Tampa Audubon Society

In 2022/2023, Tampa Audubon will alternate meetings between two locations - the Tampa Garden Club and the County Extension Office in Seffner (where meetings were before COVID.)  These sites were chosen by the board based on your responses to the location preference survey members took earlier this year.  The schedule is: • Tampa Garden Club,  2629 Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629 : September, November, January, March and May • Hillsborough County Extension Office,  5339 County Rd 579, Seffner, FL 33584 : October, December, February and April We look forward to seeing you at our meetings!!

Volunteers are needed to help with an Avian Censuses on the breeding bird population and related data in the USF Forest Preserve in Tampa. Experience preferred in botany and birding, but not required. Anyone is welcome to participate. Censuses take place April-September and are 2-3 weekday mornings during the 2nd or 3rd week of the month. Days are flexible. Censuses are from sunrise to 10:30 a.m. Training will be provided. Compensation may include secondary authorship on a published thesis paper, volunteer credit, research credit associated with the university or monetary pay. For more information contact Andrea Rocha,  andreamrocha1@gmail.com .

Audubon at SharkCon By Jessica Parrish, Membership and Tabling Coordinator Jessica Parrish and Solomon Roetter represented Tampa Audubon Society at SharkCon! We were part of the scavenger hunt during the two-day event where anyone participating had to identify a pelican somewhere in our display. It was great to see so many people participate, and we had over 500 visitors to our booth! We educated people on how to properly unhook a bird, our efforts with Project BUR-O, and how people can care for their bird feeders during this most recent outbreak of avian flu. Is there an event that you think Tampa Audubon should attend? Please reach out to Jessica Parrish to coordinate at  jessica.parrish@tampaaudubon.org . Avian Flu Found in Non-Commercial Backyard Flock The highly pathogenic avian influenza has been confirmed in a non-commercial backyard flock (non-poultry) in Seminole County, according to the USDA. This is the first backyard flock confirmation in Florida. Read the full news story 

Water is always important! So, what's changed to make it more important than ever? Well, if the past few years are any guide, there appears to be many more circumstances occurring in nature that are making water…especially fresh, clean water…harder to come by for birds and other wildlife. Depending on the geographic location, birds have had to deal with extreme heat events, extensive wildfires, widespread areas of severe drought, and development. Needless to say, under these life-threatening circumstances, water is more important than ever for birds. Even under normal circumstances, birds need water. Water is vitally important during the high temperatures of a routine summer, when a bird's ability to regulate its own body temperature can become stressed. Birds do not sweat and must remove excess body heat through their respiratory system. When temperatures rise, their respiration rate increases, sometimes to a point that birds seem to pant like a dog. This leads to an increased

Photo by Nancy Eydmann By Nancy Eydmann, Bluebird Monitor I'm the Eastern Bluebird nest box monitor at Balm Boyette Scrub Nature Preserve in Balm.  I became involved in the program after talking to and observing Mary Miller, monitoring coordinator, overseeing the bluebird trail at Flatwoods Wilderness Park.   I bike at Boyette, so we discussed the boxes there. When an opportunity became available, she asked if I could monitor boxes at Boyette. I monitor the nests weekly while biking or taking the car.   Although we have had few nestings this year, it is always exciting to open a box to find a nest/eggs/chicks. I also had several opportunities to discuss the nest box trail with other riders who were unfamiliar with the purpose of the nest boxes.  We have 14 boxes at Boyette. This year, our nesting birds included Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice. Next year, we plan to relocate some boxes to areas that we hope will encourage more nest occupancy. I'm grateful to Hillsborough