Springtime at Boxerwood brings plenty of new life into the world -- especially the winged kind. Helping birds and bird families became the spring focus of PALS, our Friday program for children not yet attending school in person.
Led by early education coordinator Jess Sullivan, Spring PALS feathered its own nest as staff, special guests, and twelve inquisitive children forged friendships by working together on several bird-friendly projects. Thank you, Jess, for all your heart-filled work with PALS this year, and for sharing this account:
The Spring PALS program started on March 12th. At that time it didn’t look much like spring. No leaves or buds on trees, and no flowers blooming in the garden. The one thing that everyone noticed were birds singing. All the children had questions about birds and thus we settled on our ten-week focus.
We were very lucky to be able to partner with some local experts from the Rockbridge Bird Club and Virginia Bluebird Society and to team up with other community members to help inspire our learning.
Each Friday morning Janet Hughes, who collects data for the Virginia Bluebird Society, would take us out to the field to check 6 bird boxes that comprise the Boxerwood bluebird trail. The first week we noticed four damaged or rotting birdhouses. No birds would be interested in nesting in those boxes. The students wanted to replace them.
In came Dave Agnor, a local woodworker, to create nest box kits so the kids could build replacements. Dave brought his kits, tools and enthusiasm to help with the construction. The kids painted the new boxes and the boxes were put up just in time for nesting season.
Meanwhile, birders Wendy Richards and Bonnie Bernstein taught the kids about bird nests. They explained that different birds use different materials to build their nests, and that these intricate woven works of art are all done with their beaks!
The children really enjoyed learning how to use binoculars and identifying the bird calls, so we talked about creating a special place where we could watch the birds. With the help of Boxerwood staff Ben Eland and Scott Mason we constructed a bird blind not too far from the stage.
How could we attract birds to the area of the bird blind so we could watch them? Children decided a bird feeder would help, but the reality of needing to fill it every few days got the kids thinking. Perhaps we needed some plants that the birds could eat the fruit and seeds from. Thanks to the help of Boxerwood friends Peggy Dyson-Cobb and Jan Smith we obtained some native bird-friendly plants and were able to plant them around Earth Day.
Throughout these projects, our 12 rambunctious kids also stayed focused on checking the bird boxes and following the nesting process. Over the course of our time together we observed bluebirds and tree swallows building and completing their nests, clutches of eggs, mother birds sitting on the eggs...then babies!!!
Through the spring season the PALS children became connected to these birds. They felt a sense of pride as they helped their new friends in a shared journey into the world.
Trained VBS volunteer Janet Hughes briefly removed this nest from its next box as part of a VBS-approved, nestbox sanitizing procedure. With respect and care, the PALS children beheld the wonder prior to the nest’s return: all fared well.
