Giving loons a lift: Steller students take on a unique project
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - On a recent morning at Westchester Lagoon, Steller Secondary students stood on the shoreline watching through binoculars.
The students were taking part in what Steller calls “an intensive,” a two-week period at the end of each semester where students choose to take a deep dive into a single topic. In this case, the topic was birds.
”I’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how quickly students have gotten interested in birding,” said Steller social studies teacher Joe Jackson. “You know, before this class, I don’t feel like many of them could tell a black cap chickadee from a boreal chickadee for instance, and now you can see them, they are super jazzed to be looking at different birds.”
Students learned to identify birds, their habitat, migration patterns and other birdie facts. Steller Senior Sylas Romero said he appreciated learning more about the natural world around him.
”I feel a lot more knowledgeable about myself and my surroundings,” Romero said. “Honestly, it’s something that anyone can do at any time, even if you find yourself with 15 minutes to walk down the coastal trail. It’s something you can take with you wherever you go, because you learn one thing about a bird and you never forget it.”
One of the more memorable parts of the intensive included a special project where students built a floating raft for a pair of nesting Pacific Loons.
Jackson said the school was approached by the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about collaborating on the yearly project for loons that nest at Conner’s Lake near the dog park.
“So, dogs are running around all over the place,” Jackson said. “And unfortunately, that means that loons can’t have their typical shore nesting behavior, and so they need a place to nest. Loons are very faithful to where they nest, coming back year after year. And so, the raft was the solution.”
The Alaska Loon Cam, which posts videos of the loons on Conner’s Lake, showed the birds started building their nest the day after the raft was launched.
Jackson said students were delighted to have played a part in helping the birds, adding that the lessons they are learning outside the classroom will hopefully be lifelong.
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