RACCOON RUN 
Sunday morning 9:00 am. Both the 5K run and 1 mile fun walk will take place inside Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. The course will use existing shell and grass trails that travel along the shores of beautiful Lake Maggiore and wind through hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods, and sand pine scrub habitats.

Click Here for information and Registration Form ( 40K PDF)

 GREEN STAGE 
There are so many products on the market today that are eco-friendly. On the Green Stage presenters will offer information about their products and services and how using them can benefit the planet. Also, learn about program rebates that can offset costs for these materials. Please see the attached schedule for this year’s presenters.

 GREEN STAGE Presenters 

Saturday

10:30 - Dirty Worms ( email only)
11:30 - St. Pete Solar Energy (Link)
12:30 - Twiggs & Leaves (Link)
1:30 - Mister Landscaper - Jo Reese (Link)
2:30 - Water Conservation - City of St. Petersburg (Chris Claus)
3:30 - R.E.A.L. Building (Link)
4:30 - Advantage Pest Control

Sunday

10:30 - Twiggs & Leaves (Link)
11:30 - Mister Landscaper - Jo Reese (Link)
12:30 - R.E.A.L. Building (Link)
1:30 - Water Conservation - City of St. Petersburg (Chris Claus)
2:30 - Advantage Pest Control
3:30 - Dirty Worms ( email only)
4:30 - St. Pete Solar Energy (Link)

 FLORIDA TURTLES & SNAKES PROGRAM 

George L. Heinrich. a field herpetologist and environmental educator with Heinrich Ecological Services, offers live family-oriented, reptile presentations on the diversity, ecology and - conservation of these ecologically important vertebrates. Animals featured include a Florida box turtle, alligator snapping turtle, diamondback terrapin, red rat snake, yellow rat snake, Florida kingsnake, and Florida pine snake. These animals, as well as several others, are on display throughout the festival.

 BIRDS OF PREY PROGRAM 

Have you ever met an owl or hawk up close and personal? If not, come to Art Arbor and meet several of our non-releasable Birds of Prey.

The Birds of Prey volunteers present educational programs, featuring representatives from the Birds of Prey aviaries at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, annually during Art Arbor Weekend. Typically three programs per day are given using our trained program assistants that include a Great Horned Owl. Eastern Screech Owls, and Red Shouldered Hawk.

Our talks are designed to include the basic characteristics that define a raptor, the adaptations that ensure the success of each species, a brief summary of the species distribution and its natural history, and the impacts of humans on the species populations including what you can do to help maintain this species in the wild. Also, visit with our other Birds of Prey in their state of the art aviary.

You will find a Bald Eagle, Turkey Vultures, a Red Tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owls. Red Shouldered Hawks, a Barred Owl, and Eastern Screech Owls in residence.

  WILDLIFE STAGE Presentations  

Saturday

11:00 - Florida Snakes
12:00 - Birds of Prey
1:00 - Birds of Prey
2:00 - Florida Turtles
3:30 - Birds of Prey

Sunday

11:00 - Florida Snakes
12:00 - Birds of Prey
1:00 - Birds of Prey
2:00 - Florida Turtles
3:30 - Birds of Prey

 GUIDED BIRD WALK 

Saturday morning only, at 8:00 AM take to the trails for a guided hike. You may see hawks. ospreys and songbirds during your serene morning stroll

 PHOTO CONTEST 

The Photo Contest is an annual competition designed to promote an appreciation of our natural environment through the artistic medium of photography and to increase awareness of Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. Photographs are on display at the Lake Maggiore Environmental Education Center at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve during the Art Arbor Festival and through December 31.

Awards for the show are also presented on the Saturday morning of the Festival. Photograph categories include Animals, Plants, Landscapes, People in nature, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, and Black and white in three classifications: Adult, Youth (grades 9-12), and Children (up to grade 8).

A digital photography category is open to all age groups in any of the six categories. entries are judged on composition, print quality, adherence to theme and presentation.

Prizes are awarded for Best of Show. First, Second and Third in each category.

 CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES 

There are many activities for children at the festival. The Kid's Crafts table gives young visitors an opportunity to create some art of their own. They get to take home their competed projects. Games include a bean bag toss and winding hay maze. Face painting is also available.
Most children's activities require a small additional fee

 LIBRARY BOOK SALE 

Each year the South Branch Public Library holds its annual book sale in conjunction with the Art Arbor Festival. There are a variety of books for adults and children at great prices.

 ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER 

This award winning exhibit showcases Boyd Hill Nature Preserve’s distinct ecosystems – hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods, willow marsh and Lake Maggiore. Using a series of dioramas and displays, you will discover many of the things that make Boyd Hill Nature Preserve special. The exhibit features interactive panels that show that every action has an equal or greater reaction in our environment – like the ripples caused by a raindrop onto still water.

Every human action creates a ripple, for better or worse. It is our job to make sure that the ripples we create have a positive effect on the ecosystem. The exhibit will show you ways that you can help keep Florida’s wetlands healthy. The ripple effect is an exciting and innovative depiction that will enlighten the visitor to the natural wonders of Boyd Hill Nature Preserve and Lake Maggiore.

 NATURE TRAILS 

Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is 245-acres in size, is part of the Great Florida Birding Trail and features more, than three mites of trails and boardwalks and five unique ecosystems: hardwood hammocks, sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, Willow marsh and lake. It is a greet place to enjoy a variety of birds, plants, reptiles and much more. The trails are open both days during the Art Arbor Festival at no additional charge.

Here is a list of the trails in the preserve and brief description of what you may find:

Lake Maggiore

Shaded by spreading live oaks, the island looks out on Lake Maggiore. Perched on dead branches, anhingas fan their wings out to dry, turtles sun themselves on tussocks and alligators drift by.

Willow Marsh

Coastal willows slender leaves provide food for orange dancing viceroy butterflies. The boardwalk passes over the bowing flower spikes of lizards-tail. Rich muck provides a home for a variety of ferns, hinting of an almost prehistoric flavor. Twelve-foot fronds of leather ferns lift above the boardwalk. Look for lizards on the trees.

Swamp Woodlands

Winding along a creek, the path and boardwalk are shaded by bay, sugarberry and red maple trees. Box turtles hide in the leaf litter on the forest floor. The star-bellied spiders weave their perfect web between the branches.

Pine Flatwoods

Like the columns of a forest mansion, tall pines shade the path. This is borderland between the scrub and the broad-leafed forest. Southern oaks provide a canopy for blue jays and cardinals and a food source for fox squirrels. Lizards flash through the sunlit patches in their pursuit of an insect meal.

Sand Scrub

This is one of the most endangered habitats in the world. More than 12,000 years ago Florida was almost twice its current size. This place was the center of a vast scrubland stretching from horizon to horizon. Today, turkey oak, sand pine, and wiregrass hint of that distant time. Fall wild flowers cover these fields with color. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve is the home of the gopher tortoise.

 TRAM TOURS 

This is a guided, riding tour of the park about 30 minutes long. It is great for first time visitors and those with limited hiking ability. Learn about alligators, gopher tortoises, fire ecology, birds, and wild flowers. Seating is limited to seven for each tour. During the Festival, there are two trams every hour.