A very heartfelt thank you to our generous supporters:

Governmental Funders Lake County Lake County Schools Lake County Water Authority

Sustaining Sponsors Eagle Promise Habitat Services Osprey Mt. Dora Community Trust Hawk United Southern Bank Bay & Lake Pharmacies Florida Food Products Kingfisher Dr. Robert W. Ladley, PA John Roberts Realty, Inc.

Grants Charles B and Mary M McLin Foundation Educational Foundation of Lake County LCWA Drop by Drop Mount Dora Community Trust Sarah George Charitable Trust US Fish & Wildlife Service, Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program

New Members Harry & Janet Allen, Eustis Barbara Lenkerd, Silver Springs, MD Michael Maruschak, Allentown, PA Edward Menkhaus, Cincinnati, OH Dave & Glenda McGrath, Altoona Vivian McGuire, Mt. Dora Lee & Donna Porter, Umatilla

Marsha Straughan, Leesburg Gary Papucci, Leesburg

The Kingfisher

President’s Message ... Joan Bryant uggling priorities is a big part of our job here at Trout Lake Nature Center (TLNC), where money, time, and personnel are always in short supply. For example, we are facing an aging infrastructure. How much longer will our

two AC units last? Our boardwalk is about 20 years old, and in need of repair or replacement. The carpet in the education building has been a source of dismay for years. On a happier note, we are at the permitting stage on our loop road. We have money in our Capital Building fund to cover that cost. Phase two is in the “conceptual site and building stage” for the science studies classroom and offices. This project could become an important link to an environmental science studies program at a Eustis campus for Lake-Sumter State College. Phase three will be a new museum and meeting space. Our limited staff and cadre of volunteers have their hands full, but I am always amazed at how they make do with equipment that doesn’t always work, long hours, and unexpected complications. Both volunteers and staff continue to go above and beyond because they are dedicated to making TLNC work. This is a challenging job and your all-volunteer Board of Directors works hard to ensure that every allocation of scarce resources goes toward preserving our gemlike nature preserve.

IN MEMORIAM

We recently lost a dear friend and fellow Board member, Joan Nelson. A dedicated volunteer, Joan served as our secretary since 2013. We also lost Walt Gunkle recently, who, among other things, designed the beautiful fence that borders our bridge. That fence has become an iconic symbol of TLNC. And Jean Lenkhard, age 104 when she died, was the person who sold the land over 26 years ago that eventually became the beginning of TLNC. Losing people who are part of the fabric of TLNC is hard, but their legacies will be with us forever.

J

Trout Lake Nature Center June-August 2015

New Mailing Address TLNC now gets its mail delivered. TLNC new mailing address is 520 E. CR 44, Eustis, FL 32736.

Summer Hours In ancient cultures, daily activities began as soon as there was enough light to see. As we all know, summer days are longer and hotter in Florida. So, beginning May 23, TLNC will shift its official open hours to Tuesday through Saturday, 9:00 am to noon. We will be closed Sunday and Monday, but if the gate is open, come on in. You are welcome to visit the Museum and walk the trails.

Evening Hours Experiment Since summer afternoons are so hot, TLNC will be open one day a week for evening hours—Tuesday, 4:30 to 8:30 pm beginning May 26. So come take a walk on our trails as the day cools down, watch a sunset from our dock, have a picnic dinner in our shelter or at the lake. See how much more active most animals become as dusk and darkness come to Trout Lake.

Termites: Blind Insect Builders In the spring and summer, insects become more active, including termites. Many folks don’t realize termites perform an important recycling service; that is, they transform wood, leaf litter, dung, and bones into nutrients. Preferring soft new growth, they avoid hardwoods, chemically treated wood, and redwood, cypress and juniper. Their mouths tear pieces of woody material from buildings, furniture, decaying tree limbs, bone, or leaf litter. After a termite swallows the wood, it is broken down and digested by protozoans, bacteria, and enzymes in the termite’s hindguts. Even though they are blind, termites construct large, sophisticated nests. Nests provide protected living spaces and water conservation (through controlled condensation). Nests may contain fungal gardens and tunnel-like galleries that provide air conditioning and control the CO2/O2 balance. Some termite species live in colonies of several million individuals. Termites were the first social insects, and evidence of their existence goes back 300 million years. They are also the oldest known example of mutualism (a symbiotic relationship where two organisms depend on each other for their survival.) Termites are dependent on protozoans to digest the wood; similarly, these protozoans can’t survive outside the termite.

Trout Lake Nature Center 520 E. CR 44, Eustis, FL 32736

352-357-7536 www.troutlakenature.org

Advisory Council Members

Skip Babb, Public Defender, ret. Virginia Barker, Lake Community Foundation Fred Hunter, Scrub Habitat Mgr. Chuck Kegley, Am. Lung Assoc. Peter Kehde, Lake Sumter State College, ret. Charles Mojock, Lake Sumter State College Mike Perry, Lake County Water Auth. Colleen Rotella, consultant, Seminole County Director, ret. Mike Stephens, United Southern Bank

Board of Directors: Officers

President: Joan Bryant Vice President: Donna Kelley Treasurer: Ron Macfarlane

Directors

Sharon Hillebrandt Morris Pelham Margie LaRoe JoAnn Ryan Jim Rafferty Horace Thompson Director Emeritus Bernie Yokel

Staff

Executive Director: Eileen Tramontana tlnc.director@gmail.com Program Assistant: Geneva Pearman tlnc.info@gmail.com

Committee Chairs

Finance: Ron Macfarlane Environmental Ed.: Trina Raether Habitat: vacant Hospitality/House: Sharon Hillebrandt Maintenance/Safety: Morris Pelham Membership: Nadine Foley, Donna Kelley Museum: vacant Newsletter: Margie Sigman Website: Kevin Chandler

Trout Lake Nature Center was established in 1988 by the Oklawaha Valley Audubon Society.

TLNC Summer Open Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 9:00 am–Noon; Sunday and Monday–Closed. Other hours are available on request.

June, July and August Calendar of Events

Environmental Education . . . Trina Raether

How many summer evenings have you sat on the back porch and listened to the peeps, songs, and croaks of frogs? Sometimes they are so loud it is hard to imagine how such small animals produce such boisterous sounds. Most frogs have two pouches of skin called vocal sacs. The sounds are made when air rushes over the vocal chords on their way from the lungs into the vocal sacs. These vocal sacs expand like balloons and amplify the sounds by working like an echo chamber. Why are they going to all the trouble of producing those sounds? They might be trying to mark their territory or calling to a mate. Or perhaps they are letting us know that rain is on its way. Whatever their purpose, I think that those frog choruses are a perfect summer’s evening concert. One of our programs for the summer will center on the sounds of frogs, identifying the type of frog that is making that sound and creating our own “frog chorus.” We will also learn what is necessary to make a frog habitat and why frogs are effective bio-indicators—species that tell us about an environment’s health.

Volunteer to help with our summer programs, have fun and learn some awesome frog facts. We may create a frog/toad zoo and need to find some frog wranglers to aide us.

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE

PAID ORLANDO, FL PERMIT NO.

26070

Trout Lake Nature Center 520 E. CR 44 Eustis, FL 32736

TLNC’s mission is to preserve and protect the natural environment and educate the community about its importance.