Thanks to HMN Elizabeth Pass, Cohort VI, for developing the connections that led to this project and letting us know about it!

I read in the July newsletter about a volunteer opportunity for building bird boxes (kestrel and bluebird nest boxes) for Jill and Lance Morrow who coordinate the Kestrel Nest Box Monitoring project.

I contacted my neighbor Barbara Reisner because she and her husband’s (Bill Tompkins) son, Owen, is a scout with Troop 42 downtown. Fortunately, the timing was perfect and he was in need of an Eagle Scout project.

Owen Tompkins has been a scout since first grade when he joined Pack 42. He’s currently a junior at Harrisonburg High School and the Massanutten Regional Governor’s School.

Owen worked with 10 other scouts and several parents to complete a bluebird box building project on November 6. Neal Lewis of Sustainable Solutions provided the space for the project.

– Elizabeth Pass, Cohort VI, November 2021

Photo at top: Clockwise from front of table: Owen Tompkins, Felix Young, Tripp Moore, Peyton Keene, Samuel Mars, Isaac Randolph, Steven Lewis, Brad Watson (Asst. Scout Master), November 6, 2021. Photo courtesy of Barbara Reisner.

These scouts built some 50 bluebird boxes which will likely go up along route 42 in Rockingham County. As of November 2021, Lance and Jill are still in need of more kestrel and bluebird boxes built to their specific blueprints. Contact Lance at 540-896-6553 or email saltlick2003 [at] gmail.com if you can help!