Hoping to take advantage of the natural open landscape, Tom Edwards, Simon Family JCC sports and recreation director, has placed five birdhouses around the Sandler Family Campus.
Edwards crafted four new bluebird nest boxes made of cedar. The handmade birdhouses are mounted throughout the campus: Outside of the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater entrance, near both entries to the Simon Family JCC parking lot, and along the west side of the athletic field at the rear of the campus. A purple martin house stands along the pond’s edge next to the JCC parking lot.
Cavity nesters, Bluebirds have been struggling in recent decades to find natural tree dwellings. An interest in posting man-made nest boxes has helped the bluebird population grow and spread in the open spaces where they typically live.
Purple martins are community nesters that like open spaces and open water access that they can share with their friends and families. As a natural predator of mosquitos, purple martins are a welcome sight for all.