Kathy is heading a group of volunteer members to survey the Scrub Jay habitat behind the Edgewater YMCA for use as a field trip opportunity for local schools.  They identified and tagged trees and plants and discussed best ways for presenting the information to elementary and middle school students.  This is a first step in what we hope will become a valuable resource for schools in environmental education. Perhaps the City of Edgewater will be encouraged to restore the scrub jay habitat.  If you are interested in helping, please contact Kathy.

They hosted the first educational program on April 29th for a local boy scout troop.  There were about     15 scouts and a half dozen adults in attendance.  Tour leaders were Kathy, Nancy, Dot, and Gail.  The program was well received.  The leaders expressed their appreciation for the excellent program.

On Tuesday, 22 Jan 08, several of us met with members of the NSB Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and Lindley’s Nursery at the park at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Canal Street. The purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas for developing some type of ecological area at the park.  The city is rebuilding Canal Street on the West side of U.S. 1 to the intersection of Myrtle Avenue.  The CRA members wanted to include the park in the rebuilding scheme.  We agreed to spearhead the project and get other groups involved.  We have had several meetings since then.  So far, the NSB Middle School science club is eager to participate and we have leads to FFA groups, scouts and others.  This will involve planning this spring with planting and long term maintenance starting in the Fall.  Contact Don or Ken if you are interested  in  helping.

County naturalist, Bonnie Cary, asked us if the club would be interested in helping to inventory the bird life at the park.  We agreed that it would be a good idea if we could get sufficient volunteers. The county has bought thousands of acres of lands to keep them in preserves.  It is useful to use them as natural areas and show our appreciation to the county for the purchases and management of them.  Six of us participated in the first survey on March 14th. We, and the West Volusia folks who were conducting a birding tour on the same day, found 45 species. As of the last survey of the Spring, we counted 61 species.  Check here for the final report.