By Jacqui Sulek
Chapter Conservation Manager
Published May 24, 2022
This article is from ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Florida
. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has 31 conservation action centers and more than 500 community and campus chapters across the U.S. serving local communities. Find your local center or chapter here.
The Jay Watch Appreciation event was extra special this year. After two seasons of online trainings and modified surveys, 60 enthusiastic volunteers gathered at Highlands Hammock State Park for a day of learning and celebration, hosted by Highlands Hammock State Park, Highlands County ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Florida.
Led by park staff, the day began early with a field trip to an area restored with the help of Jay Watch volunteers. The park’s Recreation Center provided a perfect meeting space, with plenty of room for masked social distancing.
The day-long event featured an overview of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Jay Watch survey results combined with several educational presentations. Audrey DeRose-Wilson, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Florida’s Director of Bird Conservation, gave an overview of current population trends at some of the larger sites. Educational presentations included results of field work by Alexis Cardas on the Impacts of Translocation on the Cooperatively Breeding Florida Scrub-Jay in Ocala National Forest, as well as a success story by Matt Vance, Lead Area Biologist for the FWC’s Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife and Environmental Area, entitled Burn It and They Will Come! Restoration Success at Carter Creek.
We celebrated the unveiling of the new Florida ScrubJay ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Adventures, the first single species example of the well-known ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Adventures series. The three-page fold out is designed for grades 3-5, and the delightful centerfold illustration — by Apalachee ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ member and illustrator extraordinaire Natasza Fontaine — and informative text appeals to all ages. This collaboration between ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Florida and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ is the first of its kind and 15,000 copies will be distributed to parks and chapters around the state.
The day would not have been complete without the Jay Watch cake, a custom printed Jay Watch t-shirt (designed by Audrey), and a fabulous line-up of door prizes, including hand-painted Florida Scrub-Jay ornaments and a dozen bottles of Florida Scrub-Jay Lemon Wheat Ale courtesy of Playalinda Brewery, bottled specially for ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ!
The day felt like a reunion, a coming together of folks with a shared passion and experience. It was clear that people left recharged and recommitted to Jay Watch as we continue to work towards a resilient future for this charismatic bird.
Article first appeared in the Jay Watch Report.