WEATHERSFIELD — Birds were at the forefront of the minds of Marianne and Michael Walsh when they purchased 102 acres of forest land on East Camp Hill Road from their neighbor a few years ago.

Over the years they have observed more than 140 bird species on the property on East Camp Hill Road — off Weathersfield Center Road — which they purchased for more than $200,000. In addition to an abundance of oak trees, it also features vernal pools and other wetlands.

Since the 2022 purchase, the couple has worked with staff at the Upper Valley Land Trust, a Hanover-based nonprofit organization focused on land conservation, to put a conservation easement on the property to protect it from development and other uses that might make the property less welcoming for birds.

“We always knew it was a very special forest,” Marianne Walsh said in a phone interview, noting that warblers and thrushes build nests on the property’s ridge line. “If you like birds, the most important thing you can do is protect their habitat.”

And the Walshes like birds. She still remembers one of the first birds they observed when they first moved to Weathersfield more than 40 years ago: A scarlet tanager.

“Birds are beautiful. They connect you with nature,” Walsh said. “Also the birdsong, it’s always a joy to hear in the spring and the summer.”

The Walshes aim to share that joy with others. The land, now known as the Walsh Bird Sanctuary, is open to the public, and there is a trail visitors can walk along to watch birds. Walkers and snowshoers are welcome; bikes, snowmobiles and other vehicles are prohibited. Plans are in the works to hold an April guided bird walk on the property, along with members of the Ascutney Mountain Audubon Society.

While the Upper Valley Land Trust manages and owns numerous properties that benefit birds, the Walsh property “is the first to be named as a bird sanctuary,” Jason Berard, vice president of stewardship at the organization, wrote in an email.

“The entire Upper Valley region lies along the Connecticut River Flyway, a critical route for migratory birds,” he wrote. “In that sense, every conservation project we complete is a bird sanctuary!”

Other properties protected by the land trust that are open to the public where bird watching is plentiful include Up on the Hill Conservation Area in Charlestown, Lake Runnemede/Paradise Park in Windsor, Zebedee Wetland in Thetford and Bear Pond Natural Area in Canaan.

The land trust has worked with 29 Weathersfield landowners to conserve 2,726 acres of land in town, Berard wrote. That includes 464 acres at the trail head of the Weathersfield Trail on Mt. Ascutney State Park and the 310 acres that encompass the Weathersfield Town Forest.

The Walsh Bird Sanctuary is within a mile of six other properties conserved by the land trust.

“While I think there’s an incredible need for affordable housing in Weathersfield and the state, a place like the Walsh’s, the land they put an easement on would not become affordable housing,” said Willis Wood, a member of the Weathersfield Land Preservation Association who has conserved his Weathersfield land with the land trust.

Instead, Wood said he suspects the property would have “become a McMansion and an upscale development.” Protecting such a property depends on “the goodwill of landowners like Mike and Marianne,” he said.

Conservation easements are attached to the property, not the landowners themselves. This means that anyone who owns the property in the future must follow the terms laid out in the conservation easement.

The Weathersfield Land Preservation Association donated $6,000 to the land trust to put toward a stewardship fund for the Walsh Bird Sanctuary. The funds will go to help support an annual inspection to ensure that the conditions of the easement are being maintained, Rika Henderson, president of the nonprofit organization, wrote in an email.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.