Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center

Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center A West Volusia Audubon project supporting Volusia County’s Lyonia Environmental Center and Preserve.
(1)

Here are some shots from last week’s “Think Like a Citizen Scientist” Brownie Girl Scout workshop at the Lyonia Environm...
08/31/2026

Here are some shots from last week’s “Think Like a Citizen Scientist” Brownie Girl Scout workshop at the Lyonia Environmental Center. The scouts learned about the importance of citizen science projects and afterwards participated in collecting gopher tortoise sightings to add to FWC’s website, including the resident tortoise in the pollinator garden!

📸: Melissa Hughes

The Lyonia Garden Keepers hard at work planting a red, white, and blue garden in front of the Volusia County Veterans Se...
08/29/2026

The Lyonia Garden Keepers hard at work planting a red, white, and blue garden in front of the Volusia County Veterans Services location at the Deltona Library next to the Lyonia Environmental Center! 🇺🇸

It’s a feast by Lyonia’s large wetland as the Carolina Redroot is in bloom and bringing with it beautiful pollinators of...
08/28/2026

It’s a feast by Lyonia’s large wetland as the Carolina Redroot is in bloom and bringing with it beautiful pollinators of all types.

Zebra Swallowtails (Eurytides marcellus) have spring and summer forms. The spring form is more white with shorter tails and the summer form is larger with broader black patterns and a longer tail like you see here.

While this one is enjoying a Carolina Redroot, you’ll more likely find Zebra Swallowtails at a Flag Pawpaw as pawpaws are the only host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail caterpillars.

📸 and ID: Chare C. charlevoix/chare

You saw Lyonia’s Scrub-Jays getting their bands, now you get to see a jay showing them off in the Preserve. All but two ...
08/27/2026

You saw Lyonia’s Scrub-Jays getting their bands, now you get to see a jay showing them off in the Preserve. All but two of the 19 banded jays have been spotted since they were banded last weekend.

Each jay received a unique set of colored bands to help identify them. The right leg has a yellow band for adults or a purple band for juveniles, above the silver federal band. The left leg has two colored bands that are unique to each individual bird. These colorful bands will help us identify the jays’ territories and follow their movements, giving us a better understanding of our amazing birds and how they use the preserve.

The banding project was carried out by our friends at the Lyonia Environmental Center and funded by West Volusia Audubon/the Friends of Lyonia.

📸: Lois Posey

It’s but it might as well be Territorial Tortoise Tuesday. Our Garden Keepers witnessed an interesting interaction bet...
08/25/2026

It’s but it might as well be Territorial Tortoise Tuesday. Our Garden Keepers witnessed an interesting interaction between a smaller gopher tortoise and its burrow and a larger gopher tortoise. The larger tortoise stopped by to visit but, after a little drama and with some expert body blocking by the smaller tortoise, the larger one realized there was no room at the inn and went on about its day.

📸: Danielle Linsler Rice

This past weekend, our friends at the Lyonia Environmental Center had an exciting couple of days in the Preserve as 19 F...
08/21/2026

This past weekend, our friends at the Lyonia Environmental Center had an exciting couple of days in the Preserve as 19 Florida Scrub-Jays received their bands!

This project was funded by West Volusia Audubon and the Friends of Lyonia Preserve.

Each jay received a unique set of colored bands to help us identify them. The right leg has a yellow band for adults or a purple band for juveniles, above the silver federal band. The left leg has two colored bands that are unique to each individual bird. These colorful bands will help us identify the jays’ territories and follow their movements, giving us a better understanding of our amazing birds and how they use the preserve.

The LEC is also getting a community science project ready so you can help us track the jays! We’ll keep you posted when we’re ready to officially begin. In the meantime, grab your binoculars and head out to Lyonia Preserve—you might just spot one of our newly banded scrub jays!

All banding work was conducted under Federal Bird Banding Permit #23312.

Photos provided by Christie Miller at the Lyonia Environmental Center.

The Tufted Titmouse is a year-round Central Florida resident that is a frequent visitor to bird feeders. You’ll often he...
08/17/2026

The Tufted Titmouse is a year-round Central Florida resident that is a frequent visitor to bird feeders. You’ll often hear this tiny bird in the Preserve as it hops between branches making its signature call, which is similar to a chickadee. These birds are very quick and don’t stick around in any one place for very long, so they can be a challenging capture for photographers.

📷: Eli Friedus Eli Freidus Photography

Address

2150 Eustace Avenue
Deltona, FL
32725

Telephone

+13867897207

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Friends of Lyonia Environmental Center:

Shortcuts

Share