ANOTHER NESTBOX CAMERA IS RUNNING IN NORTH ORANGE COUNTY
Club member, Jo-Ann Coller has a new nestbox camera installed with Mike Spohn‘s help. To watch the action in the nestbox, Go to: www.mydlink.com type in email: fcoller@socal.rr.com password K4KB9kK27 (the third k is not capitalized ). You may have to download the free software from D link to make it work.
Five Chicks fledged this morning at 9:00 a.m. May 16th! Nest was clean.
Parents are feeding their fledglings and they have made a new nest. Both parents helped make and shape the nest. The hen is now laying her second egg for the second brood. May 17, 2013
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Southern California Bluebird Club
May 4, 2013 Minutes
Irvine Ranch Water district
Dick Purvis opened the meeting at 9:00 am. There were 68 people present, our largest attendance to date! New members were introduced; Barbara and Chewy Islas, Ann Schmidt, and Arlene Nelson Bird.
Beverly White met Louis Sahagum, a reporter from the LA Times while monitoring her bluebird boxes. Louis was interested in doing a blog on our bluebird club. Beverly passed on the information to Jim Semelroth and Bob Franz and they were interviewed by phone. You can read the blog through your search engine by typing in, “Los Angeles Times Blog,” and then search for bluebirds. Jim said he would send out the article to the members.
Susan Bulger reported on the “Rubber Ducky Race,” by the Kiwanis Club of La Mirada. Although no members won the race, we earned $290 for the tickets our members sold and $65 for donations at our booth.
Jo-Ann Coller read the financial report. On April 6th we had a balance of $5088.99 in the SC Bluebird account and $2134.96 in the account for CCI. Since then we took in $355.00 from the Kiwanis Club event, $786.00 from the Green Scene at the Fullerton Arboretum, A donation of $50 from the Women’s club and $50 from Robin Hood Montessori as a result of a bluebird presentation by Jim Semelroth. We received an additional $355.00 for miscellaneous donations. We purchased additional lumber for boxes at $249.03 and donated $500 to the Summer Tree Project. We also incurred $43.10 worth of bank charges. Jo-Ann has since made arrangements with the bank to eliminate these charges. The current balance is $5892.86.
The Cavity conservation Initiative received $150.00 in donations, bringing the balance to $2284.96
Michael White donated 12 completed nest boxes which he crafted from the club lumber.
Walter Josten has developed an app that our club can use to record interviews, pictures, and other informative information, all backed by videos of bluebirds. This information can then be uploaded to our web or U tube or other social media outlets. Walter demonstrated the apps capabilities to the members. Jim Semelroth is working with Walter to develop an introduction to our club with the app. You can download the app for free by going to www.vumanity.com.
Gillian Martin invited four of the third graders from Community Roots Academy, along with their parents and teacher, Ingrid Beaty, to do a presentation for our club members. The children told how they inspected the snags at Laguna Niguel Regional Park, learned about the birds and critters that used the dying trees, and spotted several birds which they could identify. Their presentation was followed by a video of the children’s activities at the park, put together by the children and their teacher, Ingrid Beaty. Snacks and drinks were served after the meeting, provided by Susan Bulger, Gillian Martin, and Katie Purvis.
All club members are strongly encouraged to attend the public presentation by the students of Community Roots Academy on May 18th at 10:00 am as they conclude their CCI project in the Laguna Niguel Regional Park. The children will be planting a tree for the park.
Susan Bulger reminded bluebird monitors to make sure the holes to their nest boxes are smooth. Rough edges cause damage to the bird’s feathers.
Jo-Ann Coller reminded people to sign up for 4 hours to man our club booth at the Orange County Fair from July 12th though August 2nd. An electronic copy will be sent to all the members to consider.
Jo-Ann Coller has purchased dispensers for food grade Diatomatious Earth. They are very effective for dealing with mites and ants in nest boxes. They are $10 each and she still has three available. Contact Jo-Ann if you are interested.
A few members will be car-pooling to Convington Park on May 9th, Thursday. We will meet with a member of the Summer Tree Institute to view the dying trees that they are trying to save from being removed. Our club donated $500 to the institute to help preserve the trees. If you are interested in going, contact Jo-Ann Coller.
The meeting was concluded with bluebird stories from the members.
Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Coller
