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Show DEERE SEASON ADVERTISEMENT A growing numberof caring Americans have been working hard to e a The bring back these henavia ll E[ beloved songbirds. : You can get involved. eeai a be signs of a commonmedical cavities made by woodpeckers—have dwin- condition known ascanine : : ieee. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome ASESh roan ee be the first to notice the signs of CDS. aes eee aeemer you'veseenin your senior dog contact your veterinarian Does your senior dog Yes No. Wanderaimiessiy? es me) ee ~ oe | | | : | SSS NOULeeanzed deuall ae pei Yes No Forget his/her housetraining” Yer (Nall Walkaway while being petted Yes No Forget to pour farily? gre t Be Neser ere cannes oe mean es Se Ger areal (ahese question consale terinarian Your dog's 1 and behav ioral history slong with a thoroughphysical xamination, will helpyour arian determine if your has CDS és naa | aandon elinces y 7 oo seniee igo’ ‘99 “led tremendously. Worsestill wasthe inrusion of la : House Sparrows and European i sain ey types hoes fe Europe in the last century, which began taking overthe remaining bluebird habitats. They're known to break the bluebirds’ del- By Lou Ann Walker icate eggs and kill nestlings and adults. Until he put uphisfirst 10 boxes in 1988, Harvey Hartwig, 72, a Wisconsin dairy farmer, hadn’t seen a bluebird since his youth, He admits he’s an unlikely candidate to have fallen so hard forthe bluebirds, UST ABOUT EVERY MONDAY evening fromMarch through September, Harveyand Shirley Hartwig climbinto their van and bouncethrough the Wisconsin countryside. Along the way, Har- Harvey Hartwig monitors a bluebird nesting but nevertheless he hasfallen. ‘‘I had a pair vey stops and hikes up and down dirt banks granddaughter, thatraised little ones,”herecalled. “That to check out the bluebird nesting boxes he “But this is oneofthe few conservation ac- ignited a spark in me.” Hartwig oftengives put up onfences. Sometimeshecarries the tivities in which you can make a difference.” away nesting boxes he hasbuilt, asking nests or baby birds back to show Shirley, Recently I wentout with the Hartwigs neighbors to become membersofthe keeping careful records of each nest in the _and several other bluebirders ontrails across. Bluebird Society. He regularly speaks to 76-box trail. The Hartwigs are part of a southwestern Wisconsin and northern school groups about conservation. grassroots campaignthat has been work- Illinois, They told me stories of howthey've "Whenyou see that bird for the first time, In 1979, PARADE ran a story titled building properly designed and construct- executivedirectorofthe society. Who can It described the dwindling bluebird popu- habitats. Theyalso help protect the birds in “Over the Rainbow"?“In thefolklore of ing tobring back the bluebird. been fighting to protect the bluebird by it really hits you,” said Lisa Kivirist, co- “The Bluebirds Will Return If You Help.” ed boxes for them, then providing proper forget Judy Garlandsinging aboutbluebirds lation. In those days before e-mail, the sto- fromraccoons, cats, snakes—even black America, the bluebird means health and hap- ry generated more than 80,000 responses to the North American Bluebird Society, which had beenestablished only the year before. The impact has been dramatic. According to the breeding-bird surveys of the U.S. government's Patuxent Wildlife Re- bears in some parts of the country These gentle, brilliantlyblue creatures have beenvictims of modern times With suburban and urban sprawl, the places the blue bird likes for search Center, the population of Eastern nesting—such Bluebirdsincreased 103% from1966, when as thetree the surveys began, to 1996 (the latest figures), Whenthere were7183 sightings na tionwide. The Mountain Bluebirdpopula tiongrew 98%, with 2355 sightingsin 1996 Nowthe BluebirdSociety wants to con. tinue this extraordinary effort with the Trans: continental Bluebird Trail —a network of bluebird nesting boxes stretching across the U.S. and Canadaand monitoredby or a nestthat contained four eggs. At the next box, he cleanedout the blowflies that hadlaidtheir own eggs there. Hartwig found several more of his boxes with nestlings al various stages and discovered a box that hadbeen invaded by ants. “They're terrible trouble,” he muttered. Placing the baby birds in his baseball cap, Hart wig threw out the ant-infested dinary individuals. It will be launchedlat er this month. “It’s difficult for one person to save a rainforest,” said JohnD. Ivanko, enemasaresormate co-executive director of the Bluebird Society piness,” added Joan Harmet, who monitors nine boxesin northwest Illinois As Harvey Hartwig took meonhis tour throughthe rollinghills, he showed me nest, then pulled upgrasses to 4 make a new nestfor the babies continued PAGE 26 MAY 2, 1999 PARADE MAGAZINE |