Bluebirds thrive in SoCal

From today's "Los Angeles Times":

Dick Purvis knew that if he was going to bring bluebirds to Orange County, the county would need more holes.

Bluebirds, he explained, require them for nesting, and there aren't many trees with holes in the county's developed recreational areas. If you find one, he said, "the ranger will come and cut it down."

So Purvis, 80, a bird lover since his boyhood in North Georgia, set out to bolster the area's bluebird population by placing nest boxes in parks and golf courses. And what started as one man's hobby in 1984 has grown into the 200-member Southern California Bluebird Club, whose efforts last year added more than 5,000 members of the species to the skies of Orange County, making it the state's most prolific bluebird haven.

At Peters Canyon Regional Park in eastern Orange, Senior Park Ranger Raul Herrera attests to the success of the efforts by the former McDonnell Douglas engineer. The park's bluebird population, said Herrera, "was just about zero when he started here. He's brought it back to life."

A six-image photo gallery appears here.


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