Sept. 2011

Sept. 84-5pm & 5:30-6:30pm, KidsWealth Workshop, Lakeland. Magnify Credit Union. Call Laura at 863-644-9104.Sept. 109-11am, “It Matters What You Grow” Dirt Day, Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales. RSVP to Miss Glenda at 534-4340.Sept. 16-25“The Tale of Snow White,” Lake Wales. A Lake Wales Little Theatre Children’s production. 863-679-8587.Sept. 16-18“The Wind In The Willows,” Lakeland. A Lakeland Com-munity Theatre for Youth production. 863-603-PLAY.Sept. 1711am-3pmPolk Museum Of Art Family Day, Lakeland. “World on a Plate.” 863-688-7743.Sept. 23-25Boy Scouts American Heritage Camporee, Fantasy of Flight, Polk City. Three days and two nights of primitive camping at Fantasy of Flight; unlimited admission to Central Florida’s premier aviation attraction, as well as lunch on Saturday and all activities and merit stations. 863-984-3500.http://www.fantasyofflight.com

For details on these and more eventswww.centralfloridaonline.com

Final Dirt Day Makes Way for Fall HikesBy Glenda Mink, Friends of the Parks Foundation

Mackay Garden and Lakeside PreserveBy Friends of the Parks

On the shore of Lake Rochelle in Lake Alfred, is a pristine expanse of natural Florida called the Mackay Garden and Lakeside Preserve. With almost a mile of lakefront shoreline, this 112-acre property is home to many species of endangered plants and animals. It has been preserved through a grant from the Florida Communities Trust and has been developed with nature trails, a fishing pier, a passive rec-reational park, a natural canoe launch and a fit-ness trail. Pavilions are available for public use.

At its heart is a beautiful mansion built in 1916 by Alexander Mackay. The Mackay fam-ily was one of the founding families in the Polk County citrus industry. The historic mansion and grounds include the walled arbor and sunken garden. The lakeside trail offers lots of shade and views of Lake Rochelle. Rare native plant communities on site include cutthroat seeps and sandhill.

From Lakeland follow US 92 about 12 miles to the intersection of U.S. 92 and U.S. 17. Continue north to Lake Alfred and turn right on Mackay Boulevard. Follow this road to the second set of black gates on the right and turn right, parking is inside gates on the right.

We have two outdoor nature destinations in Polk County that make me extremely proud to live here - Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland and Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales. Both have actively supported our 2011 “It Matters What You Grow” program, which was designed to teach young gardeners how to start (or propagate) their own native and Florida-Friendly plants.

Planting Natives at Circle B Bar ReserveCircle B Bar began the IMWYG pilot program series

by hosting our very first Dirt Day in March. In August our young gardeners and their adult partners went back to Circle B to plant cypress trees and wiregrass around Polk’s Nature Discovery Center at Circle B Bar Reserve for visitors to enjoy.

Bog Gardening at Bok Tower GardensBok Tower Gardens is the host site for Dirt Day #7, our

final of this season. Our last Dirt Day is Saturday, Sept. 10 at 9 a.m. back by Window By The Pond - one of the best spots in the Gardens to observe native birds, wildlife and wetland plants.

EcoFriends will learn how to propagate the Blue Flag

Iris (Iris virginica) bog plant. They will also get to plant some of these elegant beauties at the Gardens, and make their own miniature bog garden to take home.

There is no cost to participants for the clinic. However, there is gate admission to the Gardens of $10 per adult, $3 for children ages 5 to 12 - UNLESS you present an official Trek Ten Trails Validation Card with four stamps. Then gate admission is also FREE.

EcoFriends will return to Circle B on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a wrap-up celebration at 1 p.m., with official recogni-tion and graduation. Winners of the EcoFriends Dirt Day Essay Contest, sponsored by Magnify Credit Union, will be announced and trophies will be awarded.

Trek Ten TrailsWe’re going to give our EcoFriends just a short rest

before we meet again at Circle B Bar for the 2011 Trek Ten Grand Finale Celebration and kick off our 2012 Trek Ten Trails on Saturday, Nov. 12. We hope to see all of our EcoFriends there and maybe even some new faces. Our first hike will be along the Circle B Connector Trail.

Instructions and directions for each trail and locating the geocache can be found at www.friendsoftheparks.net, by clicking on the 2011 Trek Ten Trails icon. Learn more about the world-wide sport of geocaching by fol-lowing the link to www.geocaching.com. Trekkers will find a self-inking stamp in the Trek Ten caches to stamp their validation cards that are available at Polk Outpost 27, the Lake Wales Depot Museum, Circle B-Bar Reserve, Polk County libraries, all Magnify Credit Union locations and at group hike events.

For more information contact Marian Ryan 863-293-6961, marianryan@gmail.com or Glenda Mink 863-534-4340, glendamink@polk-county.net.

Florida has five owls: Great Horned, Barn, Burrowing, Screech and Barred. The barn owl (Tyto alba) is found through-out Florida.

The barn owl looks a lot differ-ent than other owls because it has a large, white, heart-shaped face, edged in brown, with dark eyes and a pale bill. It also has longer legs. Barn owls only weigh about a pound, although its wingspan is about three and a half feet.

Their ghostly, pale white looks and blood-curdling shriek have scared a lot of people so some-times they’re called “ghost owls.”

Though rarely seen, the Barn Owl is very common in Florida. These owls are strictly nocturnal and spend their days “roosting.” Barn owls in Florida nest in plac-es like caves, barns, tree cavities and large birdhouses. They don’t build real nests, though they lay from 3-11 (usually 5-7) white or buff-white eggs.

Members of a pair frequently roost together. They usually do not actively defend their foraging territories from other owls, but they will defend the area immediately around their nests. If food resources are abundant, Barn Owls sometimes nest close to each other.

Barn owls are so tolerant of other barn owls that they will often form colonies. In Florida, farmers mount Barn Owl nest boxes because rats cause nearly $30 million damage every year to sugar cane crops. One pair of Barn Owls and their offspring may catch and eat as many as 3,000 rats per year.

When cornered, Barn Owls exhibit a variety of threat displays including wing spreading, head waggling, hiss-

ing, and bill snapping.The Barn Owl doesn’t hoot, but has a

variety of calls from shrill screeches and high rattling hisses to raucous sneezes and snorting noises.

They eat mice, rats, skunks, snakes and Palmetto bugs (crunchy eeewwww!). Barn owls are always on the hunt in open areas such as prairies, pastures, fields and thinly wooded areas. One barn owl can eat more than 1,000 mice in a year. Many people put up nest boxes on their property so the owls will eat their rats and mice.

They also eat birds, and frogs and large insects and even small marsh rab-bits (yep, just like the ones around Lake Hollingsworth! Poor Bunny Foo-Foo).

Barn Owls swallow almost everything whole. Bones

and fur are later regurgitated (thrown up!) in the form of an “owl pellet.”

Owls have a special feather construction, which quiets their flight and helps them sneak up on their prey very, very fast. Their big eyes, great hearing and the ability to rotate their heads nearly all the way around, makes them one of the best hunters in the world. Barn Owls are so good at locating prey by sound that they can do so even when the prey is completely hidden from view.

Barn Owls often remain with the same partner for sev-eral consecutive breeding seasons. In Florida, eggs are usually laid in February - usually four to six, but some-times as many as 10. In subtropical and tropical areas, including southern Florida, a second set of offspring are produced in the late summer or fall. Eggs are laid two or three days apart so at least a few of the chicks, because they are older and stronger, will always be fed if food be-comes scarce. If food is plentiful, all of the chicks will be able to eat.

Owl chicks grow fast, achieving adult weight and feath-ering in eight to nine weeks, when they are old enough to roost near the nest while they learn to fly and hunt. Their parents still bring food to them for another few weeks.

Baylee the Barn Owl is Nature’s Mouse TrapBy Ecoboy

South Lakeland961 E. Road 540-A

Lakeland(863) 644-9104

Bartow1790 N. Broadway Ave.

Bartow(863) 582-7300

Mulberry1010 North Church Ave.

Mulberry(863) 425-5611

Winter Haven3501 Cypress Gardens Rd.

Winter Haven(863) 618-1000

Traviss Career Center3225 Winter Lake Rd.

Lakeland(863) 666-2025

George Jenkins High SchoolStudent Run Credit Union

Sept. 2011

Supplies:• Toilet paper rolls• Feathers• Glue• Construction paper for beaks• Googly eyes

Glue feathers to toilet paper rolls. Add beaks and googly eyes. If you want to hang your owl, once it’s dry, hot-glue string or monofilament to the inside.

For more great kids’ craft ideas, includ-ing the newest back to school art proj-ect: found objects collage wall art, visit http://www.sillyeaglebooks.com/.

Silly Feathery Owls

Photo by Brian Millsap

Photo by Jason Martin

Photo by Jason Martin