Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center

Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center A West Volusia Audubon project supporting Volusia County’s Lyonia Environmental Center and Preserve.
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Melissa, one of our Jay Watch volunteers, plays scrub-jay calls to help draw out jays to be counted. 📸: Stephen Kintner
06/19/2026

Melissa, one of our Jay Watch volunteers, plays scrub-jay calls to help draw out jays to be counted.

📸: Stephen Kintner

Our Jay-Watch survey volunteers have been out each morning this week at Lyonia Preserve counting scrub-jays. This, howev...
06/17/2026

Our Jay-Watch survey volunteers have been out each morning this week at Lyonia Preserve counting scrub-jays. This, however, is not one of those jays.

📸: Stephen Kintner

From Lyonia Photography Club member Tyler Lovell:“Tarflower in abundance at Lyonia Preserve!This plant is a sign of a he...
06/16/2026

From Lyonia Photography Club member Tyler Lovell:

“Tarflower in abundance at Lyonia Preserve!

This plant is a sign of a healthy, older scrub as it is not often found well established in young scrub environment. The Tarflower gets its name from the sticky substance it emits that can often catch small insects but is not a true insectivorous plant, lacking the ability to digest the bugs it catches. Many larger bugs including these bumblebees and Swallowtail Butterflies make great use of the plant.”

Mondays can be rough, but we’ve got something that will cheer you up: juvenile scrub-jays! The first week of Jay Watch s...
06/15/2026

Mondays can be rough, but we’ve got something that will cheer you up: juvenile scrub-jays! The first week of Jay Watch surveying started out at Lyonia Preserve and our volunteers saw 33 scrub-jays! A great start, to be sure!

📸: Lois Posey

We are in the final week of our Jay Watch Fundraiser and we need your help! Please share!We are just short of our goal t...
06/14/2026

We are in the final week of our Jay Watch Fundraiser and we need your help! Please share!

We are just short of our goal to contribute $10,000 to Jay Watch. If you can donate, it would go a long way to supporting the Florida Scrub-Jay, but you can also help by sharing this post far and wide to help us get eyes on this critical effort!

You can find the donation link in our bio Instagram or right here: https://www.lecfriends.com/jay-watch/

Jay Watch is a community science program led by Audubon Florida that is dedicated to training and supporting volunteers in conducting scientific surveys. This effort helps us evaluate the total number of scrub-jays and annual nesting success at more than 45 sites in 19 counties including our beloved Lyonia Preserve and Blue Spring State Park!

As Florida’s only endemic bird species, scrub-jays delight locals and draw birders from all over and often reward visitors with a lifelong memory by landing on their hat or shoulder. But the Scrub-Jay population is under an ever-increasing threat and its population is estimated to have declined by 90% since the early 1800s, largely due to loss of its native scrub habitat.

With your help, we can help continue to ensure that the Florida Scrub-Jay will be around to delight and inspire for many generations to come.

Attendees of this weekend’s “Strawberries In A Basket” mixed-media program with Bonnie Dahl pose with their creations. K...
06/14/2026

Attendees of this weekend’s “Strawberries In A Basket” mixed-media program with Bonnie Dahl pose with their creations. Keep an eye out for Bonnie’s next class: “Under the Sea” coming July 11th!

The Florida heat can take a toll on the gardens, but thankfully the Garden Keepers like Jennifer here make sure that the...
06/12/2026

The Florida heat can take a toll on the gardens, but thankfully the Garden Keepers like Jennifer here make sure that they’ve got plenty of water!

📸: Danielle Linsler Rice

Sure, they’re adorable, but why are gopher tortoises so important? For the answer, look to their burrows!You’ll hear us ...
06/11/2026

Sure, they’re adorable, but why are gopher tortoises so important? For the answer, look to their burrows!

You’ll hear us use the phrase “keystone species.” This means that gopher tortoises have an outsized impact on the ecosystem around them, and a big reason for that is because their burrows are used by and provide support for hundreds of animal species.

Some of the species that rely on gopher tortoise burrows include the endangered eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), the gopher frog (Lithobates capito) the gopher mouse (Podomys floridanus), and many, many more.

📸: Danielle Linsler Rice

Thanks to Ashe Rayne for sharing this great shot of a pair of Scrub-Jays here at Lyonia Preserve - not bad for their fir...
06/08/2026

Thanks to Ashe Rayne for sharing this great shot of a pair of Scrub-Jays here at Lyonia Preserve - not bad for their first time seeing a Scrub-Jay!

Our first look at a hatch-year scrub-jay! This little one was spotted by the Advanced Class during Jay Watch training at...
06/07/2026

Our first look at a hatch-year scrub-jay! This little one was spotted by the Advanced Class during Jay Watch training at Lyonia Preserve. We hope to have many more of these sightings when Jay Watch surveys begin this month!

📸: Lois Posey

Address

2150 Eustace Avenue
Deltona, FL
32725

Telephone

+13867897207

Website

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