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 |
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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 |
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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.
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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 |
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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.
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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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