I am a volunteer. My choice of volunteer work: being a raptor docent. I love birds… in particular I love these birds. And I think the work that they do (and, by extension, at their direction, I do) at the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center is important.
Mostly it’s basic chores: cleaning, watering, and feeding.
Today, it was also maintenance to the building.
from the western side of the building.
We’ve got some pesky cottonwood starts that someone who knows what they’re doing needs to take care of, but until then, we cut them way back in the fall. (Unfortunately, they’re kind of nice in the summer because they provide a smidge of dappled shade, but they’re difficult to work around in the winter.)
Some Boy Scouts are coming on Saturday to help with grounds maintenance, and the concern is that there will be a lot of noise and activity that some of the birds will find vexing. So today I cut back the vegetation by hand and put it in a pile a little bit removed from the structure.
There’s still more to do, on the south side and north side, but it’s a start.
Carmen Yount 