Late in the fall, once the flurry of Jay Watch surveys has passed and the numbers have been crunched, we acknowledge all the time and effort of our Jay Watch volunteers and partners during the year. In 2022, we held the Jay Watch appreciation event at Jonathan Dickinson State Park (JDSP).

WHY JONATHAN DICKINSON STATE PARK?

Three years ago, after several decades of careful management of the park scrub and a modest Florida Scrub-Jay population, JDSP became the recipient site for the translocation of several families of Florida Scrub-Jays from Ocala National Forest. Research and daily monitoring of the translocated birds temporarily replaced the regular Jay Watch surveys, and on November 5, the appreciation event invited everyone to learn more and celebrate these achievements.

APPRECIATION EVENT STARTS WITH A FIELD TRIP, ENDS WITH HIGH-LEVEL PRESENTATIONS

At dawn, approximately 25 early birds took to the trails for an early morning walk in the scrub with dedicated JDSP volunteers Jim Howe and Georgia Binderow. Others from around the state made their way to the Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center in the park for a meet-and-greet before the more formal happenings of the day. 

After a warm welcome by Park Specialist (and event planner extraordinaire) Sara Luering, participants listened to four presentations, each building upon the one before. Natasha Lehr, Research Technician at Michigan State University, presented her thoughtprovoking presentation entitled Translocation and Demographic Monitoring of Florida Scrub-Jays at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. Rob Rossmanith, Park Biologist, spoke about the history of land management and Florida Scrub-Jay population fluctuations at JDSP. Highly anticipated as always was the Jay Watch Survey Results Recap 2022 by Audrey DeRose-Wilson, Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Florida. Audrey organized the 2022 survey data in simple, easy-to-read tables that readily displayed trends at each site. 

The final talk of the day came from Reed Bowman, PhD, Emeritus Research Biologist at Archbold Biological Station. Dr. Bowman has studied the jays for 30 years, been a great partner to the Audubon Jay Watch program, and received the prestigious Guy Bradley award from Audubon Florida in 2021. With his retirement imminent, he summed up his experience and shared his thoughts about the future. Dr. Bowman’s talk, A 30-year Perspective: What Do Scrub-jays Really Need, and Can We Manage It?, made it clear that the future of this charismatic and fascinating species depends on us. The answer to his presentation’s burning question, according to Dr. Bowman, is “yes, we can save them, but we are always going to have to do things to keep them here.”

This article originally appeared in the 2022 Jay Watch report. Read the full report here.