with these areas, and would like to take a look (without, of course, disturbing the nesting birds) feel free to visit the trails by clicking on the link that takes you to its page.
Crowe’s Pasture, Dennis
To get to Crowe’s Pasture, Take School St. off Rte. 6A in Dennis, turn right onto South Street, pass cemetery, parking lot is on the right, 0.1 mile down dirt road from sign.
Harwich Locations
Thompson’s Field Conservation Area
Texeira Conservation Lands
Cornelius Pond Woodlands
Muddy Creek Headwaters Preserve
Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve Note that this location is currently closed due to ecological restoration underway. It will be closed until sometime in the summer/fall of 2024. Cold Brook Eco-Restoration Project.
If you have a location in another town that has bluebird activity and want to start a new project, contact us with your ideas.