Though the weather wasn’t the best, nine nature walkers had the opportunity to meet three of the new Cedar Key State Parks staff, Tommy Pavao, Chris Camargo and Tommy Barry. We all benefited from their combined knowledge of the scrub habitat, the plants and animals that live there, and the efforts taken to keep the scrub habitat a healthy one.  Chris Camargo pointed out the various scrub plants along our walk and Tommy Pavao led us to an area that had been burned in 2009.  We were able to see the incredible difference between that area and the area that has not been burned in many years.  Tommy and Chris helped all of us to see and understand the need for controlled fires in the scrub.
 
Florida Scrub Jays require a fire-maintained scrub habitat to keep open areas for them to cache acorns and the scrub oaks to be no taller than 10 feet, and probably less than that.  Part of the area we walked has not been burned in many years and it was easy for us to see the difference between that area and the more recently burned area.  In the unburned area, there  were no open areas, other than the trail, and the scrub oaks were closer to twelve feet than ten.  Florida Scrub Jays have not been seen regularly in this scrub in several years.  Tommy and his staff are currently in the process of trying to return the Cedar Key Scrub to a healthier scrub habitat through controlled burns in the Cedar Key Scrub along SR 24.  They are hopeful the efforts to return the scrub will bring the Florida Scrub Jays back to Cedar Key.
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Our return walk to the parking lot was in a light rain, but we were rewarded with a great sighting of a male Eastern Towhee, who kindly stayed in the open long enough for all of us to get a good look!  Towhees are a common scrub bird, often heard and not so often seen.  

The picture of the Florida Scrub Jay was taken by Frank Morgan last year alongside CR 347.  This is a rare sighting and picture of the Jay.  Thank you Frank!  The other pictures were taken by Vicki Crumpley.  Vicki is a frequent nature walker and does a great job taking pictures during our walks.
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Please join us for our next nature walk on February 9.  Normally the walks are on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, so this is a change.  This walk is during the small game hunting season and because of that we will not go behind the gates on this walk.  Instead we will walk Cabin Road, which is a great walk anyway!!  We have seen otters there, owls and many other birds on this road.  Those who want to carpool, please meet me, Donna Thalacker, at the Cedar Key town park parking lot, near the beach at 8:30am.  If you want to meet at Cabin Road, meet us about 9am at the entrance to Cabin Road.  Cabin Road can be reached from the south entrance of the Lower Suwannee NWR nature drive off CR347.  Cabin Road is on the left about 2 – 3 miles from the south entrance to the refuge.  I can be reached at 352-543-6738 if you require further information.

Maria Sgambati has been representing us at the Moving Friends Forward workshop at the National Conservation Training Center in WV. Oops . . . Snow Storm!

A report on the workshop will come soon, when Maria gets back from the storm.

Friends board member Jaime Jerrels is a fifth generation Florida Cracker and farmer. She is also the Assistant Director of Agricultural Policy for the Florida Farm Bureau. In that role, she sends all of us the uncomfortable news that on January 16, 2016, the first case in nearly seven months of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) was confirmed in a commercial turkey flock in Dubois County, Indiana. The January 2016 case of HPAI is a different strain than the 2015 strain that affected over 49 million wild and domestic birds costing federal tax payers over $950 million. No new cases have been confirmed since January 16th.
 
Due to the 2015 outbreak, the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) have made revisions to their protocols on how they respond to and prevent the spread of the avian influenza (AI). In Florida, FDACS has revised their Animal Import Rule for poultry to include required pre-import AI testing for non-commercial shipments. The test must be done within 21 days of entry into Florida for those poultry originating from a non-HPAI affected state and within 7 days for poultry originating from outside a control zone in a HPAI affected state. The official enforcement date of the new import requirement is March 1, 2016. For more information, please follow the link below.
 
FAQ

In spite of the cool and overcast day, thirteen people showed up for a 3 mile walk on the Barnett Creek Trail. Because of the distance, it was meant to be a walk in nature,  rather than a walk to identify plants and animals.  This trail is one of my favorites because it passes through a number of habitats and wildlife sightings are common.  Part of the trail is along the Barnett Creek Road, through mixed woodland, some freshwater swamp and alongside a salt marsh.   The trail continues on an old logging road behind one of the Refuge gates and continues for another two miles through the mixed deciduous woods and swamp.
 
 Because of the weather, I did not have high hopes of wildlife sightings, but the trail surprised me.  We saw over a dozen different kinds of birds, including warblers, kinglets, woodpeckers, a sapsucker, wrens, and a hawk.  The biggest surprise, especially because of the very cool and gray weather, was a Pygmy Rattlesnake lying in the middle of the trail.  It was thin but definitely alive and alert!  We had a good look (mostly through binoculars!!) and all who desired to were able to get plenty of pictures of this beautiful snake.  Thanks to Ed DeHaan for this fabulous picture!  Ed was able to get a good close-up with his special camera lens.
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It was another great walk in the woods!  Please join me for our next nature walk in the Cedar Key Scrub on January 28.  Because of ongoing controlled burns in the Scrub adjacent to SR 24, we will walk in the Scrub section along CR 347.  Those who wish to carpool from Cedar Key, meet me, Donna Thalacker, at the Cedar Key Park parking lot near the beach at 8:30.  Or meet at the Cedar Key Scrub along CR347 entrance parking lot around 8:45.  If you wish additional information, call 352-543-6738.

The Cedar Key State Parks’ staff will be at the Cedar Key Library on January 14, 2016 to give an update on the Cedar Key Parks.   Tommy Pavao, the new parks manager will be there for give a park update and introduce the 2016 Burn Plan for the Cedar Key Scrub State Preserve.  The Cedar Key State Parks include the Cedar Key State Museum, The Cedar Key Scrub State Preserve and the Wacasassa State Preserve.
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Come and meet the new parks manager and staff at 5pm on January 14 in the upstairs library meeting room.  Light refreshments will be served.