Local Kids Help Install Bat and Bluebird Houses
July 2, 2020
This past Tuesday, Maeryn, Nathanael, and Michael Mercier helped to install a bat box on the Grand Lake Stream Historical Society’s barn on Brown Lane. This box will help to ensure local bats have a safe place to roost during the day.
Bats are important for pollination of native plants which have evolved over time to attract nocturnal and mammalian species instead of insects. Many species eat insects, including Maine’s famous mosquitoes, making them helpful pest patrollers in any neighborhood. Throughout Maine and North America, bat populations are threatened by habitat loss and diseases, especially White Nose Syndrome (WNS). WNS is a fungal infection that spreads in bat colonies, but cannot spread to other species or humans. WNS has affected more than 80% of bat populations in the Northeast, causing a decline in bat sightings in the Downeast Lakes region. This bat box will provide a safe space for the bats to roost during the day away from predators. We appreciate the help of the Merciers in hammering, climbing the ladder, and leveling the box along with our summer intern, Seth Gray.
After hanging the bat box, the kids made their way over to Billy Brown Field, where DLLT is creating native pollinator habitat. In the center of the field, next to a young Mountain Ash tree, the kids installed a bluebird house. This is one of several bluebird boxes hung by local volunteers around Grand Lake Stream, and it will serve as a place for bluebirds to nest in the spring and raise their young. If you are interested in learning more about the pollinator habitat or contributing to the project you can visit https://downeastlakes.org/the-treasured-biodiversity-of-downeast-maine/. This project is funded by a Farm Bill cost-share program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. Special thanks to former DLLT Executive Director Steve Keith, who built the bat box and the bluebird boxes, and donated them to DLLT.
If you know children ages 6-16 who would like to participate in outdoor activities you can contact us at info@downeastlakes.org for more information. We also have regularly-scheduled children’s programs every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Grand Lake Stream school building, starting July 7th. The schedule is as follows:
Explorations and Adventures – Tuesdays (ages 6-10, but all ages welcome)
July 7th: Reptiles and Amphibians
July 14th: Animal Adaptations
July 21st: Survival Skills
July 28th: Discovering the Forest Hike
August 4th: West Grand Exploration by Boat – must preregister
August 11th: Stream Study
Serious Skills for Boys and Girls – Thursday (ages 10-16, but all ages welcome)
July 9th: Atl Atl Making
July 16th: Survival Skills
July 23rd: Aquatic Biology
July 30th: New England Forester
August 6th: West Grand Exploration by Boat – Must preregister
August 13th: Wildlife Biology
