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By Paula Ziebarth – LEIC Board Member – Ottawa County Area Contact, Ohio Bluebird Society
A “bird trail” is generally a term used to describe a number of nest boxes or nest sites set up for native cavity nesting birds to use to raise their young. It can also include habitat restoration or preservation for native ground nesting species.
Our newest preserve, Duff Vineyard Preserve, was dedicated in a wonderful ceremony held at the vineyard on August 3rd, 2025. At that ceremony, I asked people interested to sponsor a nest box or more for native Tree Swallows and Purple Martins. Due to the generosity of everyone, I am pleased to announce that we have funding for the entire Tree Swallow trail and Purple Martin rig for the site. For people that donated a nest box, a nameplate recognizing their sponsorship will be installed on the box and I will report to them how their birds did at the end of next summer. We hope to have a “grid” of nest boxes installed for Tree Swallows this fall and they will find them next spring when they migrate back to us from Central America the second or third week of March.
Trees Swallows generally nest once per season and we often get large broods of six or seven nestlings in a nest box on the island due to the large population of small flying insects here. Next April through June, I hope you will visit the Duff Vineyard Preserve and watch the Tree Swallow “tornado” that I expect to result from the placement of nest boxes here. They will swoop over the site, availing themselves of thousands of small flying insects and protecting their boxes.
We hope to attract a Barn Owl, American Kestrel, Northern Flickers or Great Crested Flycatchers and Purple Martins to additional nest boxes and housing on the property. LEIC is dedicated to preserving native flora and fauna on its preserves.
The fun doesn’t stop with the installation of nest sites for these birds. Bird nests are monitored every 5-7 days and data is kept on Cornell’s NestWatch database. This database is a wonderful citizen science project that compiles data for use by qualified scientists for their research. It is also used by us to track the success of bird nests throughout the years. If you are interested in helping to monitor Tree Swallows or Purple Martins next year, please contact me at paulazbird@gmail.com. I train and work with monitors throughout the state. The one caveat I have is that volunteer monitors must be willing to learn to control non-native House Sparrows in nest boxes. These birds kill our native cavity nesting birds and are legal to control.
Additional bird conservation/education projects for the site could include WebCams and/or live feed from nest boxes if we get funding. Help with Wi-Fi costs, cameras, and presentation screens inside Duff Homestead could make these projects possible. Planting of some native berry bushes on the property would also provide emergency food for tree swallows when they return to us in the early spring before small flying insects are active.
I would like to extend a special THANK YOU! to the following individuals who are donating their money, time, and equipment to make The Duff Vineyard Preserve Bird Trail a reality: Kathy and Chris North, Patty and Carl LoPresti, Clare Hayes, Elizabeth Heineman, Michael McIntyre, Mike and Susan Byrnes, Bob and Jody Frimel, Rich and Carol Roberts, Colleen Kerkay, Ken and Jennifer Farber, Cameron Farber, Julene Market, Kelly and Marty Faris, Darlene Sillick, Charlie Zepp, Terry Jenkins, Terri Glick and Mark Lekanka.
Any donations for this project can go to Lake Erie Islands Conservancy, P. O. Box 461, Put-in-Bay, Ohio 43456 or at our website at www.lakeerieislandsconservancy.org and use the Donate tab. Write Duff Homestead Nest Box Project on memo line.
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