Bluebird program at Hammock Bay a national success
Walton resident and naturalist Joe Wyatt has been recognized for his efforts monitoring bluebird nests. Wyatt manages a nesting program each year at Hammock Bay in Freeport. In 2011, Wyatt monitored 101 nests, placing him as one of the top 20 nationwide in Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch program. Wyatt is the only Floridian in the top 20.
NestWatch is a nest-monitoring project developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and funded by the National Science Foundation.
The NestWatch observations are added to a continually growing database that is used to monitor population trends, nesting phenology, and the behavior of birds across the country.