Established in the 1940s and incorporated in 1972, we serve the Greater Hillsborough County region, including Tampa, Lutz, Plant City, Brandon, Riverview and Seffner. 

Wednesday, 03/10/2027 Arrival, Belize City Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met and transferred to Black Orchid Resort. After an orientation and presentation on birding and conservation enjoy a welcome dinner at the hotel. Thursday, 03/11/2027, the Jungle Lodge in Tikal Start the day by birding around the hotel grounds to look for Ringed and Green Kingfishers. After breakfast, you travel to Tikal, Guatemala. In Guatemala, you go birding at Yaxhá Na

By Mary Keith, PhD, Tampa Audubon Society Conservation Chair and Audubon Florida Director On May 17, five of us from TAS went out to check on the breeding bird colony at Edward Medard Conservation Park. It was a youngling filled day, with chicks of just about every species! There were immature and chicks of Great Blue Herons, Tricolored, Snowy, and Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Glossy and White Ibis, Black Vultures and more still in the nest! The Purple Gallinule that ha

By Shauna Justi, Newsletter Editor Hello everyone! I would like to formally introduce myself: my name is Shauna, and, from this letter on, I will be taking over for Sandy Townsend as Newsletter Editor. I joined Tampa Audubon in November of 2025 as both a member and as Assistant Newsletter Editor. I am from South Florida, but will be moving to Tampa this August to start my Master of Social Work degree at the University of South Florida in pursuit of becoming a Licensed Clinic

By Mic McCarty, Vice President and Field Trip Coordinator Dear Tampa Audubon members and Bird Enthusiasts, We are thrilled to announce a limited number of free subscriptions to Birds of the World for our volunteers. Birds of the World is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s premier online resource that has taken flight to become the leading authoritative source for everything avian! 🌍🐦 Your Ultimate Guide to Birds At Birds of the World, they have gathered and meticulously c

By: Amy Swinford, Audubon Resource Center Coordinator Did you know that the Audubon Resource Center at Lettuce Lake Park (ARC at the Park) has educational materials you can use to help with your child's homework? Operated in cooperation with the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department and the Conservation and Environmental Lands Management Department, the ARC displays wildlife native to the Hillsborough River Watershed and provides a variety of environmental ed

By Mary Miller BB Trail Reports: Carrollwood Village: 3 chicks (from a third nesting), & 14 fledglings (all BB) Flatwoods: 53 eggs, 34 chicks (all BB), 135 fledglings (125 BB, 10 CC) Hunter's Green: 4 eggs, 8 chicks, 29 fledglings (all BB) Lake: 5 eggs, 16 chicks (all BB), 96 fledglings (68 BB, 9 CC, 4 CW, 9 TM) Lettuce Lake: 4 CW fledglings Lithia Springs: 4 eggs, 7 fledglings (all BB) MacDill AFB: 17 BB fledglings Sargeant's: 7 BB fledglings The weather was brutally hot on

By Jessica Parrish, Tampa Audubon President The answer is right there in our name: Tampa Audubon Society. A society is often defined as a group of people who come together around a shared culture, purpose, or set of values. For us, that shared purpose is captured in our mission: To inspire an appreciation of nature and to conserve and restore our ecosystems, focusing on birds, wildlife, and their habitats, through education, advocacy, and community involvement. While our

Presented by Meredith Budd, Deputy Director Live Wildly Foundation livewildly.com Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa July 15, 6 - 8:15 pm 6 pm: Dinner Potluck. Bring a salad, side or dessert to share. The main dish will be provided. 7 pm: Announcements 7:30 pm: Speaker Please register here: https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po00001kzkHRIAY Joint Meeting with Tampa Audubon, Sierra Club and Suncoast Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Societ

Jessica Parish, TAS President By Jessica Parrish, President Hello all! You may notice that my first President's message, as well as the Newsletter itself, may be shorter than you have been accustomed to seeing. As we march towards summer, not only are the birds slowing down their singing, as does Tampa Audubon Society slow down many of its outward appearing activities. Not that there aren't things to do, but it's our moment to look inward and to plan. In the coming months,

By Mary Miller, Bluebird Trail Box Coordinator Below are the 5-18-2026 BB Trail Reports: Carrollwood Village: 7 eggs, 10 fledglings (all BB) Flatwoods: 38 eggs, 54 chicks (all BB), & 57 fledglings (47 BB, 10 CC) Hunter's Green: 10 eggs, 19 fledglings (all BB) Lake Park: 22 eggs, 7 chicks, 65 fledglings (43 BB, 9 CC, 4 CW, 9 TM) Lettuce Lake: 4 CW fledglings Lithia Springs: 1 egg, 3 chicks, & 3 fledglings (all BB) MacDill AFB: 12 chicks, 15 eggs, 14 fledglings (all BB) Sargean

By Jim Hengelbrok, Nominating Committee At the annual meeting on May 7, we held elections for TAS Officers and Directors. There were no nominations from the floor. We had 26 members who voted in person, and another 19 who voted by Zoom. The vote was unanimous in favor of the Board-endorsed slate of candidates. Below are the profiles of the newly elected Officers and Directors, who will serve for the next two years. Statements provided before the election have been edite

By Mary Keith, Conservation Chair A Carolina Chickadee - one of the species spotted on the Chinsegut walk. Five people joined Mary for a great morning birding at Chinsegut. The weather was lovely, and you cannot have a better start to a birding day than watching a Bald Eagle sail in and perch in a tree across the road from your gathering point! The sun was barely up as it sat there and surveyed its domain! Then we had our first Red-headed Woodpecker of the day within the

The imperiled Southeastern American Kestrel, a small non-migratory falcon, lives in open sandhills, prairies, and pastures, and increasingly in some of our urban areas. FWC researchers are continuing their study of urban-dwelling kestrels in the Tampa Bay region. We need your help locating urban and suburban nests in Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties! If you have information that you would like to share, please visit Rare Upland Bird Sightings ( https://app.myfwc.com

By Susan McIntrye Susan McIntyre and Her Mother Jane McIntyre Susan McIntyre is a licensed clinical social worker and is the director of Counseling and Wellness for The Centre for Women. She is currently an Eagle Watch volunteer and is the exasperated but loving owner of two rescue parrots. Below is a recount of a special memory regarding a recent donation in honor of her mom, Jane McIntyre: The February Audubon meeting fell on what would have been my mother’s 100th birth

July 2026 By Jessica Parrish, President, and Jim Hengelbrok, Membership Coordinator Welcome New Members: Amy C., Zachary S., Harold C., Madison L., Heather M., Jessica F., Joseph C., and Cecelia D. Thank you Renewing Members: Jeff C., Jessica P., Elaine H., and Lisa B. Thank you Tampa Audubon Supporters: Jeffrey P., Benny J., Rachel L., Angela C., Dodd J., Jayne B., Lisa B., Caroline G., Charlotte K., Joan C., Stephanie S., Chris M., Jean T., Celine K., Stephen D., Robert S.,

By Gary Gibbons Florida’s outdoors lost a true hero in April. Rocky Milburn, a leader in Sierra Club for decades, passed away peacefully, surrounded by close friends who loved him deeply. Rocky’s passion was to take people (especially young people) on outings to discover the wonders of nature. He trained dozens of people (including me) to lead outings and taught First Aid training as part of his extensive outings training. Rocky was an expert birder as well, and he loved do

Ann Paul, President By Ann Paul, Tampa Audubon President I think it’s something that us birdwatchers have known for a while – that when we see a bird, identify one that we didn’t know before, or even recognize an old winged friend – we feel a jolt of joy. We detect within ourselves a happy feeling, a sense of accomplishment associated with wonder; an altogether good feeling. This is why when we see and appreciate a bird on a field trip or in our backyards, we want to see ano

By Shauna Justi Exciting news! Hillsborough birders were featured in a news segment with Channel 28 News regarding the study that Tampa Audubon President Ann Paul referred to in this month's President's Letter. The study explores if birding increases cognitive flexibility in birders. Reporters took quotes from birders who arrived in Hillsborough County to observe and count a Wood Stork colony. Members of both Tampa Audubon and Florida Audubon were interviewed at this colony

The window film at the Audubon Resource Center at Lettuce Lake Park is helping prevent bird collisions. (Photo by Jonathan Hoiles) Preventing bird window strikes is a shared responsibility that benefits wildlife and people. By making simple changes to windows, lighting, and landscaping, you can significantly reduce bird collisions. Creating bird-safe environments supports biodiversity and promotes coexistence with nature in our daily lives. The good news is that anyone can in