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Beyond the Bay Field Trips

Updated: Sep 20


Tampa Audubon is excited to feature four planned out-of-county trips this year (and there may be more!).


Nov. 16 - Airboat Ride, Lake Kissimmee, 9 am and 10:30 am

$50 per person for the airboat ride. Maximum 20 riders. 


Tampa Audubon will bird by airboat on Lake Kissimmee. We will meet at Grape Hammock Fish Camp, seventy miles east of Brandon, just off SR 60.


We have two shifts reserved on the airboat for a tour around the edges of Lake Kissimmee looking for Snail Kites, Purple Gallinules, Bald Eagles and more.  Caracaras are sometimes seen in the area, too.


Half the group will bird around the hammock looking for warblers, vireos and raptors while the others ride. The first ride leaves at 9 am, the second about 10:30 am. When both rides are back, we will drive to a lakeside county park for a picnic lunch and more birding. The captain knows birds and birders, so photography is possible. High speed riding on the boat can be chilly this time of year, so bring a jacket and hat that will not fly away. Also, bring water, a snack and/or lunch. Only a few snacks and drinks are available for sale at the fish camp.


RSVP to trip leader Mic McCarty at mic.mccarty@tampaaudubon.org to join in the ride! Send a check for the $50 to Tampa Audubon Society, PO Box 320025, Tampa, FL 33679 before the trip.  Carpooling will be possible. Maximum 20 riders.

 

Important! Pre-registration is required, and participation is limited. Please do not attend this or any Tampa Audubon Society events if you have flu, cold, or covid symptoms. Tampa Audubon is committed to reducing the spread of illnesses. The health and safety of our members is of the highest priority.

 

January 10-12, Apalachicola, Birds, Lights and the Forgotten Coast

This trip is a bit further away than our previous trips to Wakulla Springs. We'll stay in Apalachicola and spend three days birding in the area.


On day one, we'll visit Port St. Joe Port and St. Joseph’s Peninsula. On day two, we'll visit St. George’s Island SP and Lighthouse. Weather and interest depending, we may go to St. Vincent Island NWR on a boat trip. Day three, we'll visit Saint Marks NWR. The birding in all these places features wintering ducks and species that do not often come to Tampa Bay (on our last trip, we found a Long-Tailed Duck).

 

February 14-16, Merritt Island NWR & Daytona Beach

We'll see some wonderful birds and visit Audubon's Birds of Florida exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach. This is a display of an extraordinary journey through the original Birds of Florida as captured in the meticulously painted studies of John James Audubon.


March 28-30, Cedar Key 

These island keys project into the Gulf of Mexico. Members will remember several excellent field trips Tampa Audubon has taken to Cedar Key. Clapper Rails and American Avocets are just two of the bird species often seen. Late March is the beginning of spring migration. We have great hopes in finding warblers and other feathered travelers passing through!

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