We accomplish our mission by

• fostering and funding educational events

• helping recruit and educate Blue Sky docents

• developing and posting signage at the beginning and along the trails at the Reserve

• creating and providing educational material

• contributing to infrastructure improvements that enhance the use of the Reserve

• supporting habitat restoration

• maintaining trails

• conducting annual bird count and tracking counts

what we do

September 2023 - August 2024

Friends of Blue Sky ended last year by launching its first quarterly newsletter, Blue Sky Today. Last September we successfully reintroduced hosting quarterly discovery tables in the Reserve after an absence of several years. In November and April, we organized maintenance events on the Torretto Trail, including the replacement of faded interpretive signage. Our kiosk in the parking lot has received several new interpretive and informative updates throughout the year, and the installation of paving stones from the front to the back helps to direct folks to information about Friends.

In February we held an event celebrating Friends of Blue Sky Canyon’s 30th anniversary with presentations, crafts, hikes, and a silent auction. It was especially memorable as we were fortunate to be able to recognize and honor three original Friends members, Jan Goldsmith, Dan Cannon, and Alan Torretto.

Additionally, in February we implemented a new “Walk n Talk’ hiking series on a variety of topics which we will continue throughout this next year. Other hikes hosted by Friends this year were for groups from Biola University, the Sierra Club, AP Sci students from Poway High, and most recently Tree Trekkers from Tree San Diego.

Last month we offered a members-only event with an evening hike into Blue Sky attracting and identifying nighttime insects using black lighting.

This year we uploaded three videos, one on Fungi, another on Ferns, and a third on Wildflowers to our website and You Tube.

In addition, we recently assisted the City of Poway with the installation of a new interpretive sign showcasing pollination and gave the bird wingspan sign a facelift. We will assist the City in the near future by replacing the damaged platform at the sign.

Next year

Going forward we plan is to produce additional educational video content for the website and social media, expand our tour and program offerings, and have just opened discussions on potentially starting a citizen science project on iNaturalist. We will again host the annual bird count but will move it from winter to spring in the hopes of spotting migratory species in addition to our usual suspects.

In addition to financially supporting upcoming Blue Sky events, our main fundraising project, and long-term goal, is to build a permanent structure in the parking lot to house our discovery table artifacts which will afford Friends of Blue Sky members, and Blue Sky docents, easy access to materials and, in turn, allow us to showcase Blue Sky’s biodiversity to visitors more frequently and expand our reach. Currently these items are stored at members’ homes. Permissions and costing for the project have not been undertaken to date.

In the short term we are hoping to purchase and install a shed at a cost of approximately $500 to accommodate these items temporarily. We will also purchase and install paving stones as a base. Permission has been granted for this.

We are seeking support for this in the form of monetary donations. Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a significant difference in our ability to implement these projects.