There are going to be a lot of happy birds in the Amherstburg area in the next few weeks.
The AMA Sportsmen Club teamed with the Canada Wild Turkey Federation’s (CWTF) AMA Longbeards Chapter last Saturday morning to provide local young outdoor enthusiasts a chance to build birdhouses.
Two-year-old, almost three, Blair Dragicevic spends a lot of time outside thanks to her grandfather and AMA member Gord Meloche and with the help of her mom, Megan Dragicevic worked the drill and helped build her own bird boxes.
“She loves nature walks and fishing with her grandfather,” said Megan.
Although young Blair might have a tough time attracting pink birds, which is her favourite colour, her grandpa commented, “she wants to build a house for the birds and knows what she wants.”
The AMA Sportsmen Club had no problem recruiting members to pre-cut the wood for the houses, as they were at the clubhouse on Lowes Side Road, some as early as 6 a.m.
“We must have had 30 guys here cutting lumber and that’s common for projects that are done here,” said CWTF Longbeards President Mark Rene.
Rene explained that his chapter is called Longbeards because a wild turkey’s maturity can be confirmed by the length of its beard and getting a bird with a long beard is considered to be quite an accomplishment.
The entire event, including a free lunch and being able to take home the bird house is just one of the many activities that the AMA takes pride in.
According to Rene, Saturday’s particular activity has been going on for at least 20 years.
“This is part of the conservation effort that CWTF puts on. AMA Sportsmen do a lot of things for kids,” said Rene.
The turkey shoot and archery are popular but on Saturday it was all about building the bird houses.
“I think it is very important that we have a mandate to help youth and ladies to be involved in wildlife.”
Two different styles of houses could be made and the local organization provided everything including screws, wood and drills to assemble.
For Luca Paquette and his father Jason who live in the area, it was a chance to build another house as they already have three.
For more information about the AMA Sportsmen Association, call 519-736-5706.
By Fred Groves
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