LCCC ecology students work to improve bluebird conservation efforts

Transcription

1 LCCC ecology students work to improve bluebird conservation efforts A group of LCCC ecology students from Ruby Beil s winter 2014 class have partnered with Black River Audubon Society s bluebird program to help with many areas of bluebird conservation in Lorain County. In January many students chose to work closely with members of the Black River Audubon Society to complete a service learning project on the bluebird trail at Lorain County Metro Park s Columbia Reservation. The work needed to be completed before the bluebird nesting season starts in early April but some of the work could not be done while the ground was still frozen so field work couldn t be started until March. Tasks which needed done at Columbia included relocating bluebird nest boxes to more favorable habitat areas, bluebird box repair, enhancing the nest box sites with predator guards, collecting GPS data for each nest box location and helping with site habitat descriptions. A second service learning project which other students chose required modifying a data collection spreadsheet. This will help summarize the nesting and breeding information from last year s weekly monitoring notes which were submitted by many of the bluebird trail monitors of the Black River Audubon Society. Cornell Lab of Ornithology will use this information to help in their Nestwatch citizen science program. On March 16 th a meeting was held for the LCCC ecology students to learn about bluebird basics and get familiar with the project they were going to soon be doing. Lots of interest and enthusiasm were expressed by each of the students!

2 The hard field work began on March 22 at Columbia Park. The students showed up with Phillips screwdrivers, gloves, snacks and lots of energy and willingness to work. Boxes and poles were removed from brushy, overgrown areas and repaired before siting them in better bluebird habitat. In the above pictures Fritz Brandau from the Audubon Society shows Jiezheng Meng, John Strader, Amanda Lapp and her son Ryan how to put new roofs on many of the bluebird boxes. Jiezheng learned to use a pole driver to place the pole into the ground. Mentor Fritz Brandau helped Leah LaFarciola attach the boxes to the pole.

3 LCCC student Ryan Ryder assisted his classmates in learning to use a compass to determine the direction the nest box will be facing. This is information needed by Cornell Lab of Ornithology for their bird breeding studies. A pair of bluebird nest boxes in their new locations, complete with predator guards. Proud and happy students pause for a brief photo op.

4 Job well done!!! The last pair of boxes is finished and a bluebird is seen nearby! Yeah! (Bluebird photo by Leah LaFarciola) The work at Columbia Reservation was completed by LCCC students Leah LaFarciola, Ryan Ryder, Amanda Lapp and her son Ryan, Jiezheng Meng and John Strader. Audubon member Penny Brandau and her husband Fritz gave field help. A third service learning project took place on March 30 th. Two other LCCC ecology students, Kayla Petro and Judy Woo, met with the Brandau s to help them work on bluebird trails near Oberlin, Ohio. This work involved adding new predator guards to boxes, relocating some boxes, doing GPS and site descriptions on all boxes and changing c-clamps on many of the poles. Judy and Kayla learned how to use a cordless drill, a pole driver and a compass in the work they helped to complete as they made the trails safer for many native birds like bluebirds and tree swallows.

5 Judy Woo and Kayla Petro completed work at New Russia Township Park and Cemetery. It was a beautiful day to do a good deed for the birds!

6 A fourth field work project involved doing work on the LCCC campus Interpretive trail. Since the winter storms had knocked down branches and a tree onto the split rail fence this work required skill in the use of a chain saw and lots of heavy lifting. One of Ruby Beil s ecology students, Anthony Morano, offered his help in getting the trail back in usable condition and then also helped as members of the Black River Audubon Society dug a hole and poured concrete to set a pole for a new kestrel nest box in the LCCC prairie area. Anthony Morano used his skills to help with the work which needed to be done on the Interpretive Trail at LCCC. Audubon members Craig Limpach, Larry Wilson and Dick Lee dug a hole for the kestrel box pole at LCCC on April 5 th. On April 6 th the kestrel box was raised on the pole and was ready for occupancy!

7 One student, Leah LaFarciola, wanted to do more than the service learning work she and others had already done on the trail at Columbia Reservation- she wanted to actually monitor a bluebird trail from the beginning of the nesting period in April to the end of it in August! The current bluebird trail monitor of the Columbia trail, Steve Chavez, was glad to have Leah s help this season. After receiving additional training she is walking the bluebird trail at Columbia each week, keeping notes about the nesting attempts in each of the nest boxes at Columbia Trail, taking pictures and continuing to learn more about the natural world. Wow! The opportunity for Black River Audubon Society to partner with the LCCC ecology students was an example of Community Partnership at its best! The students learned new skills and helped provide varied and valuable conservation assistance to Black River Audubon Society. We are deeply grateful for such talented and committed young people! Thank you so very much!

8 Male Eastern Bluebird Photos and story by Penny Brandau