December 11, 2021
Our Audubon Newhall Preserve December Work Day was a complete success with Vice-Chair Matt Mattoon leading Julia and David Buzzard, Kristin and Logan Cambron, Stephen Streeter, Carrie Jones, Amy Nelson, Jim Reynolds and Kathy Byrd in moving a truckload of milled asphalt to raise the Branch Wood Trail and extend the parking lot surface to the bulletin boards. Meanwhile, Master Gardeners Mary Ellen Blankenship, Linda Maslowski and Elaine Scott weeded and cleared our pollinator gardens. Importantly, Cocoa and Donuts fueled the workers, and “Big Al” supervised from the pond shoreline. Thanks to all.
November 13, 2021
First, our thanks go out to the sixteen volunteers who attended our November Work Day! Vice-Chairs Matt Mattoon, Lynn Hodgson, and Rita Kernan, along with Stephen Streeter, Kathy Byrd, Kristin and Logan Cambron, Carrie Jones, Mary Ellen Blankenship, Michael Mingione, Pam Shirley, Hilton Klein, David and Julia Buzzard, Morgan Thompson and Fearless Leader Bob Clemens worked in the Preserve to “tube” young trees to protect them from whitetail deer rubbings, weeded the Parking Lot Pollinator Garden, trimmed trails, and removed debris from around Audubon Pond.
In other news, Debby Boots will be taking a few weeks off from her regular Friday Guided Walks, and we hope she will return to duty in January. Our visitor sheets are always very complimentary regarding Debby’s and Lynn’s walks, and the Donation Post seems appreciative as well. To view the updated guided Walk Poster click here. We had 206 visitors to the Preserve in October, bringing the annual total to nearly 2100, and we know that only a small percentage of visitors make entries on the log. If you greet visitors at the Preserve, please ask them how they found us and encourage them to “log” their visit on the clipboard in the trail guide box. We generally find that about half of the visitors we encounter found us on the internet and the rest noticed the signage on Palmetto Bay Road.
Finally, the Audubon Board approved Newhall Committee’s Newhall Management Plan at its November meeting. What started as a “Strategic Plan,” and evolved into a Management Plan, a copy of which is linked here, was the fruit of months of hard work by the Newhall Committee . . . but especially by Lynn Hodgson, who was its principal architect.
Please note that in Appendix 4, page 17, as the “Tasks” listed there are constantly evolving as crises and opportunities arise. Feel free to make suggestions . . . or volunteer . . . for the Tasks on Appendix 4!!
As ever, if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the Newhall preserve, feel free to contact your Fearless Leader.
October 9, 2021
Eight hardy souls met at the Newhall Preserve for the October Work Day, braved a battalion of mosquitoes, and accomplished a great deal. Sherm Barker and Kristin and Logan Cambron cleaned up the area around the Pollinator Garden compost bin, and mixed in mushroom mulch. Sherm then joined Vice-Chair Lynn Hodgson as she finished a nature tour, and together they located and cleaned out eleven bluebird houses. David and Julia Buzzard undertook the never-ending task of culling invasive dog fennel from among the longleaf pines and native trees and shrubs, and Kristin and Logan joined in after their compost bin task. Logan took charge of snake-management, placing a copperhead in “time out,” to be released later after the work was accomplished. Chair Bob Clemens and Vice-Chair Jack Coleman cleaned out the three owl boxes, tended to the pond pollinator garden irrigation system, played lumberjack, mowed grass, and blew off the Pocosin boardwalk and Pond deck. The Preserve has never looked better. Thank you to our many volunteers, trail monitors and tour guides for making Newhall a special place. (Sherm and Lynn were unavailable for the group photo, as they were still searching for birdhouses.).
September 18, 2021
Our September work day was a success in that we accomplished a great deal with just four people! Susan Kelsey mowed the grasses in the parking lot and Audubon trail; Jim Reynolds and Bob Clemens tackled trimming branches obscuring signs on Palmetto Bay Road; and Stephen Streeter trimmed our many trails. Kristin and Logan Cambron arrived with only a few minutes left, but jammed a lot of work in the time available!
August 21, 2021
We had a very productive Work Day on Saturday August 21st. Our volunteers included Fearless Leader Bob Clemens, Vice-Chairs Rita Kernan and Matt Mattoon, aided by Kathy Byrd, Karen Lucey, Julia and David Buzzard, Jim Reynolds, Logan Cambron, and Stephen Streeter. Kathy Byrd exhausted every battery for the mower, and Stephen Streeter enhanced the pond pollinator gardens with a carpet of pine straw. Rita Kernan supervised a crew culling invasive vegetation from the trees and shrubs planted near the southwest corner of the parking area. Matt Mattoon supervised a crew removing unwanted vegetation around the Audubon Pond.
July 24, 2021
Audubon Newhall Volunteers had a very productive Work Day on Saturday, July 24th. Staring early to avoid the heat, our crews mowed grass and trimmed vegetation in the parking area and the Newhall Trail, tended to the Pond and Parking Lot Pollinator Gardens, blew off the Pocosin Boardwalk and Audubon Pond Deck, and cleared debris from Elsa from the Pine Flatwoods. Our volunteers included vice-chairs Rita Kernan and Jack Coleman, Joanne and Tom Marko, Kristin and Logan Cambron, Mary Ellen Blankenship, Jim Reynolds and Fearless Leader, Bob Clemens.
July 18, 2021
Our new Memorial birdbath and dripper at the pond pollinator gardens is installed.
June 26, 2021
We had a very successful Newhall Workday on Saturday, June 26th! Sixteen hardy souls labored in the Audubon Newhall Preserve on various tasks. Under the expert supervision of Vice-Chair Rita Kernan, volunteers Kathy Byrd, Miho and Ben Kinnas, Kristin and Logan Cambron, Julia and David Buzzard, and Peter Vairo culled a mountain of invasive dog fennel from along the Newhall Trail and among the Longleaf pines. Under the tutelage of Vice-Chair Matt Mattoon, another crew consisting of Jack Barnes, Jim Reynolds, Geoff Dean, and Hilton Klein leveled and tamped the Pond trail to improve “wheelchair accessibility!” Continuing our ceaseless “trial and error” work on the irrigation system for the Pond Pollinator Gardens, Vice-Chairs Matt Mattoon, Jack Coleman, and Chair and Fearless Leader Bob Clemens waded into the alligator-infested Audubon Pond to work on the irrigation pump. Once again, “Big Al” was denied a meal, as he must have been napping! Thank you to everyone who participated!
June 3, 2021
Our visitors recorded 330 people from 27 states in May, but, of course, the majority of visitors fail to make any entries on the log. The donation post netted a record (I think) $570 in May, so we kicked off the Audubon fiscal year with a great start! The guided walks certainly helped the donations, and Lynn’s weekly walks are in hiatus while she’s away till Fall, but we’re hoping the new “Donation Post” sign on the back of the Trail Guide box will pay for itself!
Year-to-Date we’ve had almost 1,100 visitors from 42 states (and DC) and if we had a nickel for every “Beautiful” in the comments space on the visitor log we’d be rich!
In the Fall tourist season, we might consider having a volunteer present during peak hours to greet visitors and encourage them to sign the clipboard . . . and perhaps donate!
May 26, 2021
Kudos to Steve Fishman, Kathy Byrd, Matt Mattoon, and Lynn Hodgson, all of whom contributed to the completion of our deck refurbishment project! Just yesterday I posted a small plaque crediting Lowe’s of Bluffton, which contributed generously to the project.
May 20, 2021
Special thanks to Lynn Hodgson, Kristin Cambron, Morgan Thompson, Angie Hutchins, Julia and David Buzzard, Sherman Barker, and Geoff Dear, who participated in our May Work Day! We “cut and culled” our way to a more attractive Audubon Newhall Preserve! Please consider volunteering your time or talent for the benefit of the Audubon Newhall Preserve! Apart from our work days, there are several important tasks that require more intellect and inspiration than perspiration! Please contact Bob Clemens at rclemens318@gmail.com if you’d like to be added to our list of Newhall Volunteers!