By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Wilson Middle School students try desperately to save woodpecker nest

Jun 20, 2018 | 4:25 PM

LETHBRIDGE –  Five grade six students at Wilson Middle School in north Lethbridge are desperately trying to save a Northern Flicker Woodpecker’s nest, after someone dumped garbage and sharp objects into a small tree hole where the nest sits.

The nest is in the middle of the school’s courtyard in the lower half of a tree. Students have been asked to be mindful of it and not to disturb it as much as possible.

The garbage was discovered Wednesday afternoon by Adele Dagenais.

“I found the garbage at lunch. I was on the air walker and I came to check on the birds and I saw a sharp thing in there, so I took it out, and I put my phone in there, and saw a whole bunch of garbage in there.”

She told her friends Prezlie Hogan and Logan Beatty what had happened, and the three began trying carefully trying to remove the garbage.

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“The bird was in there a day ago,” says Beatty. “And I saw there were exactly seven eggs in there, and that’s why we’re trying to get all of the garbage out. We don’t want the birds to be hurt or anything.”

Cyrus Gesqe and Jayston Brazeau, who joined the effort as well, say the eggs have been in the nest for about two weeks.

Principle Dean Hawkins says the nest was created last November, and while there were some eggs there at that time, they were destroyed by starlings.

The school’s learning support class noticed the nest was occupied again this spring, and the students have been keeping tabs on it while also using the experience as a science lesson.

“We have some kids that want to take care of it and keep it clean. You know it’s really become part of the school, really.”

He says it’s very disappointing that someone dumped garbage, including about half a dozen food wrappers, a granola bar, and protractors into the nest.

“They don’t realize that there’s actually a family in there…you can’t always control what people do on evenings or weekends. You can’t always control even sometimes what they do during the day. But we like to make sure we’re trying to take care of it (the nest).”

One teacher told LNN that they did contact Alberta Environment about the nest, and found out that in some areas, the Northern Flicker is protected.

Because of the garbage dumped into the tree, it’s not clear whether the mother will come back, but the students say they’re hopeful and they’ll do what they can to prevent others from potentially doing any further damage.

Hawkins says they may look at some fencing around the nest in the future but for now, he’s proud of the students’ efforts.

“That’s what we try to teach them, to take care of each other, to take care of things. I’m pretty proud of the kids who catch on to what we’re trying to teach.”