Residents of Fairing Way work together to construct a bluebird box.
On August 13, Wildlands’ Community Stewardship Coordinator, Conor Michaud, began the much anticipated nesting bird box project at Union Point, meant to engage the community in a project benefiting both the residents and local bird population. Union Point has modeled itself as a rising smart city, offering their residents a comfortable modern community to eventually be complete with retail shops, restaurants and sporting arenas. One of the most attractive aspects of this modern dream world is the 1,000 acres of open space, comprising ponds, wetlands, forests and open fields. Over the last two years, Wildlands has been working with Union Point in Weymouth, Rockland and Abington to help manage the meandering trail system on the southern section of the former naval air base. The various habitats within this bountiful trail system provide the perfect opportunity to attract more of the beautiful but flighty, and in many cases dwindling, inhabitants of these ecosystems. We are talking, of course, about the birds. Throughout September, Conor will be working with residents of Union Point’s Fairing Way, a community built around healthy and active retirement living, to complete 20 nesting bird boxes designed to attract several different bird species including the northern flicker, eastern screech owl and great crested flycatcher. When early spring arrives, Conor will head out to the trails and install each box in the ideal location and monitor the boxes throughout the season. Thanks to this partnership between Union Point, Wildlands Trust and Fairing Way, we can soon hope to see the populations of several declining bird species rise throughout these popular South Shore towns.
If you would like to learn more about Wildlands Trust’s Community Stewardship Program, please contact Conor Michaud at cmichaud@wildlandstrust.org
Conor Michaud (far left) and the residents of Fairing Way show off three of the bird boxes they built: (from left to right) a bluebird box, a norther flicker box and an eastern screech owl box.