Saturday morning, September 16, 2023, was warm and pleasant as more than 43 Evergreen Audubon members and Evergreen families gathered at the newly opened Evergreen Nature Center to help solve a housing shortage – that is the housing shortage faced by many of our avian neighbors. As our community adapts to changing climate and the increasing threat of wildfire, dead trees and snags are removed from the landscape, leaving fewer suitable nesting sites for our year-round and migratory cavity-nesting birds.
As in years past, Evergreen Audubon has responded to this need by gathering together and building nest boxes that we then sell to our community. This annual project has produced hundreds of nest boxes, and this year was no exception. We assembled 63 Chickadee/Nuthatch, 19 Bluebird, and 31 Robin/Swallow nest boxes, and prepared the materials to assemble at least 30 more at a later date.
This year we added a couple of twists to the annual event: we encouraged families with children to participate and we held the build at our NEW Evergreen Nature Center (ENC) on the Evergreen Church of the Transfiguration campus. The location was as perfect as the weather and it was a true joy to watch and listen to everyone who came together to work on this fun and worthwhile project.
It takes a village of volunteers to build a village of nest boxes, and there are many people to thank. First a shout-out to all the volunteers that prepared the nest box parts ahead of build day. A lot of effort goes into preparing the wood so that the assembly of the boxes goes smoothly. I’d like to thank Andrea Furlong, Rachel Hutchison, Joyce and Phil Nelson, Carmon Slater, and Dwight Souder, who worked diligently with me to get all the wood prepared, parts sorted, and ready to use!
We had a great crowd of Evergreen Audubon members and local families whose energy and enthusiasm on build day made our work fly by and the boxes pile up! Pam King, Andrea Furlong, Ann and Ed Dodson and their daughter and grandchildren Leah, Nora and Emilia Carrington, Kim Hamilton, Rachel and Dave Hutchison, Melissa Leasia, Tom Ryon, Dwight Souder, and Larry White all helped build boxes. Thanks to Chuck and Carol Burdick and to Tom Ryon for swooping in with more drills to keep the work going!
A special thanks to all the families and their children who took the time out of their busy weekends to help build boxes. I’m not sure who had more fun, our veteran builders or the families. As leader of the build, I was overwhelmed by the response, and although I missed catching all of your names, I can’t emphasize enough how pleased I was to see so many young builders and their parents jump right into the task after a short introduction to building. Thank you! And next year I will be sure to gather everyone’s names so I can thank each of you personally.
We will be selling this year’s nest boxes, and many other great gift items, at Evergreen’s Alternative Gift Fair, held at Evergreen Lutheran Church, 5980 County Hwy 73, Evergreen, CO 80439 on Saturday, November 11th, 2023 from 9am-4pm, and Sunday, November 12th, 2023 from 9am-3pm. Be sure to visit our booth at the fair, get a head start on your holiday shopping, and help our feathered neighbors in the process!