Our Neighbor Shelly Sutley is looking for Neighborhood help to sustain the 2017 Bluebird Trail of ten nesting boxes that brought new life to Forest Hill Cemetery. Shelly is recruiting and training a team that can carry on this project under her guidance. Not only does this project increase the population of these “cavity- nesting songbirds”; her project is linked to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology (NestWatch.org) and other sites to share best practices, especially as native Bluebirds compete with the invasive House Sparrow (that’s Cornell, New York).

A potential, on-going presence to guide this project would be a committee within our Neighborhood Association, with Shelley giving technical guidance and inspiration.

For information on getting involved contact Shelly at ShellySutley@gmail.com. She cautions that untrained persons should not disturb the boxes; to do so would jeopardize the scientific results.

Shelly and her entourage were a highlight at our August, 2017, Promenade event to celebrate the season’s perennial plantings on Margaret Street. Watch for effervescent Shelly replete with magical bluebird wings and leading the singing of “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah…Mister Bluebird on my shoulder…”.