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

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 As with most of our members, I have found myself particularly busy these past two months and, to my chagrin, most of that time spent was not birding related. Life sometimes finds a way to fill up our time with jobs, travel, and other responsibilities. And with that, also comes sickness, which is what I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. Sickness often finds a way to humble me in ways I always find surprisi

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

This year, we had 59 submissions and votes from 63 people. Prizes are: first place: $300; second place $200 and third place $100. Congrats to the winners!

May 7, 2026 Nesting Roseate Spoonbills Presented by Jeff Liechty, Sanctuary Manager Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries, Audubon Florida Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa 6:30 pm - Potluck. Bring a dish to share 7:15 pm - Announcements 7:30 pm - Presentation In person and on Zoom https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84959398693 Audubon Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries has been protecting waterbirds in Tampa Bay since 1934 through monitoring and management of nesti

Bluebird removing fecal sac from nest box. Below are the 8 BB Trail Reports: Carrollwood Village: 2 BB nests, with 10 chicks Flatwoods Park: 37 nests (31 BB, 6 CC), 51 BB eggs, 15 chicks (2 BB, 13 CC) Hunter's Green: 4 BB nests, with 11 eggs, & 5 chicks, & 1 Evening Bat Lake Park: 18 nests (12 BB, 3 CC, 1 CW, 2 TM), 35 eggs (27 BB, 4 CC, 4 CW, 4 TM), 27 chicks (15 BB, 5 CC, 7 TM) Lettuce Lake: 1 CW nest with 5 eggs Lithia Springs: 1 BB nest, with 3 chicks MacDill AFB: 6 BB ne

By Mary Miller, Bluebird Trail Box Coordinator Below are the 8 BB Trail Reports: Carrollwood Village Park: 2 BB nests, 8 BB eggs Flatwoods Park: 20 nests (15 BB, 5 CC) & 5 eggs (1 BB, 4 CC) Hunter's Green: 3 BB nests, 1 Bat Lake Park: 7 nests (3 BB, 2 TM, 2 CC) Lettuce Lake Park: 1 Carolina Wren nest Lithia Springs Park: 1 BB nest with 1 egg MacDill AFB: 6 BB nests, with 5 eggs & 4 chicks. Sargeant's Park: 1 BB nest It was a cool, windy day on the Flatwoods BB Trail and the

TAMPA – The four-day Florida Birding and Nature Festival features field trips, boat excursions, seminars by experts, nationally renowned keynote speakers, a free nature expo and a free-flying birds of prey show. It will be April 9-12, 2026, at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, 6650 Dickman Road in Apollo Beach (just south of Tampa). Scheduled to coincide with peak of spring migration, the event previously was during th

By Shauna Justi, Newsletter Contributor What is the City Nature Challenge? The City Nature Challenge, an effort to produce an accurate and citizen-science based report of the biodiversity in specific areas, begins April 24th through April 27th. This challenge encourages citizens to become more involved and observant of their environment, recording what you notice to accumulate data to save and protect local species. Hillsborough County is registered to participate in this eve