Winter 2018 Edition

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Winter 2018 EditionTennessee Bluebird SocietyHonor Roll(Life Time Members)Margaret BeasleySue BradleyStan & Linda ColburnChuck & Cecelia CruickshankMary CushmanKathy DooleyRaymond DunavantChuck & Terry JamesRosalind & George KuritaJohn LangleyMort MasseyFarrell & Jane RoeJerry & Dianna RystickenDonald TurnerJoanne WatsonDr. Heather WilkinsPho! by Don HazelIn This IssuePresident’s MessageCumberland County Bluebird UpdateAnnual Meeting HighlightsUpdates from Around TennesseeCorporate Sponsors and New BoardTBS Membership ApplicationInterested in becoming aTennessee Bluebird Society LifeTime Member? For more detailssee the application on the last pageof this newsletter.BLUEBIRD QUOTES"e Bluebird is a Cut Above a# o ers. He seeks no ing in return forhis superior being. For his unique color and personali% he ask not forspecial favors. He apprecia&s your admira'on and anks you for yourhelp. "e fact, at in his world, you cared for him is e only fact atma(ered.PAGE 1- Wende# Long, 2005

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018PRESIDENT’S LETTER CHUCK CRUICKSHANKHello members of theTe n n e s s e e B l u e b i r dSociety. We had anotherbusy and productive yearin 2018!First, let me thank all theTe n n e s s e e B l u e b i r dSociety Board of Directorsmembers for their service and dedication.Without your volunteer activities to move ouragenda forward, we would not have the resultswe’ll communicate later in this letter. I wouldespecially like to thank outgoing Boardmembers Stan Colburn and Jerry Rysticken fortheir unselfish service.They were chartermembers of your board, and served in variouscapacities for five years. I’d also like to thankLou Miller for being our website coordinatorand Cecelia Cruickshank for managing ourFacebook page.We have nearly 700Facebook followers from Tennessee and otherstates who have interest in our activities herein the Volunteer state. I’d also like to thank ourcorporate sponsors, Wild Birds Unlimited ofKnoxville, and the Wood Thrush Shop fromNashville. Please continue to support theseretail facilities!I would like to welcome three new Board ofDirectors members to our organization. Michelle Campanis, Arboretum EducationProgram Coordinator at the University ofTennessee Arboretum in Oak Ridge Peggy Flierl-Vice President of the Cumberland County Bluebird Club and the coordinatorof twenty nest-box monitoring teams in theCrossville area.PAGE 2 John Martin, trainers and team leaders for nestbox trails on golf courses in Cumberland countyOn to 2018 results!In addition to ourestablished nest-box trails, new activities can bereported. Last spring, a partnership between theUniversity of Tennessee Arboretum in OakRidge, the Oak Ridge Girl Scout Troop, and theTennessee Bluebird Society led to a new trail atthe Arboretum with nearly 20 new nest-boxes.Additional trails and nest boxes were added inCumberland County.In Loudon County, newnest-boxes were installed on the trail at theTellico Village Wellness Center. Elton Piersonand the monitors for that trail look forward togood results in 2019.So what does all that mean?Well, as you can see from the chart below, theTennessee Bluebird Society can report anincrease in the state over the last three yearsfrom 350 to 746 nest-boxes, from 945 to over2,400 Bluebirds fledged, and from 1,360 to over3,200 birds from all species fledged. Thanks toall the volunteers this success!

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSPRESIDENT’S LETTER (cont.)So where do we go from here? I believe it isimportant to build on our current success, andcontinue to add new members, new trails andnew trail monitors to help our feathered friendshere in Tennessee. This is also a good time forcurrent County Coordinators to promote winterpresentations to garden clubs, bird clubs, youthleaders and science teachers. We have manycounties who do not currently have coordinators,so that is another opportunity for volunteers tocontribute without a huge time demand on yourschedule. It’s also a good time as we pause forthe winter months to refresh ourselves on themission of the Tennessee Bluebird Society.As a reminder here are our goals: Interest a new generation in conservationand protecting the Bluebird and other nativecavity-nesting birds In Tennessee. Have mentors in each county In Tennesseewilling to educate groups regarding conservationand the importance of creating a habitat fornative cavity-nesting birds. Create and maintain nest-box trailsthroughout the state Provide social opportunities to thoseinterested in conservation and protecting ourcavity-nesting birds. Collect nesting data for researchVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Bluebird Activity Is Booming inCumberland CountyFour years ago, in 2014 the Cumberland CountyBluebird Club monitored 25 nest boxes on onegolf course. Eight people took turns monitoringeach week and we were real proud of the 90bluebirds and 59 tree swallows that fledged thatyear.But early in 2015 a week long ice stormdevastated the bluebird population on theCumberland Plateau and only 20 bluebirdsfledged that year. Since then, we have graduallyincreased both the number of nest boxesinstalled and monitored and the resultingbluebird numbers. In 2018, 153 nest boxesproduced 427 bluebirds and 125 tree swallows.We have even bigger plans for 2019. The cityof Crossville asked the local Tennessee Collegeof Applied Technology (TCAT) to build 50 newnest boxes to be placed in and around the city inhonor of naming the bluebird the "Official bird ofthe City of Crossville". Plus, we have added anew golf course with 12 additional next boxes aswell as additions to courses that we alreadymonitor. The total number of boxes monitored in2019 will be more than 220.We were proud of our 25 boxes monitored in2014, and we are just as excited about the sixgolf courses, a sewage treatment plant, and thecities of Crossville and Pleasant Hill that are onour schedule this year.So let’s celebrate the recent success of theTennessee Bluebird Society, and diligently workto continue that success for the future.Happy birding!Chuck CruickshankPAGE 3Don Hazel is aTennessee BluebirdSociety BoardMember and lives inCrossville, TN

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Highlights from TN Bluebird Society Annual Meeting - Saturday, November 3, 2018Event Center UT Arboretum - Location for the TBS Annual MeetingMembers enjoy breakfast and networking prior to start ofAnnual MeetingBeautiful setting for the 2018 Annual MeetingPresident Chuck Cruickshank welcomes TBSmembers and presides over 5th AnnualMembership MeetingArtist Nick Farrell and Photographer Becky Boyd broughtexceptional offerings for TBS members to enjoy and purchasePAGE 4

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Highlights from TN Bluebird Society Annual Meeting - Saturday, November 3, 2018Fred Robertson offershandmade bluebird nestboxesPresident Chuck Cruickshank recognizes outgoing Board membersStan Colburn and Jerry RystickenMichelle Campanis, Education Program Directorat UT Arboretum, discusses community educationPAGE 5NABS VP Community Relations JimBurke provides background and updatefrom the national organizationKevin Hoyt, Director of the Forest ResourcesAgResearch and Education Center, UTArboretum, welcomes TBS members to thewonderful facility

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Highlights from TN Bluebird Society Annual Meeting - Saturday, November 3, 2018TBS program speakers are thanked for their participationKirsten Lawing, SeasonalInterpretive Recreationist fromCumberland Mountain State Park,discusses their raptor program andintroduces their newest member, abarn owlTBS members get up-close and personalwith Cumberland Mountain State Park’sbeautiful barred owlPAGE 6TBS Board Members (left to right) Fred Robertson, Chuck Cruickshank(President), Kathy Dooley (Treasurer), Chuck James, Michelle Campanis,Don Hazel (Vice President), Joanne Watson, Rosemary Chamberlain (Secretary),John Martin, Jerry Rysticken (outgoing)

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018Around TennesseeTBS welcomes Adrianna Nelson, the new Coordinator for SullivanCounty, TN. Adrianna is currently a Senior at John S. Battle HighSchool in Bristol, VA and lives in Bristol, TN. She has beeninterested in birding since the age of 9 and was looking for ways toget involved with bluebirding in particular when she came acrossthe TBS website and saw an opening for a Sullivan CountyCoordinator. In 2019, she will be making presentations aboutbluebirds to the local community, one already scheduled in early2019 for the Bristol Bird Club. She is hoping to set up formal BBtrails and establish a monitoring program. Over the holidayseason, she has participated in several Audobon bird counts. Upongraduation, she hopes to attend college majoring in Biology.Don Hazel, presenting a bluebird phototo Crossville City Manager Greg Wood inhonor of Crossville naming the bluebirdthe official bird of the City of Crossville.In addition to just naming the bluebirdthe official bird, the city has initiallyinstalled a total of 20 bluebird nest boxesin three city parks and more will beadded next spring.The TBS Newsletter has a new Editor, Janet McDonald. Janet and herhusband, Mark, moved to Fairfield Glade, TN in October 2017. Theyfell in love with the area about 20 years ago when they came to golf andvacation, purchased their lot in 2008 and built a home 3 years ago. WithDon Hazel’s help, they put up their first bluebird nestbox at their homein Spring 2018 and had a total of 9 BB babies from 2 nests fledge thisseason. Mark and Janet began monitoring bluebird boxes on theDorchester Golf Course in July 2018 and truly enjoy it. Mark and Janetmoved to the Crossville area from Frankfort, IN where they had livedfor the last 27 years. Janet is originally from Lubbock, TX and she andMark met in Houston, TX in the early 80’s. They just celebrated their35th wedding anniversary. Please forward any news items and articles toJanet to be included in future newsletter editions. She can be reached atmjmcdonald@sbcglobal.net or cell 765.650.8084.PAGE 7

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSPLEASE SUPPORT OUR CORPORATESPONSORSShop Wild Birds Unlimited forall your Bluebird needs!VOLUME DECEMBER 2018Tennessee Bluebird SocietyBoard of DirectorsEastern Region:Michelle Campanis - Oak RidgeChuck Cruickshank -LoudonKathy Dooley - LoudonPeggy Flierl - CrossvilleDon Hazel - CrossvilleChuck James - LoudonJohn Martin - CrossvilleCentral Region:Rosemary Chamberlain - DicksonAndy Ecton - LebanonBeth Ecton - Lebanon7240 Kingston Pike Ste. 164, Knoxville, TN 37919(865) 337-5990 www.knoxville.wbu.comRosalind Kurita - ClarksvilleDuane Rice - ChapmansboroWestern Region:Fred Robertson - ColliervilleFarrell Roe - JacksonStacey Roe - JacksonJoanne Watson - ColliervilleScientific Advisor: Dawn Wilkins,PhD, UT MartinEmail: tnsialia@gmail.comWebsite: www.tnbluebirdsociety.orgFacebook: Tennessee Bluebird SocietyPAGE 8

NEWSLETTER FOR TBS MEMBERSVOLUME DECEMBER 2018TENNESSEE BLUEBIRD SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP BENEFITSDid you know that when you become amember of the Tennessee Bluebird Societythere is an additional benefit? Once youbecome a TBS member, for an additional 15you qualify for your first membership into theNorth American Bluebird Society at a 50%savings. Only 15 instead of 30. Fill out theTennessee Bluebird Society application on thelast page of this newsletter. Indicate that youwant a TBS Household Membership for 15.WebsitesTennessee Bluebird Societywww.tnbluebirdsociety.orgNorth American Bluebird Societywww.nabluebirdsociety.orgPAGE 9Then by the NABS circle (Y) and add 15 fora total of 30 and send in your application.We will submit your membership to NABS.In addition to receiving our four TBSnewsletters you will receive four issues ofBluebird from the North American BluebirdSociety.