•June 6, 2018•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

The trees in Tabor Park are alive with the sounds of four pairs of nesting bluebirds.  They are there because Bill Burger saw one while running one day and set about to attract more. To date, he has built and installed 14 bluebird boxes in the park and Greenhill Cemetery.

A retired speech pathologist from Mattoon High School, Burger has always been an avid outdoorsman and does a lot of woodworking. It was natural to combine his two interests to benefit the park where he runs almost every day.

In the process he has learned a lot about bluebirds. He notes, “They are fun to watch. The male will show the female several boxes, but she makes the selection of which box to use. The male gathers the preferred pine needles or prairie grasses, but the female weaves the most exquisite little nest with every strand perfectly in place.”     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.