MOBILE, Ala.--The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at West Point Project is seeking volunteers to assist with bluebird nesting box monitoring during the March to August breeding season. Prospective volunteers should be available to inspect their assigned nesting boxes every two weeks during the breeding season. The Corps will provide data logs and maps to the locations of the assigned nesting boxes.
In 2011, volunteers donated more than 250 hours to assist with monitoring the bluebird nesting boxes. Volunteers were able to record 560 fledglings in the 170 boxes placed around West Point Lake.
The Eastern Bluebird population has risen considerably over the past decades as a result of nesting box installations and volunteer assistance. This is in sharp contrast to the 1960’s when bluebird populations declined to a level that raised extinction fears. “These nesting boxes and the volunteers who help support them are vital to the growth of the population at West Point Lake,” Park Ranger Derrick Wilkerson said.
Ranger Wilkerson also suggests that individuals who cannot assist in monitoring the nesting boxes at West Point Lake may be able to assist bluebirds by installing a nesting box on their own property.
Individuals interested in volunteering for the nesting box program should contact Ranger Wilkerson at 706-645-2937. Ranger Wilkerson can also provide guidance to those individuals who are interested in installing bluebird nesting boxes on their own property.
For more specific information on this topic or any other issue related to the management of West Point Project, please contact the Project Management Office at 706-645-2937, or visit the West Point Lake website at
http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/westpt
Release no. 12-003