Guest speaker Ken Leister discussed bluebirds at the recent Parkland Garden Club meeting at Jordan Lutheran Church, Orefield

Leister, a former biology and geography teacher, was introduced by member Barbara Campbell.

Because of his interest in bluebirds, Leister joined the Bluebird Society of America and is the state coordinator of 67 counties.

In 2010, he was named Bluebirder of the Year.

Using a PowerPoint presentation, he showed the gardeners his vast knowledge of the bluebird.

He said the bluebird is not the easiest bird to see, and asked how many in the group have seen a bluebird.

Several of the members said they had.

He explained that etween 1920 and 1970, an Ohio group noticed they were not seeing many bluebirds.

They had been counting the birds and discovered 90 percent of the bluebird population was lost.

What killed them was DDT and the changing landscape, he said.

Farms used to have tree lines and stone fences around small fields and these were the homes of the bluebirds.

When the small farms were lost, the homes of the bluebirds were destroyed, as they make their home in the cavities of dead trees.

The trees were removed to flatten the land to build homes.

Leister said he builds bluebird box houses.

He usually makes 100 boxes a year from white and red cedar that fence companies would be throwing away.

Leister gives away the bird houses he builds; he just asks that donations be made to the Bluebird Society.

He speaks to school and scout groups and educates them, so they can use the bluebird houses to understand their life cycle and watch the eggs hatch.

Bluebirds usually stay around all winter but they will move about 50 miles from where they were hatched to get food.

The eastern bluebird is the state bird of New York and Missouri.

The predator of the eastern bluebird is the Red Tailed Hawk.

After Leister's talk, Campbell said his presentation was the best program the club ever had.

Before the program, members voted on four entrants in the "Shoe Fetish" design.

The award for the Best of Shoe was given to Linda Howard.

The award for Best Use of Plant and Floral Materials was given to Jeanne Partel, who used a cowboy boot as the floral holder.

Alice Peters received the award for the Most Stylish shoe design.

There were many single flower entries in the tournament, because of the abundance of rain that week, which encouraged a bounty of flowers.

One entry, a white limelight hydrangea, received a second place award and a cleomi, received an honorable mention.