Georgia Magazine - February 2022 - 34

AMBER LANIER NAGLE
Hometown HEROES
By Amber Lanier Nagle
Marietta man known for work with
eastern bluebirds
F
or the many visitors who frequent Green Meadows
Preserve in Marietta, Jim Bearden is something of a rock
star. At 76, the unofficial, unpaid park ambassador
frequently leads Bluebird Trail Walk and Talk Tours in the park on
Saturdays. Other days, Bearden can be spotted around the
112-acre greenspace cleaning out or repairing bluebird boxes,
pouring dried mealworms into feeding stations or helping Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts in their pursuit of nature badges or awards.
" I've always loved nature, " Bearden says. " I grew up on a farm
in Boaz, Ala. Maybe that's where my deep connection to nature
comes from. "
As a young man, Bearden enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and
served in Vietnam. After " tasting the world " as a military man, he
chose a career in the travel industry and lived in several U.S. cities
before settling down in Marietta with his wife, KC. He fell in love
with Green Meadows Preserve in 2010.
Bearden erected the first bluebird house at the park in 2012
and began reporting data to NestWatch, nestwatch.org, a
nationwide program that tracks status and trends in the
reproductive biology of birds.
" It didn't take long for bluebirds to find the house, " he says.
" That first year, the female laid six eggs that successfully hatched
and fledged six babies. "
At last count, Bearden and other volunteers have helped
hatch 2,099 bluebirds, thanks to the 31 boxes and 20 feeding
stations Bearden has placed around the park along what he calls
" the Bluebird Trail. "
" Researchers say we've lost nearly 3 billion birds in the last
50 years, so it's important for us to do all we can to help protect
and strengthen bird populations, " he says.
Bearden also travels to install bluebird boxes at places such
Eastern bluebird do's and don'ts
* DO position bluebird boxes in sunny, open spots.
* DO position the box facing fi elds or other large expanses of short
grasses with clear fl ight paths.
I
S
* DO place the box so the hole is facing east.
* DO mount the box 5 to 10 feet off the ground, and anchor the
box securely.
* DON'T place boxes too close to feeders, houses or dense shade.
* DON'T add a perch. Perches often attract other types of birds to the
box.
* DON'T mount boxes closer than 100 yards (the length of a football
fi eld) to 125 yards.
34 Georgia Magazine February 2022
as homes, schools and senior centers, charging $150 for the units,
installation, a subscription to the North American Bluebird
Society and one-on-one training on how to attract bluebirds and
report progress to NestWatch. He's built and installed more than
300, some as far away as Blairsville.
The beloved " Bluebird Guy " is also a Cobb County Master
Gardener, vice president of the Friends of Green Meadows
Preserve group, advisor to their community garden and proud
member of both the state and national Audubon Societies, as well
as many other nature and wildlife organizations. The Georgia
Recreation and Park Association named him Volunteer of the Year
in 2020.
" I hope I've made a difference. I hope some of the people I've
spoken with have helped bluebirds in their own communities, " he
says. " It's a wonderful sound-the music of the birds in the trees.
We have to do all we can to make sure future generations hear
that sound as well. "
Amber Lanier Nagle is a freelance writer living in Adairsville.
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http://www.nestwatch.org
Georgia Magazine - February 2022

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