Summer is quickly coming to an end, but what better way to enjoy this beautiful season than by celebrating urban birds? The summer day camp program at Blackstone Community Center in Boston, Massachusetts, celebrated urban birds on July 21st! The day started with an interactive presentation led by Anita DeStefano from Boston University. During the presentation, the children from the camp were asked to identify some CUBs focal species via “clickers”. At the end of the presentation, the children identified the birds with the “clickers” again and a greater number was able to identify each focal species!
After the presentation, the kids had the opportunity to do some hands-on activities that were set up into three stations! In the first station, activity leader Luis Feliciano helped the kids plant sunflower seeds and he encouraged them to green their neighborhood!
At the second station, the kids were able to put their newly learned identification skills to use! With the help of expert birders Jackson Mersick and Ursula and David Goodine, the children observed some birds through binoculars at the Blackstone Square and Franklin Square Parks!
The final station incorporated art into urban birding! Anjelique Casiano led the students from the summer camp in this fun activity where they were able to make two bird-inspired cards. At the end of the event, they each gave one of their cards to seniors at a local senior housing center!
The event was a success and Amparo Ortiz, a member of the Board of Directors of the Blackstone Community Center, could not be happier with the result:
“We hope this Celebrate Urban Birds event was just the start of a continued program to bring birding, citizen science, art, and neighborhood greening to the children of the Blackstone Community Center. We thank the Blackstone Community Center staff, the activity leaders and birder volunteers and the Celebrate Urban Birds project for making this great event possible”
Written by Juan Ramírez Correa