fly

This is a tag for the bluebird box project.  As a meditation on the wonders of flight, migration and ideas of home in nature; fly provides both a practical and poetic approach to habitat restoration.  It also alludes to the flight of the imagination as students engage with new concepts and materials as part of a larger collaborative effort. 

This community engagement project involves a partnership between Tacoma Metro Parks, Tahoma Audubon Society and Mt Tahoma High School.  The underlying intent is to engage birdwatchers, environmental and neighborhood activists, students and other community members in a process of bringing back Western Bluebirds to this area.  A similar project that was originally launched on Vancouver Island helped bring back blue birds in that area from near-extinction.  By creating nesting boxes, the group was able to provide inviting shelters for the birds whose natural habitat is Garry Oaks.

My part of this project is to provide infrastructure support for the bird box project that would be funded separately under an Innovative Grant.  What I’m showing here are nesting posts made of steel that feature oak leaf platforms and acorn squirrel guards.  These would be strategically placed in four meadows located within Oak Tree Park.  There could also be spinoff projects involving bird identification hikes, bird call field recording expeditions, periodic box maintenance work parties, annual bird counting efforts, etc.  Esthetic tie-ins with the other blue-themed aspects of the overall project (Water Flume Trail, Pump House images, blue flowered plants, cut stones, etc.) would reinforce the life-source connections in ways large and small.

Additional information about bluebird boxes can be found here http://www.goert.ca/activities/bluebirds/ and background on our approach to this project can be found at the blog http://waterflume.blogspot.com