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the tribune wednesday september 20 1989 p9 eastern bluebird deserves second chance art briggsjude correspondent now that the calendar has flip ped past summer and into the months of autumn it might be a good time to review the current status of the eastern bluebird in ontario long a traditional favorite with the early settlers the blue robin as they called it gradually fell to the status of a rare bird by the mid1950s though the reasons for the loss of the beloved harb inger of spring are generally well known its important in our hey day of modern living that they be repeated the convenience of blaming our contemporary ways of living for the bluebirds decline must be tempered with the birds normal life patterns in many instances the real problems arose when the two became entwined for exam ple historically the bluebird suf fered periodic heavy losses from late winter storms during its ear ly migration flights with an adequate supply of natural nesting cavities the population would generally recover in the space of a few seasons however when modern farming methods replaced wooden posts with those of steel and removed the dead trees in the hedgerows it eliminated many of the bluebirds nesting sites further competition for the re maining cavities was unwittingly provided by the introduction of two alien species the house spar row and the starling the belligerent nature of these two european birds plus the fact that they were often nonmigratory meant the bluebirds often lost their opportunity to reproduce also the introduction and widespread use of persistent chemicals like ddt in the years that followed world war ii cut a devastating swath through the ranks of the remaining bluebirds truly a thrush by classification and a ground feeder by habit these skybacked birds with the earthtoned breast vanished in the space of a few seasons from most of itheir former haunts bird columnist hugh halliday wrote in the toronto star in 1958 so long mr bluebird our modern ways leave no room for you similarly in may 1960 fred t hall director of the buf falo museum addressing the st catharines game and fish association said im sorry to say the eastern bluebird must be considered as written off in the niagara frontier and upper new york state records of the kingston field naturalists in dicate that only three bluebirds were found in the entire kingston region in 1958 from its unenviable status as a rare bird the eastern bluebird has made a slow but steady return to some sections of its former range this recovery is due without question to the many nestboxes that have been erected for them by people of all walks of life many are dedicated bluebird trail operators who each season monitor and maintain hundreds of boxes that produce the nucleus of our presentday bluebird population just as important are the countless concerned in dividuals who place several bluebird nestboxes on the fence lines of their rural property or nearby country churchyards hopefully the time is gone when it took threeyears and oyer 300 nestboxes to get a single pair of nesting bluebirds thinkin counted on the fingers of one nestings in 520 boxes in the brant- young were fledged this season back to those days in the late hand ford area near kleinburg where such reports show that we can 1950s and early 1960s our success balance that against this bluebirds have been scarce for have bluebirds in ontario if we rate per 500 units could be years report that show 205 many years over two dozen really want them mon fit 7 am to 7 pm sat 7am to 6 pm sunday 9 am to 5 pm 6405080 gazebos farmer ajck garoenswc s garden center take advantage of our fall gardening specials up to 30 off oomatt tnwcti id 1 1 kammatbatll 4j 1 p 1 wr f main st stouffvilfe pea shnub v m sv shade trees flowering shrubs imported holland bulbs are in be sure of dry firewood buy now we also carry seeds patio slabs fertilizer gravel garden tools clay pots potting soil loam triple mix top soil rr ties bark chips 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