Bluebirds Find New Homes At Crowder Park
Conservationists brought new, custom-branded bluebird houses to Wake County’s Crowder Park in Apex, N.C., in 2023. The team worked with Sarah Goldsmith, Park Technician of Education at the park, to identify and replace 11 old houses that had deteriorated and were no longer usable. Jeff Allen led the way with a unique pole and critter guard design that he developed and carefully hand-crafted at his home. He also hand-branded each of the new bluebird boxes. The team of Sarah Goldsmith, Jeff Allen, John and Beth Kinsella, Chad Chandler, Bill Willis, and Monty Morée removed the old structures and installed the new boxes throughout the park.
Photo Credit: Sam Ray
Since the installation of the bluebird houses, Crowder Park has had a massive increase in bluebird sightings and reported nests. The new houses hosted 78 bluebirds last mating season and hope to have new tenants again soon!
In addition to the bluebird boxes, South Wake Conservationists also donated their time, effort, and resources to help Crowder expand its bird garden and fill it with a number of native berry-producing plants, interpretive bird signs and aided in invasive plant removal to ensure that the bluebirds not only have a beautiful new home, but a nice meal to go with it.
--Information provided by Sarah Goldsmith
Project EverGreen Debuts Clean Air Calculator
Project EverGreen debuted a Clean Air Calculator that measures the environmental benefits of green spaces; it’s a game-changing tool for green industry service professionals to quantify and promote their work. The calculator measures the amount of grass, trees, and shrubs on a property, calculates the amount of carbon sequestered and produces an environmental impact score measuring carbon sequestered, miles offset and total people benefitted. For more information, visit https://projectevergreen.org/