With the diminishment of certain kinds of habitat, including convenient holes in old-growth trees, cavity nesting birds may have a harder time finding places to nest. We can help!
On Wednesday, December 6, from 10AM-12PM, join Chocorua Lake Conservancy Stewardship Director Debra Marnich to install nesting boxes for wood ducks, built this summer by a fabulous crew of volunteers. This is a WORKshop—we’ll be installing nest boxes up on trees, so folks will be carrying heavy nest boxes and ladders, climbing or supporting ladders, filling nest boxes with clean sawdust, and more.
The boxes will be installed on CLC properties including the Island, Grove, and Woodhouse Reserve. Habitats include lake frontage on Chocorua Lake and are composed mostly of mixed coniferous and deciduous forest. Along the way we’ll explore informal trails along the shore, check on the nest boxes installed in 2017, discuss duck species that require cavities for nesting, what the eggs look like, and what the habitat requirements are. We’ll also learn about who else might use the nest boxes, check out the streams and shoreline, and simply enjoy the end-of-autumn natural world.
We’ll meet at the Island public access area at Chocorua Lake on Route 16 in Chocorua, and walk from there along the shore path to installation locations on the Island and in the Woodhouse Reserve. Come with appropriate footwear for the conditions—hiking or work boots—work gloves, a snack and water, and warm clothes. Please bring some combination of a hammer and drill, an ax, and a small ladder if you have them, and please wear a blaze orange item of clothing. Families are welcome with supervised kids ages 6 and up.
This program is free; CLC welcomes donations in support of its work. Please register in advance below—we want to be able to let you know of changes to the schedule.
CLC Stewardship Director Debra Marnich holds a BS in Zoology and an MS in Forestry. Her major interests and professional focus areas include combining wildlife and forestry practices to manage for both sound silvicultural and optimum wildlife habitat, creating early successional and bird nesting habitat, pollinator habitat creation, promoting small diverse farms local food production/agriculture, promoting land conservation and protection, environmental education, and integrating all resources concerns to create a balanced conservation system.
Banner image: Wood duck eggs in a nesting box. Photo: Debra Marnich