Kevin Keys of Boy Scout Troop 31, of Eau Claire, has been working with The Bluebird Restoration Project since 2007. He was just 8 years old when he started! He grew up creating Bennett Bluebird Boxes and even helped with his brother Owen’s Eagle Scout project in the creation of the Bluebird Trail at the Eau Claire Country Club. To continue Kevin’s Bluebird Legacy, he’s decided to earn his Eagle Scout award, through, of course, Bluebird Experience.
Kevin shows how to monitor a bluebird box at an Earth Day event at the UWEC Children’s Nature Academy
For the past five months Kevin has been fundraising by selling Bluebird Experience golf balls and handmade Bennett Bluebird Boxes in order to raise money for Eau Claire’s seventh Bluebird Trail. He has constructed 12 Bluebird Boxes for the trail and created awareness of songbird restoration at his high school and the UWEC Children’s Nature Academy located at The Priory.
Bluebird Experience and Kevin’s initial plan was to establish the trail on UW-Eau Claire’s main campus. Due to an unearthing amount of House Sparrows, and research done by the UW-Eau Claire, Community Leadership Students (Bluebird Academy Spring 2016), the trail plan was then relocated to UW-Eau Claire’s upper campus. After concerns of sustainability, it was then decided to take a completely different approach towards our community collaboration goals and redirect the location and logistics.
Two of Kevin’s 12 boxes went the expansion of the Bluebird Trail at The Priory. The remaining 10 will make up Eau Claire’s seventh Bluebird Trail located at Phillips Medisize Corporation. The 10 nest box trail will be spread out onto three different properties making up the Phillips Medisize Corporation.  The employees are beyond excited to be apart of the Bluebird Team and the trail will be established by Kevin Keys and Troop 31 on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 5:30pm.
Kevin and employees of Phillips Medisize choosing placement of nest boxes for Bluebird Trail
Bluebird Experience is so happy to have been able to help Kevin create his Eagle Scout legacy. His patience, flexibility, and impeccable Zip-a-dee-do-dah background singing is greatly appreciated. He may have earned his Eagle Scout Award, but he also deserves a Bluebird trophy for persistence.
Soon we will be teaching Phillip Medisize employees how to restore songbirds through weekly monitoring on Wednesdays. We will collect songbird data and report our findings utilizing NestWatch.org of Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Collaboration through connections creates citizen scientist in our community!