Each spring, beginning as early as late February, Mountain Bluebirds, and also a few Western Bluebirds, arrive in the Goats Peak area. They set about at once choosing mates and searching out suitable nesting sites. Often they nest in tree cavities made by other species of birds, often Northern Flickers. Last year I was able to record this on my trail cameras but unfortunately for the pair of bluebirds that I was monitoring, the flickers returned to take possession of their tree hole nest cavity and the bluebirds were evicted. From then onward, my trail camera recorded the family activities of the flickers, up to the time that the nestlings fledged and left the nest. This year, I hope for better success in recording the nesting activities of a pair of bluebirds.  I mentioned in an earlier post that Maurice Guilbault had agreed to built a bluebird nest box for me. This he has done and he has kindly donated the nest box to the project.

Today, accompanied by Herb Boehmer and Richard Bourgeois, I made a short hike on Goats Peak to set up a nest box for mountain bluebirds. 

It was a beautiful sunny day without wind. We heard ravens calling in the distance but no small birds were in evidence. The nest box was set up on a burned and dead ponderosa pine, with the camera attached to another dead pine nearby.  We plan to check the camera for pictures at approximately weekly intervals.

We spotted three deer on a nearby ridge top and I pointed out the Red-stemmed Ceanothus that has been heavily browsed by deer during the winter. Richard asked about another shrub abundant in the area—Oregon Grape—and I expressed the belief that it was not used as a deer food. But then looking more closely at a bush of Oregon Grape, I saw that the tips of branches had been nipped off and many of the leaves cropped by feeding animals. I can only suppose that this must be evidence of browsing by deer, as we have no other animals up there that would be feeding on shrubs about a metre above ground.

A quick search of the internet when I got home convinced me that deer do utilize Oregon Grape as winter food. (Example: Winter Food Habits of Mule Deer in the Central Interior of British Columbia, by M.J. Waterhouse, H.M. Armleder and R.J. Dawson. 1993. BC MOF Res. Note #113.)

On Goats Peak today, I also saw my first spring wildflower, a Sagebrush Buttercup These little plants are poisonous and early settlers warned their children accordingly.