We meet the Bluebird guy

 

Mr. Bluebird

On No. 9 today, we ran into one of the best friends Minnesota bluebirds have. He's Ben Bartusek Jr. of New Prague and he erects and maintains 80 pairs of bluebird boxes, only two other birders in the state can claim more bluebird housing. His rugged boxes on the ends of poles are 60 percent occupied this year.
A couple of his boxes are posted adjacent to No. 12 at Creeksbend Golf Course, where we encountered the kindly gentleman with a long walking stick today. Greg, a birder himself, quickly engaged Ben on his favorite topic, interrupting his round.
He puts out the houses in pairs... one for the bluebirds and one for the tree sparrows. We don't know why the sparrow accommodations. Maybe next time we see him we'll ask.

Greg inspects one of Ben's 80 pairs of bluebird/sparrow boxes. This one was occupied.