Grace Johnson makes ‘swift’ work of Eagle Scout project on display in Ottawa

The beauty of art is in the eye of the beholder, but it becomes particularly special to everyone when that appeal is enhanced by being functional and beneficial to animals.

Grace Johnson has created just such a masterpiece.

Johnson, a senior at Hall High School and resident of Spring Valley, has recently had her Scouts Eagle Scout project placed just off Canal Street in Ottawa: a 12-foot tall sculpture that can be a home for migratory birds that will be returning to the area this spring.

The 4-by-4-foot pillar is not only decorated on two sides by paintings showing the migratory journey of chimney swifts, but also is hollow so the birds – which can only perch vertically – can nest in them when they return from their winter in Central America.

Johnson got involved in scouting as 6-year-old in her mom’s Daisy and Girl Scout troops, but made the jump when she was 10 to the Boy Scouts because of a greater diversity of hands-on programs, advancement and educational and scholarship opportunities.

It wasn’t long after that she, following up on a noise she’d heard in her family’s basement, found some noisy baby chimney swifts that had fallen from their nest. Always a lover of animals and nature, she studied up on the swifts and found that deforestation had forced them to nest not in hollow trees but in chimneys.

That’s when she began devising the project she has on display now, to give them a potential home there instead of in a chimney where they are looked on by homeowners as a blockage and a possible fire hazard.

After collecting donations of materials that likely would have cost near $600, she sketched out and began building the structure, which took her three months to construct, under the leadership of her Eagle Scout mentor, Katie Scheib.

Inside, it contains particle board to give the birds something to cling to and styrofoam insulation to help keep them warmer on colder days. It even has a net to catch babies should they fall out of the nests and metal flashing around the top to keep predators like squirrels and raccoons from disturbing them.

Constructed in three pieces, it was transported to Ottawa and assembled it at its Canal Street location on Nov. 17.

“I wanted to do something to help preserve them,” Johnson said. “They’re not endangered, but they are covered by the Migratory Bird Act that protects them. I would enjoy seeing future generations being able to learn about these birds the way I did. I like them and I wanted to help.”

The presence of chimney swifts also helped their communities by keeping down mosquito populations. Johnson said that because of the swifts they have near their home returning every summer, she hasn’t experienced a single mosquito bite.

Johnson, who plans to attend Illinois Valley Community College and then a four-year university for her degree and doctorate on her way to becoming a psychiatrist, has come away from the work with a positive feeling about the Scouts, as well as a sense of accomplishment and confidence.

“I feel that are scared to join because they feel it would be weird or they wouldn’t be accepted,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen plenty of girls who enjoy it and there’s even an opportunity to have an all-girl troop in the Boy Scouts. It’s helped me a lot, to boost my confidence in who I am, especially when it comes to a male-dominated field, it made me feel better about expressing myself around people.

“It was overall a very good experience for me and helped me become who I am today, and helped me focus on my goals … And it was a lot of fun.”