Written by Patti Bright
I started going to Bickleton Washington for birding in about 2020. It was touted as “The Bluebird Capital of The World.” And yes, there were a lot!! We started seeing houses a few miles from town and then more as we got closer, then throughout town and a bit beyond. So I’ve gone every year since. I had begun to notice the houses were falling apart, the same ones hanging on posts as the year before. In my mind I was formulating a plan to help. The person in charge of the Bluebird houses got busy running the cafe/store and doing the annual rodeo, along with many other functions. So I joined the Bickleton Facebook group and put my idea out there.
My idea was titled Bluebird Project 2026. I wanted to get as many houses replaced as I could. I made an Amazon wishlist for houses, nails, paint etc. It was a slow start but all of a sudden the supplies kept showing up on my doorstep! I ended up with 67 houses! Almost all the houses came from my Portland area bird friends. I was gifted a small amount of cash and a lady in Bickleton kindly offered us her home to stay in while we worked! That saved us $200 in motel fees. Most houses I had to assemble, and then they were painted with white sides and blue tops. I did exactly how the original houses were. I had to become a carpenter and redid the entry hole on them all. If it’s too big, European Starlings will take over.
My daughter and I made a trip in mid July to put up 24 houses. We were surveying the houses as we stopped along the highway. By the time we left, we had our install process down to about 5 minutes per house!! Many were still occupied with either eggs, or chicks so we made note. Hopefully they will be all done nesting around October 10th and we will install the 43 then.
It has been a wonderful feeling to do something meaningful. Even my daughter enjoyed it! She supports all my birding efforts.