Bluebirding in Northeastern CT
 If
you have corrections, input, comments or suggestions on this website, please don't hesitate
to contact
me. My name is Bet, and my email address is ebluebird"at"charter.net
(replace "@" with "at" symbol.) (I never spam - see my privacy policy).
If you have a question or bluebird emergency and don't hear back from me right away, you might try one of these online resources:
- Bluebirding Forum (Garden web discussion forum - mostly backyard bluebirders, some very experienced people and great photographers. You will find many helpful, kindred souls there)
- Bluebird Nut Cafe (discussion forum. Discussion of active House Sparrow management allowed)
- Bluebird_L Mailing List (Cornell - many experienced trail monitors post, along with newbies. Must subscribe. Archived postings available, sorted by topic.)
If you have an injured bird, contact your nearest wildlife rehabber: Locate Wildlife Rehabilitators.
I specialize in cavity nesters and can't help too much with other birds (e.g., identifying nests/eggs of open cup nesting birds.)
 I developed this website to share information with anyone interested
in bluebird conservation, after so many others have helped me
with answers and input. I do it out of gratitude towards all those who have shared their knowledge and experiences with me, and penance for the mistakes I have made. It is free from the influence of advertising.
I hope you find it useful. I will be the first to admit that
I am still learning, and welcome any feedback on how this site
can be improved, as I want it to be accurate, reliable and clear. See page on accuracy.
Thank you for visiting. You're welcome to use any of
the content to write articles - if it's for a bluebirding newsletter,
I'd enjoy receiving a copy. It helps me stay in touch with my inner
bird nerd.
Someone on a bluebirding forum once asked "Who/what is Bet?" I live northeastern Connecticut.
In terms of education and work experience, I have a B.S. from
UCONN, and an M.S. from Yale in Environmental Management, and was
a Peace Corps volunteer in South America. I am a Certified Environmental
Professional, and have worked in environmental protection for 28
years. One of my goals in life is to leave this world not worse, or even the same, but better than it was before I got here.
I saw my first bluebird ever in Bickleton, WA around 1994. I saw my first Eastern Bluebird in the winter of 1998, when I was startled by a flash of blue
by my home office window. See my theories about
why we love bluebirds. Realizing that bluebirds might be interested
in nesting in the area, I set up a trail. Then they sort of multiplied. See details.
Most of what I know about bluebirds I owe to those who came before me. I believe that "We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness on sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size. " (John of Salisbury, Metalogicon, 1159)
The website name is latin for the Eastern Bluebird species (Sialia sialis) although I have expanded the site to include all small cavity nesters (including Mountain and Western Bluebirds). I started the website a few years back after seeing a great list of resources on the Bluebirding Forum. I volunteer on the local Conservation Commission, and developed an educational
website for them (which of course has a page on bluebirding).
I also volunteer to conserve open
space, which is critical to bluebird survival. A few years ago, I
assumed webmaster duties for the Best
of Bluebird_L Classifieds, a resource Jim McLochlin
of the Audubon Society of Omaha put together. It captures postings
from the Bluebird Listserv and organizes them into categories.
My favorite bluebird book is The
Bluebird Monitor's Guide by Berger, Kridler, and
Griggs.
I belong to the Massachusetts
Bluebird Society and
am a Life Member and Board Member of NABS,
and provide data on trail results to those organizations, as well
as to the CT Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)
and Cornell's
Birdhouse Network. I write a newspaper column on conservation and environmental protection issues for The Villager newspapers (www.ourbetternature.org). In between, I work part-time from
home for a non-profit research and development organization.
A neighbor and wonderful friend, Joe Chapuis, hosts this website for free and has saved me from many HTML errors. My geologist husband helps install
and repair nestboxes, and patiently listens to endless bluebird
blather.
See more information about my trails.
Thank you for your own efforts to fill the skies with blue!
Photo by Wendell Long
...the last chapter on bluebirding has not been written.
- Pauline Tom, 2004 |
