March 2026 Newsletter

On March 7th we are happy to welcome Tara Kok, the Native Plant Program Manager at Tampa Bay Watch, as our featured speaker. Tampa Bay Watch is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Tampa Bay Estuary and watershed through scientific and educational programs. Tara oversees the Native Planting Program, including Bay Grasses in Classes (BGIC) and the Community Wetland Nursery Program, which engages students and community members of all ages in hands-on restoration of degraded wetland habitats throughout the Tampa Bay watershed.

Tara’s presentation will highlight the mission and work of Tampa Bay Watch, the Native Planting Program, and the vital role wetland plants play in the health and resilience of Tampa Bay’s ecosystems. We hope that you are able to join us to learn more about this important topic.

As always, we’ll have a bird walk before the presentation, and all are welcome. Meet Joe Colontonio in the Education Center parking lot for an 8am start. Early migrants are arriving in our area, and Swallow-tailed Kites and Northern Parulas are a distinct possibility! 

This month sees the first of our two international birding trips for Pasco Audubon this year. A group of us are setting out on an exciting birding adventure organized by Holbrook Travel. The central Andes, also known as the Zona Cafetera, is known for coffee growing, and increasingly for its incredibly diverse bird species. Most of us will be bringing our cameras along, and look forward to sharing our experiences with you on our return, so watch this space!

We had originally planned a field trip to Croom and Chinesgut for March 21st, but when Hernando Audubon announced that this would be their festival date, we decided that it made the most sense to support the event. I believe that this is a free event, with walks and talks, and it would make a great day (or days) out. Audubon Florida president, Julie Wraithmell, will be the keynote speaker on Friday evening.

Rather than printing out the schedule details here, I’ve copied the link to the schedule on Hernando Audubon’s webpage as I’m sure that any last minute changes in schedule will be reflected there.

https://www.hernandoaudubon.org/field-trips-events/event-three-xd6bc-l7sj7-hk38w-pztwc 

Back by special request after several years of absence, this will be a two-stop birding experience. We’ll begin our trip with a stop on Courtney Campbell Causeway, where we’ll hope to find gulls, terns and shorebirds. We’ll then continue on to Felts Audubon Preserve, a small preserve owned and managed by Manatee Audubon, and known for its buntings. It has a bird blind and trails. As the logistics for this trip are a little involved, I’m requesting that you register for it by emailing me at [email protected]. I’ll send details of each meet-up to all registered participants a few days before the day.

Black Skimmers by Christine Rowland

Fifteen intrepid Pasco Audubon birders set out for a Panhandle weekend on what was likely the coldest weekend of the year. But thanks to great planning by our former Secretary, Kimberly Snaric, and our guide, Juli DeGrummond, as well as some shrewd packing, we all had a great time.

Our birders made various decisions on how much time to spend on the weekend, some arriving early enough to bird a full day on the Friday, while most began at 3pm. Highlights on Friday included Canvasback, White-faced Ibis (both at Rhoden Cove Landing), Western Tanager (private residence by arrangement) and finally a brief visit to Faulk Drive Landing – a premier hotspot in Leon County. 

Western Tanager by Patricia Goldberg

On Saturday the cold was beginning to set in, with sub-zero temperatures, but we had a full day planned at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. We made several stops through the refuge, with some great sightings along the way – Gadwall, American Wigeon and Horned Grebe among them, as the wind picked up up and temperatures continued to drop. At one point we took a lengthy hike out along a berm to find a Groove-billed Ani and a pair of female Vermilion Flycatchers, with a couple of bonus birds, American Bittern and Sora, thrown in for good measure.

River Otter by Patricia Goldberg

Bonaparte’s Gull by Patricia Goldberg

After a good lunch and a chance to warm up in a local café, we returned to St. Marks, this time heading for the lighthouse. We took a group photo as we were buffeted by the wind, and caught sight of a Clapper Rail, and gulls including a Bonaparte’s, and tried to ID the shorebirds that were huddled in the Lighthouse pool. We put an official end to the day here, with the frigid temps beginning to get the better of us, although a few of us made additional unscheduled stops as we made our way back through this wonderful refuge. Most of us met up later for a hearty Mexican meal.

On Sunday morning the temperature, if my memory serves me correctly, was down to a bone-chilling and windy 20F. While a couple of people had set off home, most of us were up for the Sunday morning itinerary where we were to start at Bald Point State Park. Unfortunately it seemed that the weather got the better of the birds here, and there was little to see. So on we went to Apalachicola, a bit further along the coast, where our guide Juli had arranged for us to visit the feeders at a home hosting a rare Buff-bellied Hummingbird – the only one currently in the State of Florida. By this time it just didn’t feel nearly as cold and we were happy to all be able to see not just this large and loud hummingbird, but also a Black-chinned Hummingbird and a Baltimore Oriole.

For most, this represented a fitting ending to the trip, but four of us continued with Juli to one more stop in hopes of finding a recently documented Couch’s Kingbird. While we didn’t find it, we had distant sightings of a couple of Western Kingbirds and a couple of Song Sparrows, and with that our trip concluded. Next year we should probably try a more southerly (and hopefully warmer) destination.

Photo op at the St. Mark’s Lighthouse

Buff-bellied Hummingbird by Noriko Buckles

Buff-bellied Hummingbird by Patricia Goldberg

American Pipit by Patricia Goldberg

Seven of us met at the start of the Good Neighbor trail in Brooksville and traveled the over 14 mile round trip to the Croom Wildlife Management Area and back. This was an amazing ride through different habitats, including woods, open fields, wood edges and farmland. The weather was perfect for a bike ride and we observed 35 different species of birds, with my favorites including a Red-tailed Hawk, a Cooper’s Hawk, many Eastern Bluebirds, and Cedar Waxwings,

Red-tailed Hawk by Phil Duncan

American Kestrel by Carlos Zubilaga

White-crowned Sparrow by Anthony Marella 

Swallow-tailed Kite by Anthony Marella

Ten of us participated in this field trip, with 8 of us heading up to Gainesville early and getting a jump-start on our birding with a late afternoon walk out on the Bolen-Bluff Trail to an observation tower over the prairie. Sightings included the bison and wild horses for which the prairie is famous, and also a number of distant Northern Harriers.

Our main event on Saturday was a visit to Sweetwater Wetlands. We began with a quick sighting of a Cooper’s Hawk and a group of White-crowned Sparrows. We went on to see a wide range of birds including a Sora, Purple Gallinule, Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats. We also had good looks at a couple of Song Sparrows. As we walked the berms we saw many Purple Martins, but also an early Barn Swallow. Just as we were preparing to leave and move on, we caught sight of the first Swallow-tailed Kites of the season – a wonderful way to end our Sweetwater visit.

Our final stop was LaChua Trail. Here we were a little taken aback by how dry everything was. On our visit a couple of years ago it had plenty of water with Snail Kites that were close enough for good study and photographs. This year the drought has left little water. And the lack of water has left a huge number of alligators laying in the mud. It was quite a sight.

Across the locations we saw around 70 species (there was some variation between us). You can see our well-illustrated Sweetwater list here at https://ebird.org/checklist/S302719244 .

Anthony captured this Greater Yellowlegs fearlessly foraging in front of basking alligators.

Our Bluebird Project members have been very busy over the last month. We replaced the three bluebird nesting boxes and poles at Aripeka Sandhills Preserve, three bluebird nesting boxes and poles at Veterans Memorial Park, and the two Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes at the Seven Springs Golf Course.

Helping our Eastern Bluebirds is an amazing and rewarding experience and our volunteers make a real difference to the local bluebird populations. We are looking for volunteers to help with our bluebird nesting box monitoring and maintenance. Plea se contact Bob Burkard at [email protected] if you would like to volunteer or further explore the activities of this Pasco Audubon conservation project.

Purple Martins, our largest swallows, are native songbirds that spend their winters in South America and migrate back to North America every year to breed. East of the Rocky Mountains they nest exclusively in human provided housing. Due to this total dependence on human provided houses or gourds, as well as habitat loss and competition from non-native European Starlings and House Sparrows, their population has dramatically declined. Pasco Audubon has started a Purple Martin Conservation Project to help reverse this population decline.

As discussed in last month’s newsletter, Pasco Audubon members have built and installed a Purple Martin house at WH Jack Mitchell Park off Little Road. We are now waiting for migrating Purple Martins to take up residence.

Range map from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Our Purple Martin House by Bob Burkard

Purple Martins are categorized by age into ASY (After-Second-Year) adults and SY (Second-Year) subadults. They have different plumages: ASY males are completely glossy black-purple, while SY males having mottled, splotchy purple feathers on their chest and throat.

Purple Martins start to arrive in Florida as early as mid-January to early February, with arrivals lasting through May. The first Purple Martins to arrive in our area in mid-January are the older ASY “scouts” that are in a hurry to claim their nesting cavities. They usually go to the houses or gourds where they successfully nested in the previous year. So, unless their nesting failed or their house or gourd from last year is not available, it would be unlikely, but not unheard of, for one of these early arrivals to select our new Purple Martin house.

Our “target” Purple Martins are the SY Subadults. They usually start arriving in our area in mid-February. However, since Purple Martins mostly eat flying insects, including dragonflies, beetles, and moths, our cold weather has made it very tough on them and has slowed down their northward migration.

The Purple Martin Conservation Association maintains a Scout Arrival page on their website. It is updated by Purple Martin landlords who report arrivals : https://www.purplemartin.org/research/8/scout-arrivalstudy   As of February 24th, 816 ASY scouts and 1 SY Subadult scouts have been reported in Florida. This website is a great source of information for Purple Martins.

So, keep your fingers crossed that we get some SY Subadult scouts. We will keep you posted.

The annual WSS took place this year from February 6th to 13th. While five locations were surveyed during the period, two are much larger than the others. Thanks to Pamela Graber and Gillian Lankshear, who joined me in surveying Fred Howard Park on February 9th. You can see our list for the morning at https:// ebird.org/checklist/S299159747. While we were there we spotted three birds with bands, which we reported and received information on, and saw three different ‘focal species’ of the count – Black Skimmers, American Oystercatchers and a Red Knot. Thanks also to Joe Colontonio, who joined me in surveying SunWest Park, where we saw a banded Royal Tern and another focal species – Wilson’s Plover. Our list can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S298494626 . The remaining Pasco locations surveyed: Green Key Beach (https://ebird.org/checklist/S299341137) , Hudson Beach (https://ebird.org/checklist/S298937697) and Key Vista (https://ebird.org/checklist/S299730823) , had relatively few birds when surveyed during the period. I should note that while Hudson Beach proper had few of the birds we were hoping to see, a female Black Scoter was spotted off the point, and a pair of American Oystercatchers (focal species) were seen in the channel and added with the approval of survey organizers).

Interested in becoming a member of Pasco Audubon? Maybe you have attended an outing with us, or an educational meeting and you’d like to get more involved? If you love birds and want to join the organization that helps them, here is what you need to know.

By signing up through the Pasco Audubon chapter, you are actually joining National Audubon. What’s more, our chapter will receive a portion of your initial membership fee. National Audubon requires a donation/membership of at least $20 a year to be a member in good standing. Once you join initially, you will be added to National Audubon’s roster and they will send you a welcome package and membership card. Members also receive the Audubon magazine with gorgeous pictures and informative articles.

After you join, your yearly renewals can be done on the National Audubon website. You can send more than $20 if you like, but only $20 a year is required to receive membership benefits. Each year you will receive a new membership card and be entitled to Audubon magazine.   

Of course, just to be clear, our Pasco chapter will gladly accept any separate donation you would like to give. 😊 Happy Birding!

New Memberships
You can join the National Audubon Society via our local chapter through our webpage. You’ll find the form at https://pascoaudubon.com/join.html.

Renewals
Membership renewal takes place directly through National Audubon. This link will take you to the correct page https://act.audubon.org/a/renew.

Donations
Donations can be made through our website via Paypal at https://pascoaudubon.com/ Donations.html

Questions
Questions about membership can be directed to Fran Sigurdson, Membership Chair at [email protected].  

Questions about donations or membership funds can be addressed to Joanne Chamberlain, Treasurer, at [email protected].

April 11th - 8am - Monthly walk in Starkey Park
11am - SEASON FINALE Birding Brazil: From the Pampas to the Atlantic Forest with Klenisson Brenner AND The 2026 Nature and Wildlife of Tampa Bay Photography Competition Annual Awards

April 12th - Field Trip: Birding Migration at Fort De Soto

April 15th - Birding-by-Bike at Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park

April 16-27- International Trip: Birding Southern Costa Rica

Christine Rowland, President - [email protected]

Don Fraser, Vice President and Conservation Chair - [email protected]

Joanne Chamberlain, Treasurer - [email protected]

Phil Duncan, Secretary - [email protected]

Mike Kell, Web Master [email protected]

Patricia Goldberg, Special Projects [email protected]

JoAnn Sinatra, At-Large

Ken Landry, At-Large

Bob Burkard - Birding-by-Bike, Bluebird Project & Purple Martin Project [email protected]

Other Important Contacts:
Fran Sigurdson, Membership Chair [email protected]

Hal Sigurdson, Photography Competition Coordinator [email protected]

Noriko Buckles, Pasco Audubon Photography Club Coordinator [email protected]

Our web address is:
www.pascoaudubon.com

Our Facebook Page is:
Pasco Audubon

Share interesting sightings via Facebook on
Pasco Audubon Bird Board