October
27, 2007 Trailday Newsletter see
more photos of the day
Hello Trailblazers,
This has been an unusually hot Fall out here on the
Trail. The past couple days of cooler weather has been
encouraging and it's a great time to be outside working.
It's been busy this month,
and we look forward to sharing the events with you. |
Hot Flashes
 Those of you who have had the good fortune to sample
Judy Clark's monthly culinary adventures know
that she somehow manages to raise the bar, and then jumps over
it month after month.
September's
Scrub-Jay Day was
no exception.
In honor of National Menopause Awareness Month, Judy
provided "Hot
Flashes" a
chocolate brownie with a touch of hot chili pepper. What a deliciously
unusual treat! We can only wonder what November
will bring. We
will be accepting contributions to the breakfast table.Please
let us know if you plan to attend.
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The
ways of the Wild are often very mysterious.
When we returned from
our trip to Maine on September 19, we looked forward to seeing
the scrub-jays, after a week's absence. Two appeared on the back
porch: "WHO", the female, and the juvenile.
However our male,
"BY" (blue
over yellow bands) was nowhere to be found. We have been observing
this bird's behavior for 10 years and know that he's not one
to just "disappear". As the days and even weeks passed, we never
saw him again, and even "WHO" and the baby were getting more
and more difficult to spot.
We know that this time of
the year is very strenuous for the birds, especially considering
the mating, nesting, rearing of young, feeding of the new young
and caching of acorns. Considering "BY"s age, he may
have been in a weakened condition due to this strenuous workout
and either gotten picked off by a hawk, or just passed away.
In any event, he is greatly missed. He was the clown of the family,
 and never missed the opportunity to land on your head and mug
the camera.
But strangely enough, one day we saw two jays
flying together, and then a third was spotted off in the distance.
Eventually, the three came together, and within a few short weeks,
they were flying together as a family unit. Our guess is that it
was a male that had ventured into the territory, knowing that a
male was missing. Happiness once again, prevailed on the Scrub-Jay
Trail.
This lovely picture of "BY" was taken by Tom Lamb
on April 24, 2007.
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|
The Webelos II Den 5 from
Clermont descended upon the Trail this month and left their mark
by planting sand live oaks and installing low-volume irrigation.
Fifteen scouts plus parents learned about scrub-jays, their habitat
and how they can help preserve Florida's
only endemic bird.
Any
time the scouts visit, it's always an exciting experience.
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It's very early to be seeing Bluebirds again,
but 8 of them have returned to the boxes during the first week
of October. These boxes were donated by Christy Conk and
Jana Harris,
and installed along the left side of the driveway as you arrive.
Thank
you Christy and Jana, and the Bluebirds thank you, too. We look
forward to many young birds growing up on the property. Back
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