The day started with a “safari” tour, where we drove around to many of the different restoration sites. At these locations, we were able to visit marsh land and prairie land, seeing a variety of native species on both the land and in the water. We were able to see a salamander egg nest in one of the marshes, that was shared currently with a large population of birds, including Red Wing Black Bird and Swallows, where boxes had previously been built and provided for them.

While learning about the restoration sites, we were able to see and hear about the locations and plans for future projects. During the afternoon session, I was given the option to either partake in testing on Herbicides, to receive an applicator and knowledge of Herbicides certification, or help out work on the Earthworks Sustainability project, which I was much more excited for. I was able to make a two tier rocket box style bat boxes, and finished up by painting them all black.

Each piece of wood needs to be perfectly lined up in order to fit the top square piece of wood into place. There will be three total layers from the inside to outer layers of wood.

When exploring the sites, we were able to hear about the plans for the bat boxes, and learn where some of them would be put in. What I learned while in the field today was there was four different species of bats seen locally in our area, and there was also multiple style of bat boxes used to home them. Bat boxes commonly are seen on sides of buildings, with straight sides, rectangular shape with slotted roofs.

Final product and example of a Rocket Box. Each box takes hours of work putting together, and are followed up with a black paint job to help retain heat in the boxes.

The rocket box design consists of multiple layers, and is can vary in length (the ones we made today were around 4 feet) and are a rectangular cube shape, and even on all sides. The bat boxes will be placed in multiple locations over the base, and will available to home thousands of bats.