Pat Stump installs a new nesting box
Helping the Blue Mountains' Bluebirds
Pat Stump builds bluebird nesting boxes, and with them he builds a bluebird trail.
Story and Photo by Diane Longanecker
When last year's Columbia Complex Fire spread to Eckler Mountain in the Blue Mountains, Pat Stump of Finley, Washington, became concerned. He was concerned for the cabin where he vacations and the surrounding forest where he hunts. But he was especially concerned about all those housed in the small summer homes—nearly 100 of which he had built— scattered throughout the area.
You see, in his quiet way, Pat Stump, 66, has been taking part in one of the largest grassroots conservation efforts in North American history: providing birdhouses or nesting boxes for bluebirds. It's an ongoing effort, one that began several decades ago and continues to be supported by thousands of bluebird admirers to this day.
Until the late 1920s, bluebirds were common in North America. Large flocks migrated north in the spring to nest and south in the fall to winter. Where the climate's mild, bluebirds were seen year-round. But then the loss of nesting sites in the cavities of dead trees caused bluebird populations to plummet. By the 1970s, bluebird lovers across the country took action. For the next several decades, they built birdhouses and put them up on rural fence posts across the country. Now, bluebird numbers are on the rise.
But Pat doesn't give this larger picture much thought. "I just like birds," he says with a shrug, "especially bluebirds. For years, I've wanted to develop a bluebird trail. I wasn't able to until I retired."
In the spring of 2002, up on Eckler Mountain southeast of Dayton, Pat began his bluebird trail—a chain of nesting boxes that he built, installed and maintains. That first year, he put out about 20 boxes. He's been adding around 20 boxes each spring ever since.
"In the winter," says Pat, "I buy a pickup load of fence lumber to have in my shop. When I feel like it, I go out and build a few bird houses." To support his bluebird trail, Pat builds wooden outdoor furniture. "Whatever money I get from selling the picnic tables, lawn chairs and benches I make," says Pat, "I put right back into purchasing materials to build bluebird boxes."
Come spring, Pat heads out on his bluebird trail. One April, I was invited along.
Living on Eckler Mountain, I had noticed, in recent years, bird houses mysteriously appearing along the roadways. From each small structure's neat, attractive, well-built appearance, complete with a trademark bird on front, I knew someone with a passion for birds was behind it all. One fall the mystery was solved: I met Pat Stump.
With new nesting boxes in the back of his pickup, Pat and I set out to handle spring work on his bluebird trail. Bluebirds feed off insects on the ground— small grasshoppers being a favorite food—and they like trees to perch in as they watch for intruders. To accommodate these preferences, Pat put the new nesting boxes up in open areas near the edge of the forest.
"Because other birds such as wrens and fly catchers like bluebird nesting boxes," says Pat, "I often put boxes up in pairs. That way, I hope the passive bluebirds will get at least one of them."
Further along the bluebird trail, we found boxes stuffed full of twigs. Since bluebirds build nests of grass, twigs indicate the box has been used by wrens. These boxes were cleaned out. If repairs were needed, a new box was put up instead.
While helping the bluebirds that day, I came to appreciate these colorful songbirds and understand how much nesting boxes mean to their survival. As I was cleaning up last fall after the Columbia Complex Fire, I wondered what the fire's impact had been on the bluebirds who, by then, had already migrated south.
This spring, I was hopeful as I watched a pair of bluebirds take up residence in a nesting box in our front yard. Health issues kept Pat from tending his bluebird trail until summer. By then the bluebird pair had fledged one brood and was preparing for a second. When Pat dropped in, I was heartened to hear that what I'd observed taking place in our front yard had been going on around the mountain.
"I only lost two nesting boxes to the fire," says Pat with a wide grin, "and I couldn't get a replacement up fast enough for a bluebird female who waited eagerly perched on my truck. I've seen more bluebirds on the mountain this year than ever."
A federal government report published in July 2007 on fire's "effects on habitats and populations of birds of the interior West" underscores Pat's observation. Bluebirds, studies show, benefit from conditions following wildfires: increased open spaces and increased insect populations. As a result, their nest densities were observed to steadily increase over the next ten years.
That's gratifying news to Pat. Although it now means he needs to increase his winter output of nesting boxes, working to help meet the growing demand on Eckler Mountain for bluebird housing is just fine with him. After all, it's a demand he helped create.
Copyright (c) 2007, Blue Mountain News