Conservation effort: Church members install bluebird boxes and plant tree seedlings

DOVER – A local pastor who frequently visits Dover City Park marked Earth Day this year by conducting a special Bluebird Trail Earth Day Walk.

Pastor John Wallace from the First Moravian Church of Dover and members of his congregation gathered at the park Monday to install Bluebird nesting boxes at various locations across the park. Earth Day is an international day that draws attention to the environment and promotes conservation and sustainability.

Wallace has been a regular visitor to the park and pool after a heart attack in 2018 and successfully hip replacements. His doctor suggested he go to nature for rehabilitation and frequent exercise.

He enlisted the support of his elder congregants to help construct the Bluebird cedar boxes in his wood shop. The project was approved by Jeff Mathews, park director, and funded by the church.

More on Earth Day in Tuscarawas County: Conservancy district plans tree giveaway, cleanup challenge and tire takeback events

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Eastern Bluebird is not native to Ohio but migrated to the state as settlements cleared forests and farms were established. Some migrate south in the winter, while others remain in the southern portions of the state.

As trends in farming have changed over generations to more of a monoculture approach, so too has the Bluebird habitat from a bygone era when pastures and orchards dominated the landscape. Installing boxes will hopefully help to promote an increase in Bluebird numbers, thereby helping to reduce insects in the summer months – their preferred seasonal food source.

The ideal Bluebird habitat is one of mixed hardwood forests and grasslands where the grassy areas may be meadows, pastures, yards, cemeteries, highway, or prairies. Available perches typically reside about 5 to 10 feet above ground level.

Spacing for the boxes is important too.

"A Bluebird will run another Bluebird off if you put them too close, but they don’t mind tree Swallows," Wallace said. "So, the suggestion was if you put them in pairs, you’re more than likely to attract both species and serve a dual purpose.”

The group also planted 50 Norway pines and Red Oak tree seedlings in the old Kiwanis wood lot, after which they concluded the afternoon with a nature walk led by Wallce to bring the conservation effort full circle.

ODNR’s Division of Wildlife offers downloadable field guides for people wishing to construct their own Bluebird boxes or explore other ways of contributing to other other conservation methods by going to https://ohiodnr.gov/ and searching for ‘Bluebird.’

T-R staff photographer Andrew Dolph can be reached by phone at 330-289-6072, or by email at adolph3@gannett.com. You can also find him on Instagram @dolphphoto.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Members of First Moravian Church take part in conservation activities