RBC Students Assist with Cornell University Study

On Saturday, March 7th, a group of Red Bank Catholic students joined RBC AP Biology teacher Mrs. Mary Jane Davis at Dorbrook Park in Lincroft for the 23rd annual “Bluebird Day”. Since 1993 Mrs. Davis has been supervising groups of RBC student and alumni volunteers to assist Cornell University’s “NestWatch Project”.

Nest Watch, conducted by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, is a nationwide monitoring program designed to track the status and trends in the reproductive biology of birds. The project collects data from all over the country into a database designed to assist with the study of the current condition of breeding bird populations and how they may be changing over time as a result of climate change, habitat degradation and loss, expansion of urban areas, and the introduction of non-native plants and animals.

In recent years, newer nesting boxes at Dorbrook have been designed and constructed by the RBC Introduction to Engineering class and installed by the volunteers, bringing the current total to 40. Volunteers have been treated to shows put on by the bluebirds checking out their new nest sites, and courting one another.

From April through late August, Mrs. Davis and RBC Chemistry teacher Mrs. Jessica Nicoletti will monitor the houses and student volunteers will enter nest data into the NestWatch database. Now into its third decade, the project has been a very worthwhile endeavor and as Mrs. Davis notes, “Caseys have staying power. In 1993 when the project began, Middlesex Community College and a couple of other high schools were involved. RBC has been the only consistent ‘force for nature’. Over the years students and alumni have braved rain, snow, brambles and mud to accommodate the cavity nesting birds that could not nest here otherwise. It’s been a great experience for everyone.”