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Lakeway Area man has helped migrating birds find a home for the past 25 years.

Fred Johnson, 79 year Sneedville native, has built homes for birds migrating from South America out of gourds in his backyard.

He started working at Berkline in 1964 and he lived around Morristown for several years before moving into his current home in the early 80’s, the location where he houses the birds.

Johnson got the idea to help house the birds from a neighbor who had been doing the same job for several years.

“A neighbor of mine named Rodney Mack started building birdhouses for the birds and one day I was talking with him and he told me about them and what he does and he inspired me to do it myself,” he said. “I tried it and the first year I had a pair of them nests, the next year 15 birds built their nests and then after I lost count and more and more kept coming in.

“With each year I added more gourds to my yard and now I have 184 gourds for all the birds to come in and build their homes for the summer.”

“I have learned a lot about them,” he said. “The birds travel 7,000 miles for 2 months to South America. They stay there for 3 months and come back and spend 5 months in the Lakeway Area to raise their young. They leave and come back in the spring.

“The earliest they ever arrived was February 19 and the latest was at the end of May. When they come in early you never know if there will be a cold spell and in the past it has snowed and they’ll huddle in the homes and won’t come out for days until it’s all gone.

“Each year more and more birds come to my land and it’s getting to where there are so many I can’t handle them.”

To prepare for the growing number of visitors he spends the entire year preparing for their return.

“I keep all the egg shells I use throughout the year and crush them up and put them on a platform so when the birds fly in they use them to feed their young which is a great source of vitamins,” Johnson said. “I mainly use gourds as the houses for them and to do that as the gourds grow you let them dry out and then you drill a hole into it, it has to be big enough for a bird to get in..

“I dry them out in the winter and it takes all winter to dry them full because if you do it while it’s still green those holes you drill will expand and cause the gourd to burst open.

“I clean them up real good and put two coats of paint on them to withstand the weather. You also have to drill two small holes in the bottom so if it rains the water will run out the hole.”

As soon as the birds leave is when his work starts.

“After they leave I take all the gourds down and clean them out,” he said. “Some of them are replaced or repainted, but they are very durable. There are some out there that have been sitting there for probably 10 to 12 years.”

He explained that with his age he struggles to maintain his duties, but he continues to push on.

“I used to grow gourds but as I get older it’s harder for me to maintain them but I have a brother who grows them for me in Sneedville and he gives me some for the birds,” he said.

“People may think I’m crazy for keeping up with it, but it gives me something to do. I like to keep myself busy.”

As Johnson looks back on the many years he has maintained the homes he recalls the rescue of a baby bird.

“One year a baby bird fell out of the nest and it was so small and had no feathers so I decided to take it in and help get its strength back,” Johnson said. “I kept feeding and gave it water out of a medicine dropper. Eventually it got bigger and was back to health.

“I couldn’t get away from that bird. Anytime I got up or moved around it would follow me. It would fly onto my head and my arms.

“Then when the other birds came back to nest he spent time with them and once they migrated out of the area it went with them.”

Johnson lives on a cove area of Cherokee Lake, in Bean Station. So it’s difficult for the public to see his work, but many might have seen him at local craft shows.

He has been spotted at Rose Center selling his extra gourds at Rose Center’s Mountain Makins and other craft events.

“I used to sell my gourds at Rose Center years ago,” he said. “I would sit up for a few hours and sell almost $500-$600 worth of gourds when I set up.’

“I would go to Sevierville and other places to set up as well and would sell my gourds, basket and other things I would build but as I got older I couldn’t do the same stuff anymore and I’m slowing down.”

Johnson plans to continue maintaining the homes until he is no longer able to continue.

“Yes I am slowing down, but I plan to keep working on them until I can’t,