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Volunteers outline habitat, predator and box‑design steps to support local bluebirds
Summary
At a Rattlesnake Creek Watershed Group event, longtime monitors described decades of volunteer banding and nest‑box work, urged habitat‑focused placement of boxes, warned about invasive species and vandalism, and offered practical monitoring tips to residents.
Kathy Hefernon and Jane Brockway, longtime volunteer monitors, told a community audience Tuesday that simple, habitat‑focused actions can boost bluebird nesting success across the Rattlesnake Creek area and nearby Mineral and Missoula counties.
“Bluebirds depend on us,” Jane Brockway said, summarizing why volunteers maintain and monitor nest boxes. The presenters traced local conservation efforts back to the 1970s and the work of early volunteers such as Art Alsworth, and described how monitoring and modest design changes improved nesting success in the region.
Kathy Hefernon, whose family has monitored a trail since 1998, said she and her husband currently maintain about 35 boxes across multiple sites and monitor additional boxes placed for tree swallows and other cavity nesters. “We have about…
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