media release- Camp Bayou Open House 4/19, 8am-2pm

Media contact: Dolly Cummings

phone: 813-363-5438

Camp Bayou Open House Highlights Activities

The Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center in Ruskin will host their semi-annual Open House on Saturday, April 19 from 8am -2pm. A variety of family-friendly activities will be offered throughout the day.

8 am: Great American Cleanup begins. Volunteers help cleanup the preserve. Contact Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful to register: 813-960-5121.

9 am: Family Naturalist Program with Dolly Cummings. Today's theme: What is a Watershed? (Part of ongoing Family Naturalist Program which is a weekly watershed education and stewardship series for ages 4 through adult. conducted each Saturday from 9a.m.–10a.m., April 5–June 28, and funded by a Community Education Grant from the Alafia River Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.)

10 am: Native Plants with Florida Master Naturalist Becki Stafford. Learn about native plants for the home landscape, visit the plant nursery and learn how to grow your own.

11 am: Butterfly Bing-OH with Armin Furrer. Visit the members of the Eagle Audubon Society of Sun City Center in their "Butterfly Habitat" gazebo to learn about the local butterflies and the plants they love.

11 am: Nature Writers Workshop with Diane Alvarez, PhD. Bring a poem, reflection, or story you have written about nature plus copies of your work to share or plan to read aloud. For info, contact beautyberry@tampabay.rr.com .

Noon: Spring BBQ with Pit master Frank Cummings. BBQ fundraiser- $10/person., Vegetarian items available.

1 pm: Wetland Walk-n-Wade with Camp Bayou volunteer. Take a walk through the wetlands to the river to see what critters we can net. Your feet WILL get wet!

Ongoing activities throughout the day include:

- Fossil Museum and fossil pit (dig for small fee) with Paleo volunteers.

- Nature Center open- check out the exhibits and free resources.

- Nature Arts in Classroom with Jeri Hundertmark.

- 3 trails through varied habitats, guided walks every hour on the half hour.

- Friends of Ucita- Learn about Florida's Native People with Florida Master Naturalist Fred Jacobson.

- Native People's Camp- created by Eagle Scouts from Troop #11.

- Archaeologist for a Day with Mark Dunn (simulated dig, small fee).

- Native plants for sale.

Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. For general information and directions visit http://www.campbayou.org/ or call 813-641-8545.

Don't forget, you can find out what's new at Camp Bayou by going to www.campbayou.blogspot.com - "Camp Bayou Nature Notes". You can also access this blog and others from Camp Bayou's home page: www.campbayou.org .

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Pictured: George Shambaugh hunts critters in the river with a group during last year's Open House.

media release- Camp Bayou

Media Contact: Dolly Cummings
phone: 813-363-5438
email: events@campbayou.org*

Full Moon Walk scheduled

Greet the coming of Spring with a Full Moon walk at Camp Bayou on Friday, March 21, 2008 from 7-9 pm. The walk will last about an hour, starting in the uplands, then venturing near the water. Participants will listen for the sounds of the night and get a glimpse into the noctural world at Camp Bayou. No flashlights will be used during this walk, just each person's natural night vision. A $5 donation is requested on arrival and registration is required by contacting Dolly at events@campbayou.org or call 813-363-5438. Walk is liimited to 20 participants.
A campfire and s'mores will round out the evening.

Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation.
For general information and directions visit www.campbayou.org or call 813-641-8545.

Don't forget, you can find out what's new at Camp Bayou by going to http://www.campbayou.blogspot.com/ for "Camp Bayou Nature Notes". You can also access this blog and others from Camp Bayou's home page.

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media release- Camp Bayou

Media contact: Dolly Cummings
phone: 813-363-5438

Day for the Bay at Camp Bayou

On February 23, volunteers from the Tampa Bay Estuary Program's "Give a Day for the Bay", as well as Camp Bayou committee members and the current Florida Master Naturalist Program's class, spent a cloudy Saturday morning helping to complete a few tasks at Camp Bayou. This included counting gopher tortoise burrows, trimming trails and picking up a dump truck load of trash!

A prescribed burn this past fall provided an opportunity for volunteers to scout through the pine flatwoods, that normally are covered by a bristly layer of saw palmettos, to find and document gopher tortoise burrows in the upland area of the preserve. Two hundred and forty three burrows were noted, of which, almost one quarter (60 burrows) show signs of current use by gopher tortoises. Since gopher tortoises in Florida are a threatened species, this is great news! If you are interested in learning more about this 'keystone' creature, visit www.gophertortoisecouncil.org/about.php .

Dolly Cummings, volunteer director of programs at Camp Bayou said, "Trash was collected from areas that were hidden remnants of the old RV park, uncovered by the recent burn. Of course, lots of more recent trash, left by folks who don't seem to care about protecting our watershed, was hauled away as well."

The three main trails were checked for trash and trimmed to ensure an easy trek through the preserve. This cleanup was also part of Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful's Adopt a Road program. For more on this program visit http://www.khcbonline.org/.

Volunteers enjoyed a thank you lunch and t-shirts courtesy of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program and a well-deserved rest from a hard morning's labors. For more about the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, visit www.tbep.org/ .

For more information and to find out about future events at Camp Bayou, visit http://www.campbayou.org/ or email dolly@campbayou.org. To learn more about the Florida Master Naturalist Program, visit http://www.masternaturalist.org/.

Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR 674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin and is open Thursday- Saturday, 9am- 2pm.

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Pictures by Dolly Cummings
More photos available at http://snap.tbo.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=323411
Photo 10: George Shambaugh of Sun City Center and Becki Stafford of Ruskin enter the GPS coordinates of a gopher tortoise burrow on a data sheet
photo 27: Lots of volunteers were needed to load the trash into a dump truck provided by Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation

media release- Camp Bayou

media contact: Dolly Cummings

phone: 813-363-5438

 

Florida Master Naturalist Program students go exploring

 

Eleven adults have embarked on a weekly mission to explore the wilds of Florida and learn some facinating facts along the way.

 

This year's focus at Camp Bayou is the Uplands module. Participants will learn about the various habitats and the creatures that call them home. A big component of these classes is learning how to communicate what is learned to others, either formally in tours or classes, or informally over the neighbor's fence.

 

Classes will continue each Saturday until March 1 when final projects are due and each participant graduates with a certificate, patch and pin. Registration is closed at Camp Bayou for this year but if you are interested in the Florida Master Naturalist Program, visit www.masternaturalist.org for current program offerings at other locations.

 

Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. Camp Bayou is a partnership between the Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. For general information visit www.campbayou.org  or call 813-641-8545. A calendar of events is at http://my.calendars.net/campbayou or check out the Camp Bayou Nature Notes Blog at http://campbayou.blogspot.com/.

 

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Pictured:

11: Fred Jacobsen gives a talk/tour about the Native people who lived in this area before the arrival of Europeans.

 

18: Richard Sullivan gives a talk/tour about the restoration effort at the Cockroach Bay Preserve.

 

 

Sperm Whale examined In Pinellas County

Press Release
January 2, 2008
FWC BIOLOGISTS EXAMINE DEAD SPERM WHALE AT FORT DE SOTO PARK
Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI), in a collaborative effort with partner organizations, examined a sperm whale carcass at Fort De Soto Park yesterday.
Preliminary necropsy findings indicate the whale was emaciated and suffered from chronic illness. Pending test results may determine specifics of the disease. The animal was likely an older female approximately 30 feet in length.
Sperm whales are present year-round in deep water areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Typically, healthy sperm whales are not found near shore. In the past ten years, three other sperm whales stranded themselves on Florida's west coast.
In addition to the FWC, the multiple-agency event response included the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service, Mote Marine Laboratory, The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, Fort De Soto Park, U.S. Coast Guard, the St. Pete Beach and Treasure Island Police Departments.
To learn more about FWRI research projects visit http://research.myfwc.com/
To view this press release online, please visit http://research.myfwc.com/news/view_article.asp?id=30138

report on Fl parks from Trust for Public Land

Interesting report on funding needs for Florida Parks.

"As you read this report, you will see that park and recreation funding

needs are great indeed - but the benefits they provide to our communities

are priceless." :

http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/TPL-FRPA-FAC-FLC%20PARKS%20REPORT%202008.FINAL.pdf