Reported by Greater Princeton branch of AYLUS (GPA) member, Ethan Xu (4/25, 6 hrs):
History: Eastern Bluebirds are a species of thrush native to eastern North America characterized by their vivid blue backs and rufous throats. In the early 20th century, their populations decreased dramatically due to invasive species (including House Sparrows and European Starlings) taking over bluebird nesting locations. After this, people started setting up trails and nest boxes to revive this species, saving them from extinction.
My Experience: When my mom first told me about this program with the Greater Princeton Branch of AYLUS (GPA) Environment Committee, I was beyond excited since I have always loved birdwatching and have been fascinated with nature from a young age. We had also done a program similar to this in Plainsboro Preserve a few years back. In this volunteer program, I would get up with my friend every weekend in the morning to monitor our nest boxes, and we would collect data about what species were nesting, how many eggs they laid, and how many of them fledged. The parents were often extremely protective (mostly the Tree Swallows), and some of them would even dive at us from above to scare us away from their nests. I was also able to add two new birds to my life list: the Common Merganser and the Ring-Necked Duck.
Conclusion: Overall it was an excellent experience. I loved driving the golf carts (even though we weren’t allowed to), and we saw many other species along the way, including a Ring-Necked Duck, Wild Turkeys, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Red-Tailed Hawks, and a Bald Eagle. At first, it was exceptionally challenging since thorns covered most of the nest boxes, and my mom had to bring a machete to cut down some of them just so we could walk through, but in the end, it was worth it to see the eggs hatch and grow into adult birds.
