Bats and bluebirds in southern Alabama will soon have a better home thanks to volunteers from Alabama Power.

More than 20 Plant Barry employees in Mobile recently assembled 20 blue bird nesting boxes and 10 bat nesting boxes for deployment in the Upper Delta Wildlife Management Area, a forested floodplain crossed by the Alabama, Mobile and Tensaw. Eric Lynn, a senior engineer at the plant, says the habitat project was inspired by a conversation earlier this year between Alabama Power employees and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR ).

“We started the relationship with them in 2019 when we built duck boxes for them and set them up,” Lynn said. “We contacted them again at the beginning of the year and it is a project that they proposed.”

Alabama Power volunteers build bird and bat habitats from the Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The project is part of ADCNR’s Eastern Bluebird Nest Box campaign and its Alabama Bat Monitoring and Conservation Program, which aims to manage, protect, conserve and enhance the 16 species of cave bats and arboreal trees that live in Alabama. Lynn and other volunteers from Alabama Power’s Barry Environmental Stewardship Team gathered on July 2 to assemble the boxes.

“It’s exciting,” Lynn said. “The Upper Delta Wildlife Management Area is relatively close to the plant. It is in an area close to our neighborhoods. Supporting our community is amazing.

More than 20 Plant Barry employees in Mobile recently assembled 20 blue bird nesting boxes and 10 bat nesting boxes that will be deployed in the Upper Delta Wildlife Management Area. (Whitney Corgill / Alabama Power)

The project is part of ADCNR’s Eastern Bluebird Nest Box campaign and its Alabama bat monitoring and conservation program. (Whitney Corgill / Alabama Power)

Volunteers from Alabama Power’s Barry environmental stewardship team gathered on July 2 to assemble the boxes. (Whitney Corgill / Alabama Power)

The boxes are designed to provide bats and bluebirds a more stable environment in which to thrive and grow their populations. (Whitney Corgill / Alabama Power)

The boxes are designed to provide bats and bluebirds with a more stable environment to help them thrive and grow their population. It also provides free pest control as bats consume millions of mosquitoes and other insects every night.

“They eat a ton of mosquitoes and other pests,” Lynn said. “Bats are definitely our friends. “

Lynn said he and his team plan to deploy the boxes in a few weeks, then service them and research other ways to help ADCNR.

“The plan is to continue this relationship into the future because we don’t want to just take these boxes out and drop them to pieces,” Lynn said. “We will plan a return in the future and maintain these boxes, clean them and make the necessary repairs. “