Hello Friends of Kemp Park! Every summer, we have two volunteer opportunities. If either of these committees sounds interesting to you, please let us know if you'd like to help! You can email me at FriendsofKemp@gmail.com or PeggyAshley426@gmail.com to let us know, or I can answer any questions you might have.
Bluebird Monitoring Committee
This committee needs to get started soon. The bluebird nesting season runs mid-March to about mid-August. We have been trained by Jim Bearden (The Bluebird Guy at Green Meadows Preserve) on the safe technique to carefully check the seven bluebird nestboxes in the main pasture area. A committee member looks into all the boxes once a week and makes a record of what they see; eg, how many eggs, did they all hatch, and then all fledge. We have another volunteer who inputs this information to Cornell University's School of Ornithology Nest Watch program. They use this data to ensure the bluebird population continues to rise (after having a decline for many years).
Our committee has a bin of supplies we use, printed forms to record what we saw, printed instructions, and mealworms to fill our two feeders that are also in the pasture. We create a schedule assigning all the volunteers to dates which become your designated "checking weekend." With enough volunteers, you usually only have to check the boxes about 3 times during the summer.
I will hold a meeting at the park soon (mid- to late March) to go over all the details and instructions. Please let us know if you'd like to help our committee! It's an incredible adventure to watch the life cycle of these beautiful birds! Last summer we had 65 bluebirds fledge!
Pollinator Garden(s) Committee
I hope you've noticed our pollinator garden by the red barn as you are enjoying your walk! We have a committee that takes turns watering and weeding during the summer. The garden was practically self-sufficient this past summer, so this committee is run by just texting or emailing when something is needed. Last summer was quite easy... most all the perennials came back up, the rain cooperated almost all summer, so we didn't have to bring the hose out too often. We did need to do some weeding once in a while (the Bermuda grass at the front always tries to take over!).
This year we are starting a second pollinator garden using only native plants at the back entrance to the park (where the old house was torn down). So this one might need a little more attention. If you'd like to donate any native seeds or plants, that would also be a great help.
Again, if you would like to help with either of these two committees, please contact us!
Peggy Ashley, president
Friends of Kemp Park