Nest Box Trail Walk at Pope Farm Conservancy
Saturday, May 25th, 2024 at 1PM
Learn how to monitor a cavity nester trail!
Embark on a captivating journey through Pope Farm Conservancy’s scenic trails, led by seasoned naturalists who will unravel the secrets of cavity-nesting birds. This is a great opportunity to learn about the nest boxes placed around Pope Farm. Learn first hand what species use nest boxes and the type of habitat they need. Nest box type, poles and predator guards will be explained. Why is there a trail at Pope Farm? How often are the boxes monitored? When and why are the boxes cleaned out? What species causes problems for the native cavity nesters? Walk and find out the answers as Pat Ready and Curt Caslavka share their knowledge about nest box trails.
Program Details
Date/Time: Saturday, May 25th, 2024, 1PM
Location: Pope Farm Conservancy, 7440 Old Sauk Rd, Verona, WI 53593
We will meet in the lower parking lot
Hosted by: Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy
Presenters: Pat Ready, President of the Bluebird Restoration Assoc. of WI (BRAW)
Cost: Free and open to the public. No registration needed.
Presenter Bios
Patrick Ready lives in Madison and was a Back Yard Nature Specialist for Wild Birds Unlimited store. He has been the president of the Bluebird Restoration Assoc. of WI (BRAW) for the 6 years. He maintains 9 bluebird trails in Dane County and has been monitoring nest boxes since 1999. He is also the editor of the Wisconsin Bluebird the quarterly newsletter for BRAW. The past couple of years he has been involved with American Kestrel nest box monitoring for Madison Audubon in south central Dane Co. He enjoys bird watching, photography and kayaking in his spare time.
Curt Caslavka is a longtime volunteer and member of the Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy. In 2008, Curt and his wife, Arlys, built and installed the 20 bluebird houses that line the walking trails at Pope Farm. The couple have maintained the bluebird houses ever since. They continue to monitor the boxes weekly during the breeding season to check the young birds’ progress and sort out any problems. Curt has also been instrumental in leading the Prairie Restoration projects at Pope Farm Conservancy. Curt organizes the prairie seed collection sessions each fall and coordinates the Monarch Tagging Project at the conservancy, as well.