Wingspan

St. Petersburg Audubon Society’s Monthly Newsletter

September 2025

Annual Members Meeting
Potluck Dinner
Meet Some Raptors!

On Tuesday, September 16, St. Pete Audubon is hosting the annual meeting for its members to meet and vote on the 2025-26 Board of Directors and approve a 2025 Bylaws update, all while enjoying a potluck! 

Grab some food, hear brief talks about what we did this past year: Teacher Ecology Camp, Gabe Vargo Student Skimmer Grant Research, and more, and learn about our future field trips and programs. Then meet a Boyd Hill ambassador Raptor & have time to buy merchandise in our "pop-up" shop. There will be a raffle and prizes for anyone who attends.  

The slate of candidates for the St. Pete Audubon Board:
Elizabeth Forys: President
Peter Plage: Vice President
Susan Benson: Second Vice President
Eve Waterman: Treasurer
Ryan Countess: Education
Francesca DiCosmo: Field Trips
John Ficken: Membership
Julia Gallagher: Communications
Abby McKay: Secretary
Laura Packard: Teacher Ecology Camp
Lisa Reich: Conservation

Bylaws
Every five years, the Board of St. Petersburg Audubon reviews its bylaws. We've completed our review and made updates to align with our current practices. The one major change is that we are moving our Membership calendar to align with our fiscal and field trip calendar (July 1 to June 30th).
Review Bylaws and proposed revisions here

We will be voting on whether to approve these bylaws at the Member's Meeting. If you have any questions about the bylaws, feel free to email President Beth Forys (president_bethforys@stpeteaudubon.org). 

What else is planned:

• Time to visit our Pop-up shop: T-shirts, car magnets, vintage field guides (available at great prices), and other merchandise will be on sale. All proceeds go towards our conservation & education programs.

• Potluck dinner (bring food for about 10 people if you wish; no pressure if you don’t, we had tons of food last year). If possible, bring your own plate, cup, and utensils.

  
  Please pre-register! We need a minimum of 20 members to go forward
  with the voting. Closer to the time of the event, we will send follow-
  up emails to ask if you are bringing food, etc.
  
  Register here for Annual St. Pete Audubon Members Meeting

Tuesday, September 16, 2025
6:30-8:00PM

New Location:
Pioneer Center of Boyd Hill
Hammock Hall
3010 31st St S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
Phone: (727) 893-7326

If you would like to attend via Zoom, a link will be available after you have registered. Due to the last-minute change in venue, your confirmation may list another meeting location. The correct location is Pioneer Center, Hammock Hall.

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Audubon Students

Eckerd College students Mikkel Paulson and Isabelle Wood, the 2025 recipients of SPAS-sponsored Gabe Vargo Seabird Grants, monitored cameras at the St Pete Beach and Redington Shores Black Skimmer colonies this summer while volunteering as Shorebird Stewards. The research, directed by Dr. Elizabeth Forys, is evaluating nocturnal disturbances and predation.

And speaking of students!

We are looking to add two student chairs to the SPAS Board of Directors for this upcoming year (September-May). Students of all career interests and goals are welcome to apply (you must be 18 years or older)
Please consider this opportunity to work side by side with local Audubon leaders!
Submit applications by September 1, 2025

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2025-2026 Field Trip Season

St. Petersburg Audubon is looking forward to another exciting and interesting set of field trips!  We plan to visit some old favorites as well as a few new sites that will offer our participants the chance to see birds that do not necessarily reside in our immediate area, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker.  We also plan to continue our Members Only tours, so, if you haven't already become a member, now is your chance to get in on the action!  To kick things off, Peter Plage will be leading a guided bird walk at Sawgrass Lake Park. Please visit our website to see the calendar of planned field trips for the upcoming season, which will run from September 2025 to May 2026.  The calendar will be updated regularly, so check it often!  Francesca Di Cosmo, Field Trips Director

Field Trip | Sawgrass Lake Park

Leader: Peter Plage

Tuesday, September 23 8:00AM-10:00AM

Location:
Sawgrass Lake Park
7400 25th Street North
St. Petersburg, Florida 33702

Terrain: Forested hiking trail and elevated boardwalk with observation
tower

What to Bring: Binoculars, Hat, Sunscreen, Insect Repellant, and Water

Public Restrooms: Portable restroom onsite while permanent restrooms
undergo repairs

Admission and Parking: No charge

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Boyd Hill 1st Saturday Bird Walks

St Pete Audubon’s Peter Plage and Paul Waton led this summer’s walks, which were well-attended except when predictions of inclement weather on July 5 kept birders indoors. Even in the face of seasonal heat, between 25 and 30 species were identified during these walks!

MID-PINELLAS COLONIES
Redington Shores
388 Black Skimmers
133 Black Skimmer fledges
St Pete Beach
487 Black Skimmers
117 Black Skimmer fledges (this number would have been 30 higher in the absence of one very aggressive coyote that appeared on the beach late in the season)
1 pair of Least Terns
Clearwater Point
394 Black Skimmers
55 Black Skimmer fledges (7/13/25)
Stewarding
65 volunteers
811 hours
3454 people educated

FORT DESOTO
American Oystercatcher
2 pairs, 3 fledged chicks
Wilson’s Plover
6 pairs, 14 fledged chicks
Least Tern
19 fledged chicks from the Sanctuary
Black Skimmer
Attempted nesting, all predated
Snowy Plover
No nesting, but 7 Snowy Plovers returned to Ft DeSoto
Stewarding
40 volunteers, approximately
744 hours
2040 people educated

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Teacher Ecology Camp

Our 17th annual Dr. Harold Albers Teacher Ecology Camp (TEC) took place June 9-13, 2025. We offered two workshops, averaging 20 educators per workshop. 

In all, this year's TEC was a great success! Formal and informal educators please visit our website after the new year for information on next year's Teacher Ecology Camp.  Laura Packard, TEC Director

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Fall Migration

They are back already! After a few months in the northern latitudes, our migrants and winter residents are now being sighted in Pinellas County. Although their fall feathers are often not as showy as their colorful breeding plumage sported in the spring, these warblers, songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, and waterfowl will bring some new excitement to our birding expeditions. Among the warblers, as of mid-August, Pinellas eBird lists have included Yellow, Black and White, Blackburnian, Cerulean, Prairie, Hooded, and Kentucky Warblers and American Redstarts, Northern Parulas, and Common Yellowthroats. Starting on August 1, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and its partners began migration forecasts and live bird migration maps on the website BirdCast. Here you can discover, for instance, that during the night of August 12, approximately 38,600 birds flew over Pinellas County, averaging a speed of 12 mph, an altitude of 1000 feet, and a southeasterly direction, and expected species included the Yellow, Prothonotary, Cerulean, and Hooded Warblers, Black Terns, Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Louisiana Waterthrushes, and Eastern Wood-Peewees. Peak Fall Migration Windows are estimated for 1000 U.S. cities, with St Pete’s listed from 9/28/25 to 10/18/2025.

Lights out for Birds | BirdCast promotes reducing light pollution from 11PM to 6AM each night during spring and fall migration, March 1-June 15 and August 15 – November 30 respectively, and provides strategies for this vital effort to make these avian journeys as safe as possible.

Upcoming Events

Click here for a full description of field trips and programs

October Program

Migratory Bird Banding
Florida Young Birders Club

Jim McGinity
Master Bird Bander
Environmental Resource Teacher

For this program we’ll hear from Jim McGinity, who will be sharing two of his most important projects with us – the Florida Young Birders Club and his work as a master bander. As a teacher, Jim works hard to foster a love of birds in young people and is a founding member of the Florida Young Birders Club. He is going to tell us about its development and share some results from his local Banding Stations. Jim is planning to finish up with a quiz, so there will be a chance to test your bird ID skills too! 

Tuesday, October 14, 2025
7:00-8:00PM

Location: Boyd Hill Nature Preserve
1101 Country Club Way S, St Petersburg, FL 33705
Nature Center Classroom
Zoom link will be posted on SPAS website closer to the event

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Audubon Florida Assembly

Audubon Assembly is Florida’s premier conservation gathering, where grassroots leaders from around the state join Audubon’s professional staff and partners to grow their networks and increase knowledge and skills to protect Florida’s precious natural resources. The event will take place in Central Florida on October 16-18.
This year's theme is Power of Birds, Power of Us: Science and Joy as Catalysts for Conservation. With learning sessions, a keynote presentation, awards, and field trips to some of the birdiest hotspots in the region, Assembly is a great opportunity to network with Audubon members, staff, and volunteers across the state.
Find all of the details and registration here:
Audubon Florida Assembly 2025
From Audubon Florida Facebook

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Save the Date!

From Audubon

Tri-Colored Herons Get Much-Needed Assistance in Greater Tampa Bay
The Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida provided Audubon with a grant to monitor and protect the threatened Tricolored Herons and their 37 nesting sites across the region.

Efforts to Save Great Lakes Piping Plovers are Seeing Signs of Success | After 40 years of band-monitoring, captive-rearing programs, education, habitat restoration and preservation, and predator management, the number of nesting pairs is up to 85, from a low of 12. This area is birthplace of our beloved resident “Outback” and other Piping Plovers who overwinter at Ft DeSoto!

Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2024 Audubon Photo Awards
”Birds are always up to something, and these entries captured an array of avians doing everything from impaling prey to drumming away”

A Busy - and Extended - Legislative Session Ends with State Park Protections Bill

Around Florida

West Klosterman Preserve protected from development | Pinellas County and the non-profit West Klosterman Preservation Group collaborated to purchase this 14-acre Tarpon Springs preserve, which will be incorporated into the Mariner’s Point Management Area to protect native habitat and wildlife. The WK Preservation Group plans to continue its mission to promote conservation in Pinellas County.

Rare Air: Endangered Birds, Bats, Butterflies, and Bees | The James Museum exhibition of Sarah Kazair’s intricate pen and ink illustrations continues through September 17, 2025.

From NatGeo | The Little Brown Bird | Documentary
”Once down to only 80 in the wild, the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow is at risk of extinction. Biologist Fabiola ‘Fabby’ Baeza-Tarin and an unexpected team work together to protect the sparrows, their shrinking habitat, and the headwaters of the Everglades. America's most endangered songbird is saving a landscape.
Read more here: Unlikely Comeback of America’s Most Endangered Songbird