Kathy Kremnitzer Kremnitzer is a retired educator and has been a bluebird landlord for over 30 years. During nesting season, she monitors 5 different trails in Frederick and Washington Counties in Maryland, and is also a part of the 4-person monitoring team for the Antietam National Battlefield’s 100+ nestboxes in Sharpsburg. She is a three-term past president and Lifetime member of the Maryland Bluebird Society and also serves as state coordinator as well as co-county coordinator for Frederick and Washington Counties. Kathy has been a NABS board member since 2009 and served as secretary from 2011 until 2023. She currently serves NABS as president and chairs several committees, including the Executive, Hotline, Awards, Speakers and Website Committees. She is an administrator for both the NABS and Maryland Bluebird Society Facebook pages and responds to many requests for information and assistance from bluebirders, especially during nesting season. Kathy lives in Knoxville, Maryland with her husband and scotty dog, George, and when not on the bluebird trails, loves to spend time with her children and four grandsons. She loves to garden, read, crochet and hike with her husband.
Mike DeBruhl - 1st Vice President for Affiliate Relations
Mike DeBruhl is an Air Force veteran and retired Business / Human Resources executive and business consultant. His final employment was with a Native Alaska firm in Anchorage, where he traveled throughout Alaska and gained a fascination and respect for northern and Arctic wildlife. Brought up on a farm in mountains of North Carolina he had early developed a love of wildlife. He and wife Peg moved to Aiken, SC in 2008 from Reston, Virginia and discovered they had beautiful blue-colored birds in their yard. In 2011, he joined newly formed South Carolina Bluebird Society (SCBS) and became a trail monitor. Hooked on bluebirds he now manages a “neighborhood” trail of 50 nest boxes. Mike went from being a presenter, to a Director, and he now serves as the President of the SCBS. He remains a strong proponent of establishing neighborhood trails as a method of getting people involved, providing practical cavity dweller education, and sharing the enjoyment. He is frequent presenter to Garden Clubs, Civic and Education groups, and other community organizations. Mike is a big proponent of providing such educational programs on our Bluebirds and other cavity dwellers and is a Life Member of NABS. He also serves on Executive and Board committees.
Dana Grayson - 2nd Vice President for Community Relations
Dana Grayson lives in Frederick County, Maryland, with her husband and dogs. She currently works as a marketing manager for a software company serving non-profit organizations. Dana grew up surrounded by countryside and farmland, and this is where she first gained her love of nature and animals of all kinds. When she began working from home full-time, Dana had more opportunities to witness nature in her own backyard, especially the birds. She was most captivated by the beauty and personalities of Eastern Bluebirds, and installed nestboxes for them and other native cavity nesters. In a relatively short time managing and monitoring nestboxes on her own property and several other private properties, she has helped fledge over 75 native cavity nesters since beginning her landlord journey. Dana became a member of the Maryland Bluebird Society to learn more about how to make the bluebirds' nesting seasons a success, and in 2019 she joined their Board of Directors. Dana also serves as a co-coordinator for Frederick County, providing advice, guidance, and best practices to local bluebird landlords. Dana is thrilled to further expand her service to the Board of the North American Bluebird Society. In addition to serving as 2nd Vice President of Community Relations, Dana has also taken on the position of Membership Committee Chair and the responsibilities of maintaining the NABS membership.
Dana enjoys using her skills as a marketer to attract more people to birding and caretaking of bluebirds by engaging people through social media, creating online content, virtual events, newsletters, and more.
Cathy Hindman – Secretary
Cathy Hindman lives in Manassas, Virginia monitoring three trails and serving as co-coordinator of trails for Prince William County for the Virginia Bluebird Society. She enjoyed identifying backyard birds with a field guide in childhood and was introduced to bluebird conservation in Bermuda when her husband was stationed there with the US Navy from 1987-1990. Cathy has monitored nest boxes for over 20 years and served as president of the Virginia Bluebird Society for 4 years. A lifelong learner, she never tires of opening a nest box and discovering a new life. Cathy currently serves NABS as Secretary and as a member of the Executive Committee.
Jill Adams - Treasurer
Jill Adams is a proud Marylander who lives with her husband, two children, three cats and a yard full of native plants. She found NABS when researching for establishing a community bluebird trail installation (which is now up and responsibly running thanks to NABS guidance and support). She is a Maryland Tree Steward and a Weed Warrior. When not staring quizzically at little brown birds or clipping porcelain berry vines around her community, Jill can be often found pedaling around on her e-cargo bike.
BOARD MEMBERS
(Listed Alphabetically)
Jim Bearden was born and raised on a working farm in northern Alabama, one of six kids. Everyone pitched in and helped with the crops. “What I remember most is the wonderful large vegetable garden my dad always planted. He was a great farmer and could grow just about anything. I also remember the many bluebirds and their song as they flew around the flowers, the garden, the open fields and the pastures, making their nests in the fence posts and tree cavities. They were beautiful!
Jim spent his career working in the Airline, Tour and Travel-related industries. He retired at the end of 2020. Before retiring, his work was facilitating large Incentive Meetings and Events for New York Life around the world. When not traveling, Jim spends most of his time on the bluebird trail in in the Community Garden at Green Meadows Preserve.
Jim graduated from the Master Gardner Volunteer of Cobb County (MGVOCC) program through the UGA Extension in January of 2013. He is married to his best friend Kathy (KC) and has been for 39 years. They have two beautiful daughters. He is fondly called “Da” by his sweet 12-year old granddaughter, Avery James, and nestbox #20 on his trail is named after her.
Jane Brockway and her husband, Alan live in Mineral County located in western Montana. She started bluebirding in 1998. Jane and her husband purchased part of his family's ranch and they had been told by Alan's grandparents that there had always been bluebirds in the area, nesting in fence posts. Mineral County is prime bluebird habitat, with mostly Western Bluebirds, but also Mountain Bluebirds. Jane continues to work for bluebird conservation and education and is now a master bander with Mountain Bluebird Trails (MBT), a NABS affiliate. During the nesting season she weekly monitors (and bands) an 80+ nestbox trail that is spread over 20 miles. In addition to being a NABS director, Jane also serves as the editor of the MBT’s newsletter and has been a director in the organization for over 10 years. Jane is an avid bluebird photographer.
Bernie Daniel is a retired environmental research scientist who lives in Symmes Township of southwestern Ohio. Bernie joined NABS in 1999 and is a life member of the Society. He has served as President, Editor of Bluebird, and chair of the grants, development, and education committees and other duties as assigned. He is a life member, and past president of the Ohio Bluebird Society and has been bluebirding (off and on!) when he can find some appropriate habitat since 1953. During his professional career, he published some 140-research peer-reviewed papers in environmental science and has participated in the North American Breeding Bird Survey since 1996. He enjoys the study of bird song and the challenge of “birding by ear”. His current scientific interest is understanding the population status of the three bluebird species.
Stan Fisher lives in Boyds, Maryland and monitors a trail at his home (Bluebird Hill Farm) as well as four other nearby trails. He is a past president of the Maryland Bluebird Society and actively assists others in his community on getting started with bluebirding by serving as a local resource for speaking and trail monitoring. Stan is a Charter as well as a Life member of NABS and, in addition to serving as a NABS director, he is also as a member of the Grants Committee and co-chairs the Nestbox Committee.
Peggy McKee and her husband, Pat, have lived in Frederick County, Virginia since 1989, when they bought an historic farmhouse on a few acres of open pastureland, and moved from Alexandria, Virginia. Peggy retired from a career in education and non- profit management, during which she founded and advanced several organizations including the Lord Fairfax Association for the Education of Young Children and the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum and was an advancement contractor for the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Peggy’s first memory of birdwatching was when her mother hung a feeder right outside the kitchen window, and she and her brother and sister learned to name towhees, cardinals, titmice, nuthatches, and chickadees. From those days until the present, she has loved watching, feeding, counting, and learning about these fascinating and indispensable creatures. Her most recent accomplishment regarding avian life is her completion of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Comprehensive Bird Biology online course. Peggy and Pat are devoted to the task of eliminating invasive plant species from their fourteen acres and planting native species of trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers. They put up six bluebird nesting boxes in 2020 and are monitoring them. In 2021, they planted more than fifty native trees. Peggy’s other hobbies include gardening, cooking, hiking, and, above all, spending time those three adorable grandchildren.
Jeff Peterson is a retired educator from Georgia. He and his wife, Cindy, live on High Falls State Park Lake in Jackson, Georgia. He has been a bluebird landlord for over 30 years and his nestboxes were approved by NABS in 2001. He started a bluebird trail at Stone Mountain Park that grew to 92 nestboxes, and also started a trail in his neighborhood where he and his wife retired. That trail now has about 50 nestboxes.
His newest adventure is to help improve and repair the boxes at Dauset Trails in Jackson, home to a groundhog named “General Lee”, who predicts the arrival of spring in Georgia. Jeff continues to build nestboxes to encourage people to help bluebirds. He has also built wood duck boxes and placed them on High Falls State Park Lake. All were used last year.
Jeff’s hobbies include playing golf, playing the guitar, woodworking and hiking. He and his wife also enjoy watching their children coaching and playing with their seven grandchildren.
Schuyler (Sky) Rector was born and raised in WI and, for the last 50 years, has resided with his wife Diana in Atlanta, GA. Over the years he has been actively involved in several neighborhood organizations whose purpose is to preserve and protect the community. His favorite pastimes are bridge, golf, gardening and woodworking. His fondness for bluebirds goes back about 20 years. He has built and installed over 200 Peterson nestboxes and currently monitors a bluebird trail of 20 nestboxes. He is a Life member of NABS, actively seeks new members and builds nestboxes at cost for those willing to make a donation to NABS.
Joe Siegrist lives with his family in Erie, Pennsylvania, and is President/CEO and directs research for the Purple Martin Conservation Association. Before focusing on martins, he conducted avian research for the University of Illinois and the Illinois Natural History Survey studying Acadian Flycatchers, Northern Bobwhite and Neotropical migrants in general. In addition to conservation research, he has also worked as an educator teaching high school science, a zookeeper, a naturalist and a stay-at-home parent. He has presented at both local and regional scientific conferences and frequently speaks at public events, representing the Purple Martin Conservation Association (PMCA). He is focused on engaging the younger generation and instilling in them an understanding of the need for conservation of both aerial insectivores and cavity-nesting birds.
Bet Zimmerman Smith worked in environmental protection for three decades. She now volunteers for several open space and conservation organizations. She maintains an educational website about small cavity-nester conservation at www.Sialis.org. Bet is also a regular contributor of articles to the NABS Journal, Bluebird, is a NABS director, and serves on the NABS Grants, Education, Nestbox and Website Committees. She manages about 100 nestboxes in Northeastern CT
Del Straub is a resident of Gallatin Gateway, located in southcentral Montana. He is a licensed bluebird bander and is a member of Mountain Bluebird Trails, a NABS affiliate. Del has managed a nestbox trail of over a hundred boxes for over a decade. A part of this trail is dedicated to a long-term citizen science project. He has served numerous 501.c.3 non-profit organizations as a director/trustee and specializes in non-profit financial management. In addition to serving as a NABS director, Del is also a member of the Finance Committee.
Harold Sellers lives in the city of Vernon in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. So far he has avoided retirement by rebranding himself several times, going from electronics technician to hiking trail planner to entrepreneur to humanitarian aid management. A life-long interest in the natural world is behind involvement in nature, trails and outdoor societies for several decades. Harold has held numerous posts, all of which have been good learning experiences as well as opportunities to help wherever needed. He is the president of the Southern Interior Bluebird Trail Society, in British Columbia. He monitors a 23-box bluebird trail that provides homes for Western Bluebirds and, some years, a Mountain Bluebird or two.
Ralph Tanner was born and raised in central Georgia, and, aside from 2 years living in Costa Rica and Colombia, that state is still home. He is a university English professor in Atlanta, where he currently lives. Ralph has been involved with cavity-nesting birds most of his life, starting at the age of 13, when he was first introduced to bluebirds by his grandfather, who put up a bluebird box in their front yard. Ralph still has that same bluebird box in this backyard in Atlanta. He enjoys building nest boxes and currently maintains and monitors nearly 200 nest boxes for a variety of native birds – including bluebirds, purple martins, wood ducks, prothonotary warblers (his favorite), great-crested flycatchers, and Carolina chickadees, among others. His trails are located on the family farm in central Georgia and near his home in Atlanta. He is a member of the Purple Martin Conservation Association and the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), and is a former board member of the Georgia chapter of TACF.
Bernnie Visalli is a farm girl through and through. Growing up in South Harrison Twp, New Jersey on a hundred-acre farm, was filled with animals from an early age and horses were her main focus growing up. Her father Sam always had purple martins and saw Bluebirds while hunting in the fall. After his death in 2011, Bernnie sold her house and moved back to the farm. She went to a purple martin seminar, with guest speaker Allen Jackson. Allen also brought up Bluebird management and the rest is history. Following Allen's advice, the one box in 2011 grew to 12 in the years that followed! Since 2020, the trail fledges 50+ bluebirds per season.
After growing her own trial, Bernnie became involved with New Jersey Bluebird Society, doing site visits and soon after became County Coordinator for Gloucester and Salem Counties. Being the "bluebird whisperer" has proven to be very rewarding in resolving site issues, creating new trails and educating monitors. Banding has also been added to her responsibilities and the numbers increase every year. She feels “Hands On” with young birds is very important, as some nestlings get into situations that would not allow them to survive and fledge if we didn't look at each one while banding. Bernnie also monitors 50 boxes over 7 sites in Gloucester and Salem counties logging over 3,000 miles a season! Bernnie was elected to Vice President South for New Jersey Bluebird Society in 2022 and is excited in growing the southern region of New Jersey.
When not doing bluebird activities, she works full time for a pharmaceutical company and travels with her mom and dog Oscar.
