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Woods (3 single boxes) and Camp Ripley cantonment (9 pairs) (Figure 25). Bluebird nest box pairs
were located in open areas close to scattered trees, at least 300 feet from brush, and more than 500
feet apart. Placing boxes away from brush areas minimizes nest box use by house wrens. These new
locations have been effective and eliminated use by house wrens in 2009.
During 2009, all twenty-nine Gilbertson PVC artificial bluebird nest boxes (North American
Bluebird Society 2008b) were monitored regularly during the breeding season (May 5 to August 20)
by DeAnna Gehant and Mike Ratzloff, Camp Ripley volunteers. Seventeen boxes were occupied by
bluebirds, none by house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), five by tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor),
and two by black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). Attempts to nest were made by invasive
house sparrows (Passer domesticus), but their nests were removed. Bluebird nestlings were first
observed in nest boxes on May 29, 2009. Eighteen bluebirds fledged from the nest boxes at the
Veteran‟s Cemetery and 67 fledged from nest boxes within the cantonment area. The production of
bluebird fledglings was up significantly from the nine birds produced at the Minnesota Veteran‟s
Cemetery in 2007 and similar to production in 2008. This increase can be attributed to regular
maintenance and monitoring which greatly improves the success of bluebird houses. Additionally, 16
tree swallows successfully fledged.
Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
Trumpeter swans were a common breeding bird in western Minnesota until the mid-1800s;
the last record of breeding in the wild was in 1885. Trumpeter swans were considered extirpated in
the state. However, reintroduction and recovery efforts, including listing the species as threatened in
Minnesota in 1996, have resulted in more than 2,400 free-flying birds in Minnesota. Trumpeter swans
are monitored each year (Dirks et al. 2009) through aerial flights and ground observation by field
staff.
The first record of trumpeter swans breeding on Camp Ripley occurred in 1991 when an
active nest was located in a wetland north of Normandy Road. Trumpeter swans have continued to be
documented at various lakes throughout Camp Ripley, but successful reproduction has not been
documented in more than ten years. In 2009, a breeding pair, including a swan on a nest was
documented on Mud Lake; however, no swans were observed on Mud Lake on subsequent checks
and no cygnets were observed. In early August 2009, cygnets and adults were observed on an
unnamed pond in the northeast corner of Marne Marsh, just southeast of Miller and Holden lakes.
2009 Conservation Program Report
Page 42