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The Trailhead is located in Lake County, Florida. map

For more information, please contact info@scrubjaytrail.org
(352) 429-5566

open:
sat - wed : 8:00-5:00

Email photo contributions
of wildlife or plants seen
on the trail to this address: photos@scrubjaytrail.org

 

 

May 26, 2007 Trailday Newsletter
Hello Trailblazers,

It’s been a beautiful month out here on the Trail. Lots of cool mornings and warm days.
A little more rain would’ve rounded out the picture quite nicely.

People Making News at the Trail
Congratulations to Trailblazer Christine Parker!

Chris is not only a National Wildlife Federation Habitat Steward, but has taken her dedication and love of the outdoors and environment to many levels. As a long time dedicated employee of Walt Disney World she has actively been involved with environmental issues within her organization, and has passionately worked towards educating both children and adults with various activities at Lake Louisa State Park and The Florida Scrub-Jay Trail. Recently Chris received the Disney "Ears to You" Grant for her volunteer service within the community and then did what Chris always does.she passed that money on to a local organization in her community that she knew would value and put it to good use. The Florida Scrub-Jay Consortium was the recipient of the $1,000 award. It doesn't get any better than that. We truly appreciate her generosity and will put it to good use continuing to work with the generations of tomorrow.
Thanks Chris!

We thank the companies that offer matching volunteer hours with grants that help organizations within our communities. Thank you to Walt Disney World, and all the other corporations that promote volunteerism. And a big thank you to those of you that take advantage of your organization's generosity wherever you are in the United States. Volunteer where you live. You make all the difference in the world to your communities.

read the article in the News Leader                                        Back to Top of Page

Scrub-Jay Baby Update

The scrub-jay baby scene is a bit confusing. As you may remember, 5 babies fledged successfully from the nest. Before long, we were seeing only 3. Now, only 1 is visible every day. That's not to say that the parents aren't hiding them all in different trees. But for three weeks we have also been seeing both Mom and Dad picking nesting material and flying to trees as though they were making a new nest. Dad always has the bigger twigs and Mom always has the finer mesh. They have proven to be very clever at hiding the family and their new nesting area, if that is truly what they are doing. What we have is fine specimens of Scrub Jays and we can only keep our fingers crossed for as many babies as we can have.

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Past Events of May

National Tourism Day - May 18th
Lake County Tourism and Business Relations National Tourism Day was May 18th and we had so much fun! We met with old friends and many new ones as we introduced the Florida Scrub-Jay to many folks that were not familiar with Florida's only endemic bird. We met with folks from Tallahassee to the Keys. What a wonderful opportunity to share our very special bird! Thank you Lake County!

Lake Louisa Field Day May 19th
For such a windy day, this was a perfect day to celebrate Lake Louisa Field Day. Everyone had a blast and it was so nice to have a breeze. The Kayaks glided through the crystal clear waters as children sized up to the how you measure up to the birds like sand hill cranes, killdeer and bald eagles and discovered snakes, spiders, bear , and tortoise.

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Activities to come at the Trail

Saturday, May 26th is our monthly Trailday, from 8am-11am.
We will be restoring the Scrub-Jay trail followed by a Memorial Day cookout with hamburgers, hotdogs and veggie burgers, followed by cool, refreshing dishes that you bring. Anything like cool salads and desserts will be appreciated for the table. We'll still do an abbreviated breakfast, so we can hit the Trail early and get to the cookout early.

Things to bring: Gloves, hat, and sunscreen.  Binoculars and cameras are optional.  We will supply drinking water. Please RSVP if you plan on attending.

Orientation, June 2nd
We offer a free 3 hour orientation of the Florida Scrub-Jay Trail on the first Saturday of each Month from 8am-11am. This program has been successful and we hope we'll have some new Trailblazers to help out.
Reserve your place today as group size is kept to a minimum.

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Upcoming Events of May

On Monday the 21st of May,
we will present a program to the Christian Women's Club on butterfly gardening and ways to protect the Florida Scrub-Jay.

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Visitors to the Trail
Brownie Troop 4700 Visit May 16th

We had a fun visit from Brownie Troop 4700 from South Lake Charter Elementary School. This group was a fireball. All energized and ready to make their mark on the world. They got to see a scrub-jay on the telephone wires and learned all about the jays and their habitat. After a tour on the trail discovering gopher tortoise burrows, prickly pear cochineal, native blueberries and many hugs from the 9 miniature Sicilian donkeys they created their own native garden along the trail and promised to check back and care for them.

The girls received a nature "Try-It" -
the Brownie version of the Girl Scout badge.

As usual, it's always fun to have the Brownies on the Trail.

      see pictures in the Gallery                              read the article in the Orlando Sentinel

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Parting Thought

There have been times in the past when we had to stand back and ask if this is all worth it. The weeds seem to be ahead of us, and the trees are growing very slowly. But when you look back on what has been done, it becomes apparent that we are all doing the right thing and the scrub-jay is benefiting from our efforts. When we see how one little bird can touch the hearts of so many people, it becomes apparent that if we don't do what we're doing, our entire world will suffer. Thank you for what you've done.

We ask you all to join us and ask you friends and neighbors to join us as well. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

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