Following is the 2020 report we received from the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society - who collates all the bluebird box nesting data from the southern interior.  So many birds! .... and monitors!  Good job!  Thanks everyone!

How did efforts to build up populations of cavity-nesting birds fare around British Columbia in 2020?
 
Thanks to SIBTS Nestbox Data Coordinator Kathy N., who compiled reports from monitors around the province. Here’s a summary, by geographical area.
 
Some areas normally have some of each bluebird species, Western (WEBL) and Mountain (MOBL). Other areas have only one species. Many areas also welcome Tree Swallows (TRES).
 
Cariboo Region
Sandy and Rita P. in Empire Valley had 103 MOBL nestings. There were 280 nestlings and 252 fledglings, a nice 90% success rate. TRES nested 33 times and had 113 nestlings with 90 fledging for a rate of 79.6%.
 
Sandy writes: “Wet, late spring resulted in a late start for season, but the Bluebirds had a pretty good year except not a lot of second broods because of the late spring.  Tree Swallows did not fair very well, we had a lot of heavy prolonged rains.  Not good conditions for Swallows.  Bear problem was not as bad this year as last but did lose 8 Bluebird and 2 Swallow nests due to bear.”
 
Castlegar Area
Paula N. in Upper Ootishenia had 6 MOBL nestings that gave 27 nestlings, all of which fledged, i.e. 100%. She also had one nesting of TRES that was 100% successful with 5 fledging.
 
Cranbrook Area
The Rocky Mountain Naturalists have many members monitoring trails throughout the area, with 344 boxes used. Collectively they had 145 WEBL nestings with 639 hatchings that produced 578 fledglings, a 90.5% success rate.
For MOBL, 89 nestings with 386 hatchlings and 345 fledglings, a 89.4% success rate.
TRES had 159 nestings, 757 hatchlings and 531 fledglings; 70.1%.
 
Greenwood Area
Ray and Judy F. found one MOBL nesting. It was 100% successful, producing 5 fledglings.
 
They also report that a House Wren built an entire nest late in the season but never laid any eggs.
“On another note, we had erected an outhouse near the garden last year but hadn't yet screened in the space under the back of the roof.  A pair of Pacific-slope flycatchers decided that a short 2x4 shelf beside the door was a good place for a nest.  They raised 5 young ones, and we opened the door enough when they were large enough so that the babies would not have to fly up to the roof opening when it came time to leave the nest.   Now we can use the outhouse again, and it will get fully screened before next spring!”
 
Kelowna Area
At Black Mountain, Carol M. reported 4 WEBL nestings that had 20 nestlings, but only 10 fledglings, a 50% rate. One MOBL nesting was 100% successful with 6 fledged. Three TRES nestings produced only 5 fledglings from 11 hatchlings, a low 45.5% rate.
 
Carol writes: "With 15 boxes monitored, the results are disappointing.  Especially, the number of bluebirds ready to fledge and then all be found dead in their nests.  At least the cattle were out of the park so none of the boxes were knocked off their posts.  At first we thought the unusual wet weather this year might have created a blowfly situation as one group of dead Western Bluebirds had maggots on them.  However, after reading an article in the North American Bluebird Society summer 2020 journal, I wonder if the lack of insects was the cause of the deaths.  Most of the deaths happened just before fledging, so perhaps the adults were unable to keep up with the hungry mouths.  We saw adults around while the bluebirds were alive.  It is possible that the adults died or abandoned the nests for lack of food.

The article I refer to is “Insect Populations Continue to Plummet – What Does This Mean for Bluebirds?” by Bernie Daniel, Ph.D.  After sharing the recent drastic fall of populations of insects worldwide, a few possible causes are suspected:
--Intensification of agriculture (in our case the decimation of grassland just to the west of the bluebird trail).
--Development of newer generations of pesticides which are a little too effective on insects (phenylpyrazoles and neonicotinoids in particular).
--Biological factors such as pathogens introduced by species from other continents.
--Unfavourable conditions brought on by climate change.
“Next year we plan to remove boxes 7-12 which have not been productive for a few years, and put them and some extra boxes we have along the Gopher Creek fence line.  We will do this and clean out the boxes in the fall.  Maybe, we’ll have to start providing meal worms for the bluebirds!!!  How will we do that?”
 
On the Gallagher’s Canyon and Mission Greenway trails, Rick G. had 4 WEBL nestings producing 16 nestlings and 13 fledglings for a rate of 81.3%. He also had 7 TRES nestings with 19 nestlings that gave 12 fledglings, a 63.2% rate.
 
At UBCO, Hamilton reported 13 nestings of WEBL with 62 hatchlings and 62 fledglings, a 100% success story.
 
Lake Country Area
On the Beaver Lake Trail, Stu W. and Ann G. had 1 WEBL nesting that had no fledglings. MOBL were a bit better with 4 nestings, 12 nestlings and 4 fledglings, a 33.3% success rate. TRES had 11 nestings, 20 nestlings, 8 fledglings and a 40% rate.
 
Stu adds: “Nest Boxes available – I have 31 boxes on my trail, however, an interloper has installed 11 + new boxes between mine, in no particular order.  One of our club members, in early May, opened each of the 11 boxes and found evidence of occupation: MTBL, WEBL, HOWR, TRSW, including nests, eggs and sitting birds.  These boxes were not monitored further.”
 
Lillooet Area
Lillooet Naturalists’ Club members look after trails Diamond S Ranch, OK Ranch and Kelly Lake. They enjoyed 58 MOBL nestings that gave 248 nestlings and 212 fledglings, a rate of 85.5%. There were also 52 TRES nestings, 162 nestlings, 118 fledglings, for a rate of 72.8%.
 
Logan Lake Area
Ray T. looks after many boxes. 114 nestings of MOBL resulted in 449 nestlings and 412 fledglings, a rate of 91.8%. From 200 TRES nestings there were 798 nestlings and 660 fledging; 82.7%.
 
Osoyoos Area
At the Desert Centre, Leor O. reported 13 WEBL nestings, resulting in 59 hatchlings and 34 fledglings, for a disappointing 57.6% success rate. One TRES nesting produced a 100% success rate with 4 young fledging.
 
Bob S. writes: “This is a quick summary for 2020 of 8 bluebird boxes on the road up to Mount Kobau. I submitted a report form last year where the boxes did produce some successes. Not so for 2020, so no completed form.
“Out of a total of 4 boxes (2 with 6 chicks and 2 with 5), no young survived to fledge. By our best guesses, a bear destroyed one box, probably the mother was killed or abandoned another nest as the young were found dead and dessicated, and the two remaining nests were probably predated by snakes or weasels as evidenced by eggshell fragments (prior to hatching).
“With so much predator loss in a relatively wild area, the decision was made to retire the boxes from the Mount Kobau Road area and not attempt efforts there in the future.”
 
Penticton Area
On the West Bench, above Sage Mesa, Myrna B. reported that there were 9 WEBL nestings, 46 hatchlings and 36 fledglings; 78.3%. MOBL had 2 nestings, 10 hatchlings and 10 fledging; 100%.
 
Myrna adds: “Some eggs and chicks lost to snakes, I’m assuming Gopher snakes.  Nests clean and no other disturbance.”
 
Quesnel Area
The Quesnel Trail & Nature Club looks after trails at Dragon Lake and West Fraser. Combined, these locations produced 14 MOBL nestings with 43 nestlings and 38 fledglings, for a rate of 88.4%. TRES had 15 nestings producing 68 hatchlings and 57 fledglings; 83.8%.
 
Vernon Area
The North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club had many active trails with a total of 302 nest boxes used.
There were 90 nesting of WEBL resulting in 377 hatchlings. 290 fledged, a 76.9% success rate. MOBL had 12 nestings with a 100% success rate for 54 hatchlings. Meanwhile TRES had 176 nestings, producing 678 nestlings and 406 fledging for a low rate of 60%.
 
White Lake/Willowbrook Area
Audrey M. had 5 nestings of WEBL, resulting in 20 hatchlings and 20 fledglings, 100% successful. MOBL had 3 nestings, 12 nestlings and 12 fledglings, 100%. Then there were 3 TRES nestings, 100% successful with 15 nestlings and fledglings.
 
Province-wide our reporters had a total of 1,884 nest boxes available, with 1,328 being used, a 70.5% occupancy which is lower than normal. The overall successful fledging rate was 84.2% for WEBL, 89.7% for MOBL and a low 72.2% for TRES.
 
Other cavity nesters that were reported in smaller numbers were House Wrens, Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, European Starlings, Pygmy Nuthatches, White-breasted Nuthatches and House Sparrows. Monitors also found some mammals in boxes: Red Squirrel, Chipmunk and mice.
 
No reports were received for nest box trails in and around Kamloops, Trail, Kilpoola-Osoyoos, Summerland (Bald Range), other trails at White Lake, Williams Lake, or Bulkley Valley. If any monitors in these areas, or other non-reporting areas, have data or anecdotes to share, please send them in even now to Kathy.

What a year it’s been!  As so many have already said, 2020 was a year like no other.  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, not least of which were the ways Rocky Mountain Naturalists adapted to a province-wide lockdown and varying levels of restriction while still trying to keep our membership active and engaged.
 
The year began with our AGM in January.  Our Executive changed somewhat, with Rob stepping down from his position as BC Nature Rep after a two-year term.  Wendy stepped down from her position as Member-at-Large and was elected as the new BC Nature Rep, while Janice was elected to the now-vacant Member-at-Large position.  Gretchen was elected to a second term as Treasurer and the remaining Executive members continued into the second year of their respective terms.
 
We had an encouraging increase in memberships in 2020.  We currently have 93 memberships and 141 individual members.  Sue R. managed our membership records for several years, but has recently moved out of the area, leaving this position vacant.  We would like to extend our appreciation and thanks to Sue for her dedication to the Rocky Mountain Naturalists over the past three decades and we wish her well in her new home.  Hasi has graciously volunteered to take over the management of our membership records.
 
Your Executive had many discussions in 2020 about what kinds of activities would be safe to offer and protocols for participation were developed.  In the spring we cancelled all activities from late March until early June, when strict provincial health orders were in place, and we did so again in November.  The most recent restrictions are ongoing and will continue until infection rates drop and provincial orders are eased or lifted.  This has affected many of our activities and has forced us to become creative in how we approach this “new normal”.
 
In order to comply with provincial public health orders and out of an abundance of caution, only four of our six usual bi-monthly meetings were held.  The March and May meetings were cancelled.  When COVID numbers went down over the summer, we were able to hold our July meeting at Reade Lake again, using protocols such as social distancing, a contact list and an RSVP required for participants, prior to attending.  In September we once again held an outdoor meeting at Idlewild Park in Cranbrook, utilizing the same protocols.  By November, infection rates were rising again but we were able to have a virtual membership meeting using ZOOM for the first time.
 
Communications and Outreach
 
Susan W. continues to be the editor for our quarterly newsletter.  Four excellent issues of The Kestrel were published online, with reports on outings and articles on a variety of subjects.  Sincere thanks to Susan for the time and effort she puts into every issue and a big thank-you also to the many contributors of articles and photos.  We have an interesting and informative newsletter that we can all be proud of!
 
The Rocky Mountain Naturalists Facebook page has grown a little more since last year, with 215 members.  Dianne continues in her role as Administrator of this closed group and the page is active, with members adding photos and articles of interest as well as ongoing online conversations about a variety of subjects.
 
Dianne is also the Administrator of the Rocky Mountain Naturalists website, which can be visited by both members and non-members.  Forms on the website have been used for inquiries and comments, dues payments and registration for events such as the Christmas Bird Count.  Thank-you, Dianne, for your expertise and your time and effort spent on keeping both the website and Facebook page up to date.
 
We have had a number of queries and proposals from individuals and organizations over the past year.  These include subjects such as:

• Dark Sky Initiative
• Logging on private land
• Fossil Repository at Cranbrook History Centre
• Kootenay Dirt Bike Association proposal for trail development at Ta Ta Creek
• Requests for support of individual projects

 
The Executive has discussed and responded to all inquiries.  A letter was sent to Premier John Horgan supporting the designation of a Fossil Repository at the Cranbrook History Centre.  A detailed response to a proposal by the Kootenay Dirt Bike Association was sent to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development and the RDEK.
 
Birding
 
RMN birders were out all year, in groups and individually, while still adhering to public health orders.
 
Early Morning Birding was in full swing from early January to the end of March, when this activity was temporarily suspended.   Birding continued on Wednesday mornings in early June and was suspended again in November.  Thank-you to Jim, who is responsible for organizing the group’s outings and reporting results.
 
For the first time in many years, we were not able to hold Little Big Day as a competitive team event.  A small group of birders worked together to create a new COVID version of LBD, the “Rocky Mountain Bird Blitz (LBD 2020)”, where individuals and small family groups or buddies could bird within the East Kootenay boundaries within a 24-hour window on May 23rd.  All the lists were counted and totalled to try and match or beat the totals of previous years and, although there was no count-up potluck, a good time was had by all.  Thanks to Greg for coordinating this event.
 
RMN birders were invited to participate in the Kootenay Bank Swallow Survey.  Birders made a number of observations over the spring and summer months, which were forwarded to the project coordinator, who added them to the Survey’s database.
 
Our annual Christmas Bird Counts required some changes in procedure to comply with the current COVID restrictions.  Cranbrook and Kimberley counts both had good turnouts.  Cranbrook’s CBC was held on December 26th and attracted 19 field counters and 13 feeder counters.  Kimberley’s CBC was held January 3rd and had 15 field counters and 8 feeder counters.  Other details can be found on our website.  Thank-you to Dianne, who organized and reported on these events.
 
Marianne coordinated activities involving our Bluebird Trail project, with 23 active routes and 30 volunteer monitors.  Our Club holds a membership in the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society.
 
Dianne monitors the Skookumchuk Prairie IBA (Important Bird & Biodiversity Area).
 
Projects and Special Events
 
Our annual Winter Social was held on February 23rd.  Twenty-three hardy RMNs participated in a hike up Wycliffe’s Lone Pine Butte followed by a pot-luck dinner attended by 31 naturalists and graciously hosted by Sandy and Hasi.
 
Responsibility for organizing the 2020 Baynes Lake bat count passed to residents of the area.  Several RMNs joined in the June count, which reported 472 bats.  Thanks to Scott for reporting on this count.
 
Several of our most popular annual activities were suspended in 2020 because of COVID restrictions.  Turtle Day, Club Camp and our summer social all had to be cancelled.
 
The turtle monitoring project at Elizabeth Lake continues under the stewardship of Greg and Katrin, who have done an excellent job repairing fences, constructing and placing cages to prevent predation, rototilling and weeding the beds and monitoring the nests.  Two groups of RMN members spent two days removing invasive weeds from the area.
 
The recipient of the $1000 Mildred White Scholarship was Adelina Morello.  There was no formal presentation at the College of the Rockies, due to the COVID restrictions.
 
Elizabeth Lake
 
The Elizabeth Lake Committee had a number of meetings and conference calls with Chris New, Director of Community Services for the City of Cranbrook, to discuss plans for future improvements at Elizabeth Lake.  Chris submitted applications for funding in the fall of 2020 but there has been no confirmation of grant money at the time of this report.  Chris retired at the end of the year, so we will continue our discussions with his replacement.
 
The Elizabeth Lake Committee was contacted by Ariana McKay, Terrestrial Habitat Biologist with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development, regarding remediation and possible improvements to the contaminated Chevron/Parkland site adjacent to Elizabeth Lake and Jim Smith Creek.  Your Executive has agreed to a limited partnership with the Ministry, Ducks Unlimited and the BC Wildlife Federation to provide feedback on Ms. McKay’s plan for habitat improvement and a possible small wetland to be created on the site.  There will likely be no further activity for the next year or two, as the site will be monitored for contaminants.
 
 
Outings
 
Compared with 2019, our scheduled outings were far fewer in 2020.  There were 9 outings last year in addition to Early Morning Birding, the winter social hike and two weed pulls.  Reports on those outings can be found on our website.  Hopefully, when restrictions ease, we will once again be able to join our fellow naturalists in exploring our beautiful region.
 
In conclusion
 
I will be stepping down now from my position as President to become Past President.  I would like to thank my fellow Directors for their support, initiative, hard work and willingness to take on sometimes difficult issues, especially in such a challenging year.  It has been my privilege and honour to work with such an exceptional group of people during my term.  Thank-you also to the members, whose interest, knowledge and engagement have made it so much fun to be a part of this Club.  I look forward to many more years of learning and making new friends.
 
Two of our Executive members will also be stepping down at this time and I would like to acknowledge them.  Virginia, our Past President, and Jim, our Secretary, will complete their terms today.  Thank-you, Virginia and Jim, for your leadership, your candid and honest feedback on a range of issues, your dedication and the time you’ve spent on your Executive duties.  It has been a joy to work with you both and I will miss you at our Executive meetings.
 
As we begin a new year, we look forward to returning to a less restricted way of doing things and to new adventures with our fellow naturalists.  I will leave it to your incoming President to lead us into 2021.
 
 
 
Respectfully submitted by
Helga Knote
 
20 January 2021