The Hills Are Alive

When I was a child, I was fas­cinated with the beautiful bluebirds in the area where I lived in the "Old" Kettle Falls, Wash., north of Spokane.

The western and moun­tain bluebirds were plentiful there in the spring and sum­mer.

The mountain species is typical of high elevations in summer, most common above 5,000 feet as quoted from "The Golden Field Guide."

Both of the species are found in our Blue Mountains above Dayton, Waitsburg and Pomeroy. An excellent loop into the high mountains fol­lows a ridgeline south from Dayton above the North Touchet River. I talked with Tom Scribner of the Walla Walla Chapter of the Blue Mountain Audu­bon Society. He said that the society had placed bluebird boxes in several areas of the Blue Mountains in Washing­ton and Oregon. The society checks these boxes in the early spring. The bluebird boxes have to be a regular specificationin size and shape and placed at just the right height of three to 30 feet in a certain line for the bluebirds to build their nests. Scribner suggested I talk with Pam Conover about her experiences with the study of the bluebirds by her 5th grade class in Waitsburg. Pam said that it all started with a reading book (non­fiction) for the class called "Bluebird Rescue." Tom Scribner's father taught Pam and her class how to make the boxes.

Mike White, who was coach and teacher in the Waitsburg school district, cut the pieces, and the class would assemble them in their classroom. Mike continued to do this for years after he retired.)

The children and and their families took the completed bird houses and placed them at sites on Jasper Mountain, where Pam and her husband, Larry, have a cabin.

The children from their class and their families would then have a barbecue and re­ally make a day of it. "What a wonderful way to bring families together in so many ways," Pam said. Part of the project was for the children to get permis­sion from the owners (Pam and Larry) to come onto their property and place the boxes - and then write letters to thank them.

The Audubon Society has also placed boxes on Jasper and looping over to Pomeroy into the high Blue Moun­tains,

above the North Fork of the Touchet River.

To quote from the soci­ety's newsletter, the Magpip­er, on May 2, 2009: "Sheila Zanger reported seeing the Mountain and Western Blue­birds along Wolf Fork of the Touchet River on April 2, 2009."

I was visiting Ted Pater­son and Monica Stobie on the North Touchet Road. Monica showed me the birdhouse she built, and I was admiring it. She said that the bluebirds shunned that one and chose a wren's birdhouse to nest in instead. The bluebirds have been gone from their house since the middle of July. She was unhappy they didn't stay because they were fun and "so pretty."