Bluebird Houses for Woodway Country Club

Back in the day, Woodway Country Club joined an Audubon Society program to employ its beautiful rolling fields and woods as a bird sanctuary as well as just a golf course. Such a program required the club to take steps such as avoiding evil pesticides, and to make the environment as bird-friendly as possible. Their rules were very strict.

My contribution was to build 24 bluebird houses to an “Official Audubon — Bluebird House Design.” Your organization didn’t get accredited unless they were perfect. Their very excellent plan yielded 22 houses out of a single piece of 3/4 inch marine plywood, which the club provided to me. They also bought and erected the one inch galvanized pipe and flange fittings needed to mount the houses in a very specific location vis-a-vis trees and open land. (i.e. the golf course).

Dick Lewis regularly did an early morning walk of the whole course before golf started. In a fun turn of events, he volunteered to perform regular inspections of all the birdhouses which was mandatory during the breeding season. The principal purpose was to keep other bird species birds from using the houses. In the picture you will note there is no little peg out in front of the hole to act as a landing spot. Bluebirds are unique in not wanting that. Also, I am holding a house with the front swung open by turning a small latch. The inspector opens each house and checks for the wrong kind of nest being built …. and removes it.

Audubon approved our work and we did indeed get lots of bluebirds.