FREDERICKTOWN – Bird watchers will now have a more comfortable way to enjoy their hobby thanks to two new bird blinds installed at the Ackerman Nature Preserve on Wednesday.
The bird blinds were possible thanks to citizen donations totaling $5,300.
Established in 2012 through a generous gift from the Ackerman family to the Fredericktown Recreation District, Ackerman Nature Preserve provides an area for
residents and visitors to enjoy nature. It includes a 22-acre pond and wetland area on the 52-acre property.
Adding bird blinds makes sense, with the preserve being one of the top spots for bird watching and variety, according to ebird.org.
“We routinely have eagles. We’ve had sand tail cranes, we’ve got pintail ducks and green and blue wing teals, and of course Canada geese,” volunteer Pam Rose said.
Several other projects are in the works at the preserve with a 40-foot windmill soon to be installed, increasing aeration at the wetlands.
A fundraiser is currently underway to make further improvements to the wetland, including a sunflower field near the windmill, duck nest improvements and adding educational signage.
Two Boy Scout projects are incoming; one is planting a pollinator garden at a nearby soybean field, the other is clearing a roughly one-mile trail in the wooded area behind the wetland.
Kokosing retirees spent nearly two days prepping for an upcoming gravel parking lot at the preserve, Rose said.
“We had the help of four different townships in the county who let us have their drivers bring millings to us from the construction site.”
A committee focused on improving the preserve was formed roughly a year ago, Rose said.
“At first it started out as a very small group of people and then it just kind of grew from there,” Fredericktown Recreation District executive director Jim Blanchard said.
“It started out as just spitballing, just people throwing ideas out there about what do you, what’s the visions for this? And then if somebody had a vision that somebody else didn’t, they might take that and expand upon it. And then we brought more and more people into it.”
Though there isn’t a timeline for the remaining projects, adding the bird blinds is the first step of many, Blanchard said.
“The big question at the beginning was, ‘Why are we doing this?’ And ‘Is it for the people or is it for the animals?’ And the answer is yes,” Rose said.
“It really is a place for people to come and see the birds, but the birds to continue to feel safe in this environment. Putting a bird blind up is one way to allow that dichotomy of things to happen.”