Making a bat house is more complicated than one might think. Over the summer, James, using his father's workshop built 24 bat houses! He volunteered his time and his own money to bring this project to fruition.

24 Bat Boxes

James Lane was a junior at Catlin Gable School in Portland, when he attended a spring program in 2019 at Malheur Field Station to build bat boxes.  James’s stepfather, Scott Bowler was to lead the group and at the last minute couldn’t make it.  The students built and repaired bird boxes during their stay instead.

James said “I’m interested in conservation and my step father, Scott Bowler introduced me to the Malheur Field Station. James couldn’t forget the bat boxes and their importance on the refuge.  “It seemed a good way to combine my interests into a school project.  According to Alexis Martinez, biologist at MNWR says “There are 15 species of bats in Oregon, twelve of those species are found at Malheur”.  Test results in 2019 yielded information that the 12 species on the refuge are free of white nose syndrome, a fungus decimating bat populations in some parts of the country.  According to MNWR, bats eat insects, including mosquitoes and are a food source to hawks, owls, and some snakes.  Weasels and raccoons will climb trees to get them.

Making a bat house is more complicated than one might think. Over the summer, James, using his father’s workshop built 24 bat houses! He volunteered his time and his own money to bring this project to fruition.  With help from his step father Scott, they coordinated in November to deliver 24 bat boxes to the Malheur Field Station.  The Malheur Field Station is sharing 10 of these to be distributed and put up all around the MNWR headquarters, Buena Vista and Double O as well as the Malheur Field Station.

James is an incredible young man with no doubt a bright future.  We are thankful to James and his stepfather Scott for their time and donation to the Malheur Field Station.  We may not see James for a while, as he is heading farther east to pursue his studies at Colby College in Maine.  We wish him success and hope to see him again on station in the future.
 
 

Our Thanks to Steve Arndt, one of Oregon’s Ghost Town experts, who volunteered his time to be the Guest Speaker at the MFS Board and Membership meeting on September 14, 2019.

Guest Speaker - 2019 MFS Member's Meeting

Our Thanks to Steve Arndt, one of Oregon’s Ghost Town experts, who volunteered his time to be the Guest Speaker at the MFS Board and Membership meeting on September 14, 2019.

photo: Diane Arndt

He presented a very interesting slide show featuring ghost town photographs taken by his wife Diane–the photographer for all of his books.

Steve has authored 14 travel guide books. “Oregon – Uncommon Facts and Unique Information” is his newest book, released late last year. He wrote his first book, “Roads Less Traveled in Northwest Oregon” in 2003.

A noted speaker, Steve has given over 100 talks to groups wanting to know more about the Backroads of Oregon, its Ghost Towns, and it’s lesser known facts. He has been seen on Grant’s Getaways, OPB, and was featured in the OSU Ghost Town production entitled “Unabandoned.” He is scheduled months in advance

and continues to add presentations to his repertoire.

For more information please visit
https://www.roadslesstraveledoregon.com/

In May, 2019 Mark Miller and David Hibbs from Corvallis joined 10 friends for four days of birding and some volunteer work.

Help From Corvalis

In May, 2019 Mark Miller and David Hibbs from Corvallis joined 10 friends for four days of birding and some volunteer work–installing screens repaired by recent volunteer Stan Tomich, and sorting LOTS of recycling.

Before Sorting

When we are busy we accumulate a lot of recycling that needs further sorting.

After Sorting

It is a job that is easy to procrastinate. We truly appreciated the timely help from this group.

This Spring (2019) Stan, a retired electronics engineer from Washington state, volunteered to address the damaged screen problem on the entire Field Station.

108 Screens Repaired

The next time you visit the field station and find yourself in a room devoid of mosquitoes or flies, thank Stan Tomich. This Spring (2019) Stan, a retired electronics engineer from Washington state, volunteered to address the damaged screen problem on the entire Field Station.

He removed all the damaged screens from all the major buildings and setup shop in the Greaswood building and proceeded to patiently replace the screening in each frame one at a time. When he got done the count was a whopping 108 screens ready to be reinstalled!

Mark Miller and David Hibbs from Corvallis who were also volunteering at the time–helping sort lots of recycling–stepped up to the plate and helped Stan with the massive reinstallation. Thank you Stan, Mark and David.

April, 2019, Ann Wyatt of Baker City declined the photo op but helped with creating an up-to-date inventory of t-shirts and sweatshirts at our gift shop!

Mother - Daughter Painting Volunteers

You don’t have to have your picture taken if you volunteer. April, 2019, Ann Wyatt of Baker City declined the photo op but helped with creating an up-to-date inventory of t-shirts and sweatshirts at our gift shop! And that’s not all. The 91-year-old also joined her daughter Jill and painted rooms in one of the dorms.

Ann first came to Malheur Field Station with the Golden Eagle Audubon Society over 20 years ago when she lived in Boise.
“I was hooked,” she says of that visit. “I’ve been back every spring and fall since.”

The trips to volunteer are in addition to birding trips. She has a little more time since giving up competitive race walking when she turned 80. “I still came in first, but that may be because I was the only one in that age category.”

We don’t know if there’s a competition for painters, but she’s a champion in our book. “Thanks to you, I found something I always loved doing, that I can still do at 91–PAINT!” she said. Thank You, Ann and Jill.

Catlin Gable junior high students arrived at MFS in March of 2019 ready to build bat boxes. A change in plans routed the students to the shop to rebuild and build bird boxes instead.

Catlin Gable 2019 Bird Boxes

Catlin Gable junior high students arrived at MFS in March of 2019 ready to build bat boxes. A change in plans routed the students to the shop to rebuild and build bird boxes instead. It was amazing to see those students show off their shop skills as they finished the new and renewed bird boxes, pack up their tools and clean the shop! We’re hoping future birders were being created and we see them in the future!

Malheur Field Station