Photo by A. Marella
Volunteer with Pasco Audubon
If you have extra time to fill or would like to become more involved with our conservation efforts, volunteering is a wonderful opportunity. Listed below are our current volunteer needs.
Social Media (Position has been filled!)
If you are good with social media and would like to help us keep our public profile current, please reach out. We’re hoping for someone to take on our Facebook page and open an Instagram account. We’d love to do a better job of communicating our work with the public, but really need help in this area.
Fundraising
A number of our conservation initiatives require funds to maintain, and any time we would like to embark on a new project, it requires funding. We would love to have help in attracting funding and organizing fundraising activities.
Photo by Mike Kell
Photo by Roy Lockwood
Newsletter
Do you enjoy writing and communications? Maybe you have a background in reporting or education? Then maybe writing for and helping produce our monthly newsletter would be a good fit for you.
Education Chair
We currently have no Education Chair, which means that the Board as a whole has taken on this responsibility. The responsibilities of the Education Chair include planning our annual education programming and responding to requests for talks by outside groups. If you think that this might be a good fit for you, or to learn more, contact us at [email protected].
Field Trip Chair
We would like to have a member take on the annual planning of field trips, maintaining the schedule and ensuring a designated leader for each trip. A candidate for this position will be a member who has preferably attended field trips to most of the typical birding hotspots in the past and is aware of the issues a newer member might face in joining a trip. The Field Trip Chair would communicate with the webmaster to ensure that any adjustments to the schedule are reflected on the website and with the newsletter editor to ensure that they are also posted there. This position could be a Board member but does not necessarily need to be one.
Conservation Projects
Eastern Bluebird Box Monitoring
This involves monitoring a box or group of boxes through the nesting season (March through September), checking on the status of the nest every 10-14 days, and reporting the findings. Contact Bob Burkard [email protected] for more information.
Purple Martin House Monitoring
Purple Martin season begins in late January and runs until all young have fledged – typically July. Houses need to be monitored weekly. Please contact Bob Burkard [email protected] for further information or to volunteer.
Colony Watch
This involves completing monthly surveys during the breeding season on behalf of Audubon Florida to monitor Wood Stork colonies in Pasco County and reporting the results to designated authorities. Formal training from Audubon’s Coastal Island Sanctuaries team is offered each spring prior to the nesting season. For more information, contact [email protected].
Photo by Christine Rowland
Photo by M. Schenk
EagleWatch
Nesting season begins on October 1st and runs until eaglets fledge – typically by June at the latest. Training is given by Audubon’s EagleWatch program (usually in September) and you can sign up to monitor one or more nests in the area. The program currently monitors about 34 active nests in Pasco County and your assistance would be much appreciated. Time involved is typically 20-30 minutes once every 10 days to 2 weeks. Volunteers also need a computer with internet access to enter data for the program. If you would like more information or to volunteer, please reach out to our EagleWatch coordinator, Kimberly Rexroat at [email protected].
Christmas Bird Count
The West Pasco Christmas Bird Count occurs on a specific day between December 14th and January 6th each year. The day is selected months in advance in order to facilitate planning and property access permissions, where necessary. The West Pasco Christmas Bird Count has long been conducted by this chapter. For more information or to volunteer, contact [email protected].
Winter Shorebird Survey
The WSS takes place in the second week of February each year. As it is contained to a one-week period and generally involves the first Saturday of the month, it is necessarily conducted mostly on weekdays and mostly in the early morning. Tide times can influence when the survey is carried out. A good working ability to identify shorebirds is necessary for this position.
Join the Board
Serving on our Board of Directors is another way to help us move forward as a chapter. Ideally, our Board members take on a specific portfolio that becomes a focus of their work with the Board. Board members meet virtually once a month. Annual nominations for the Board are taken during October and are voted on in our December meeting. Board members generally serve for three-year terms. For more information on joining the Pasco Audubon board or to volunteer for any of the projects listed on this page, please contact [email protected]