Following the Sunday worship service at the Wimberley United Methodist Church on September 21, members of both the clergy and the congregation took a short walk to the church’s new bird sanctuary behind the church. The Revs. Beadle, Brechin and Rang formally dedicated the area with blessings and prayers, after which the congregation was released with a Benediction.
The dream to build a bird refuge began in January, when UMC’s Green Team invited Hays County Master Naturalists to conduct a Habitat-Enhancing Land Management assessment of the church’s property. Otherwise known as a HELM assessment, a four-person Master Naturalist Team walked the property and identified an area that would be a good location for bird viewing.
UMC Green Team members Pat Heintz and Larry Calvert, who are also Master Naturalists, went to work. Heintz applied for a Firefly Grant from the Hays County chapter of Master Naturalists which was awarded in March. That grant, supplemented by one other grant and individual donations, created the momentum to begin building a bird blind. Larry Calvert organized the construction and with builder Chris Sharpe at the helm, church volunteers and Master Naturalists helped complete the viewing station in June.
One of the key components of the refuge is a water caption system that drips rainwater to a ground-level bird bath so that continuous water is available. Several reconditioned bird feeders from Wild Birds Unlimited in Dripping Springs hang from the trees filled with seeds. Inside the handsome blind, a map of other bird viewing stations in the area and a plaque acknowledging the groups that contributed to its creation hang.
Following the ceremony, the congregation returned to the church for a light reception. One member, Melinda Whelan, stayed back to experience the peace of bird blind alone. Within moments, birds appeared in the nearby branches and settled on the feeders.
”I visited the bird blind on Friday morning and within 10 minutes, I saw five varieties of birds. I saw a cardinal, a painted bunting, a woodpecker, a blue jay and an American Goldfinch,” said Whelan. In fact, 40 different species have been identified - either heard or seen - since the refuge was completed, say Master Naturalists.
