St. Petersburg Audubon Society

Bird Steward Volunteers Needed!

On our beaches, every foot of beach from nor

Bird Stewards at Shell Key. Click for larger view

th Pinellas southward to Bradenton and beyond, are surveyed. Volunteers look for colonies seeking protected areas to raise the next generation. Then, with FWC’s assistance, each colony is marked with posts and twine. If the birds choose a busy beach, bird stewards are stationed on weekends to advise beachgoers of the fragile nature of our summer nesters.

Bird Stewards are needed at Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, Ft DeSoto, Sunset Beach, Egmont Key and Shell Key every weekend through Labor Day.

We would like to have bird stewards out every weekend during this nesting season. Due to the popularity of our beaches by human visitors and the locations of the nesting birds, having stewards on the beaches can make a huge difference in the success of our colonies.
Please consider coming out to steward a few times this summer.

If you would like to become a Bird Steward contact Barb Howard at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 727 343-1272.

Thanks to all of you for helping!!

2009-10 Board Members

Congratulations to our new slate of St. Petersburg Audubon directors elected by our members at the March 17 meeting!

Officers: Mauri Peterson-President; Maureen Arnold-Vice President; Nancy Ogden-Secretary; Rick Potter-Treasurer

Directors: Harold Albers; Mary Brazier; Wanda Dean; Judi Hopkins; Saskia Janes; Dave Kandz; Mark Mueller; Lee Snyder; and Alice Tenney.

St. Marks Refuge Adventure

by Terry Godts My husband Marc and I were invited by our friends Faith and Doug Hoogs for a Thanksgiving birding trip to the Panhandle with the St. Petersburg Audubon Society. I’ve been a birdwatcher for 30 some years, but not a good one. I suspected I had to bird with good birders to improve, so Marc and I tagged along. And I’m so glad we did.
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Duck Hunt 2009

Having let our shotguns and Labrador retrievers at home and armed only with binoculars, spotting scopes and multiple layers of clothing Fifteen intrepid duck hunters met in the pre dawn light at Jo Jo's to see what we could "get".

Our fearless leader was Doug Clark whose face was still unscarred at the end of the trip. The layers of clothing were shed as the day warmed but the bins and scopes remained firmly in our grasp.

The three ponds on the approach to DeSoto yieled Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Mallard, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, Common Moorhen, American Coot, and a single duckus plasticius. The elusive female Cinnamon Teal was not available for viewing.

We then drove to East beach where we were treated to Horned Grebe and Red-breasted Merganser including 2 or 3 beautiful males. The first pier was rather foggy but we did see a female Red-breasted Merganser. The second pier gave us our Common Loon as well as a view of the residual smoke from the Egmont Key burn (now to get rid of the rats). Other non duck highlights included a female Bald Eagle sitting on her nest and a Broad-winged Hawk. The trip finished with a visit to North beach for shorebirds (not as tasty as duck). The total species count for the day was a respectful 61.

Zellwood Field Trip

by Nancy Ogden

January 3, 2009, a magical, misty morning with the rising sun on the ground fog and sandhill cranes already in the pastures, 32 of us met at the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) facility north of Lake Apopka. Forming a vehicle caravan, we first stopped by a cow pasture to view a Say's phoebe working a weedy field and resting on a fence along with several bluebirds and palm and pine warblers. Farther along we stopped on the brushy edge of an old orange grove to stir up some Florida scrub jays attracted to some calls and the chaos.

Fort DeSoto Field Trip

By Tom Bell

On Saturday afternoon (October 4th) at 4 p.m., 17 Audubon members gathered with field trip coordinator, Judi Hopkins, and trip leader, Ron Smith, at the big flag at Fort DeSoto CP for “Terns, Terns, Terns” (and shorebirds, too!). We concentrated on the North Beach area and enjoyed the 35 species we all got to see. Ron put us at ease when he opened his remarks by telling us that there was no such thing as a dumb question (though I’m not so sure he didn’t change his mind over the next two hours). He told us to keep our eyes peeled for banded birds as one of the Piping Plovers found recently at the park had been banded in Saskatchuan, Canada, in 2005 and another in Alberta, Canada. He said, too, that a Red Knot found this past September had been banded at Delaware Bay in 1997.

2008 - 2009 SPAS Field Trips & Special Events

Check out the SPAS Program, Special Events and Field Trip list. These field trips are open to anyone interested in birding, wildlife watching, photography, and exploring natural areas that remain in Florida. Advance registration is appreciated but not required, except for trips noted.
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Current Wingspan

Wingspan is St. Petersburg Audubon's monthly newsletter, distributed free to all members.

Click the thumbnail to view the current issue of Wingspan.

Summer 2009

You can read past issues of Wingspan from 2005 to 2008 online. Select the Wingspan tab and enjoy reading.

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Position on Free-Roaming Domestic and Feral Cats

Background

The domestic cat (Felis catus) is a beloved house pet with over 77 million pet cats nationwide. Of these, currently about 43 million spend some time outside. Additionally, there may be 60 to 100 million homeless stray and feral cats. Domestic cats have become a common feature not only of our backyards and city streets but also of our parks and other wild lands. Domestic cats are non-native to Florida. Animal behavior experts note that cats will hunt and kill even if well fed.

Thanks to Our BNB Business Sponsors

We are extremely grateful to TECO Energy and Seminole Electric Cooperative, Inc., Business Sponsors of our Beach Nesting Bird program.

Business Sponsorship funds enable the Beach Nesting Bird program to expand its educational activities, reprint brochures and provide more on-site protection for the bird colonies during nesting season.

Seminole Electric Logo

TECO Energy Logo

Thanks to these businesses for providing generous financial support to the Beach Nesting Bird program!

How can I become a Sponsor?

Calling all Bird Photographers!

St. Petersburg Audubon Society (SPAS) has begun an energetic project to collect images of all avian species on our county checklist. It does not matter whether you reside in Pinellas County, are a member of SPAS or if the photos were taken James Schadle (www.wildflorida.net) Photographing Laughing Gulls

James Schadle (www.wildflorida.net) Photographing Laughing Gulls

in an area outside of the county. We welcome images of these species from photographers, worldwide. This is an optimistic effort related to the intersts of birders and photographers, alike. We need your bird photos!

We are requesting all photgraphers donate images to a collection reserved by SPAS for use in promotional and educational programs sponsored by SPAS. These can be timeless loans, donations receiving defined value (for tax purposes) or outright gifts. It's up to you. All images remain the property of the photographer unless designated a donation or gift. All images, regardless of submission condition, will forever be copyrighted/credited to the photographer when in print or display. The ultimate goal is a library of all avian species found in Pinellas County, Florida. Duplicates of a species are welcome.