Bats at Camp Bayou

Bat Presentation

because bats are beautiful...

Time:6:30PM

Friday, September 4th, 2009

The folks from the Florida Bat Conservancy will offer a program on bats. This will immediately precede our Full moon walk. So come for one or both! There is no charge for the bat program but we are requesting a $5 donation for the walk to cover cost of supplies for campfire s'mores at the end.

Camp Bayou is a public- private partnership between the non-profit Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. (RCDF) and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin. More information is on the web at http://www.campbayou.org .

**MORE**

Camp Bayou is nether a campground nor a summer camp. It was an RV park before the County's ELAPP program purchased the land but it is now open for day use only, open to the general public. Through volunteers, donations, membership and grants, the RCDF offers pre-scheduled programs to schools, youth groups, adult groups and families plus it's open from Thursday- Saturday from 9am-2pm for passive recreational pursuits such as wildlife watching.

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Make "Corazon de Tampa" the official song of Tampa Petition

Make "Corazon de Tampa" the official song of Tampa Petition

On the trail...

Actually this beautiful Golden Silk Spider had spun her web just outside the Nature Center door but there are many more cousins positioned throughout the trails, just waiting for their own tasty snack.

On the trail...

Great getting out on the trail this week...

Met up with a very cooperative Palamedes Swallowtail visiting firebush flowers in the native plant nursery. This is one of the butterflies we are keeping our eyes on during our monthly Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network counts because, although they are locally common at Camp Bayou, there is a growing concern for their host plants, the bay trees, which are being threatened by a fungus carried by an invasive insect called the Ambrosia Beetle.

On up the Tortoise Trail, some beautiful flowerheads of Solidago, otherwise known as Goldenrod. In the past, I may have blamed my sniffles on them but since goldenrod has long been exonorated from causing sinus troubles, I know it's just a head cold.

Pix from Rays game in July 09

That's Jeri, Dolly and Fred (L-R) holding the check.

Thank you Tampa Bay Rays for the helpful donation and

a great evening at the game!

Back to School Back to Nature Success!

Pictured top: Kids find aquatic creatures in basin of river water
Bottom: John Peterson of Ruskin proudly wears the backpack he won, one of several larger prizes given away to participants through a free raffle.

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Today's Back to School- Back to Nature event was a fun morning of nature activities with free school supplies. Visitors were waiting for the Center to open at 9am and in just 3 hours, 165 children plus their parents had the opportunity to: learn how to work a GPS, make butterfly rings, find out what an ant lion is, discover their inner artist and more! Plus they got a head start on gathering needed school supplies after every activity.

Thanks to these organizations that helped make it happen:

RCDF, Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation & Conservation, Publix Supermarkets, Tampa Bay Rays, Walmart, South Shore Regional and Ruskin Libraries, South Shore Arts Council, Family Resource Center, Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful, Florida Department of Forestry, and all our Camp Bayou and Paleo Preserve volunteers- Jeri, Diane, Fred, Daniel, Herb, Sharon, Mark, Becki, Mac, Trixley, Scott, and Frank !

This event is part of a 'Summer of Learning' and follows the 'No Child Left Inside' initiative. It is also inspired by 'Get Outdoors Florida!' and NWF's Green Hour.

Camp Bayou is a public- private partnership between the non-profit Ruskin Community Development Foundation, Inc. (RCDF) and Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation. Camp Bayou is located 3 miles south of SR674 at the end of 24th St SE in Ruskin.

Camp Bayou is nether a campground nor a summer camp. It was an RV park before the County's ELAPP program purchased the land but it is now open for day use only, open to the general public. Through volunteers, donations, membership and grants, the RCDF offers pre-scheduled programs to schools, youth groups, adult groups and families plus it's open from Thursday- Saturday from 9am-2pm for passive recreational pursuits such as wildlife watching. More information is on the web at http://www.campbayou.org/ .

Coverage in the South Shore News 8/12/09:

http://southshore2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/12/ss-back-to-school-and-nature/news