By Steven Smeall
Various local groups have come together to help the 1st Long Sault Sparks, Brownies, and Girl Guides of Canada who will be building bird houses for the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
The girls, who are between the ages of five to 11, will be building 38 eastern bluebird houses which will then be donated to the Sanctuary.
“It sort of just started off as a bunch of Girl Guides wanting to get a merit badge,” said Friends of the Sanctuary president Chuck Clavet. “All of a sudden they’re building bird houses.
“The sanctuary is in high need of these houses. All the bird houses we have are deteriorating and are in need of fixing, so this is very timely.”
The girls will be assisted by the Friends, the Cornwall Area Bird Club (CABC), and the St. Lawrence Parks Commission.
“We’ve turned this into a big community event,” said Clavet. “The Friends of the Sanctuary will be supplying the kits to the Girl Guides because we have about 15 houses through the sanctuary.”
The Cornwall Area Bird Club will be sending members to teach the girls about the birds they will be helping while the Parks Commission will be donating 15 T posts to install the bird houses on.
Clavet said there is still the need for other volunteers to step in.
The Friends are requesting eight to 12 more volunteers who will assist the girls in putting the bird houses together. Volunteers will be required to bring hammers with them.
“The 1st Long Sault Sparks, Brownies, and Guides are really excited about getting this project underway,” said girl guide troop leader Toni Bougie. “Especially when Chuck [Clavet] mentioned that he would love to have the girls help picks the spots and help install the bird houses at the sanctuary.”
The event will take place April 16 at 3 Milles Roches Road in Long Sault(time to be decided). Once all of the bird houses are completed, volunteers from the Friends and CABC will join the girls in the early morning of April 26th to install the bird houses at the sanctuary, weather permitting.
If you’re interested in volunteering you can contact Clavet at chuckclavet@eastlink.ca or by phone at 613-774-0078.
