Pasco Audubon

Black Rails in Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park
Presented by Tracy Muzycska
of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Tracy Muzycska will brief us on the project to locate and support Black Rails in Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park. This exciting project has completed its first survey year, and is a collaboration between Werner-Boyce staff, FWC, and Pasco Audubon. A team of our Audubon members has been working closely on this, and we’re looking forward to sharing the details thus far and exciting plans for the future with you at this meeting.
This presentation will take place in J. B. Starkey Education Center
Contact: president@pascoaudubon.com

Oct 11th, 2025

Field Trip
Lake Dan Preserve (Hillsborough County)
Details TBD.
For info Contact Christine Rowland president@pascoaudubon.com

Oct 25th, 2025

Field Trip
Cross Bar Ranch Trip is Full ! All new requests will go on wait list.
(Private - Pasco County) This is always a hot ticket for our members with the opportunity to see Burrowing Owls and, if lucky, Florida Scrub Jays (the only known Florida Scrub Jay family in Pasco County). Both the Burrowing Owls and the Florida Scrub Jays have had a successful breeding season. We usually see a large number of species in this location. This trip is limited to 10 vehicles and is the only trip we have with reservations required. I will maintain a list and, if applicable, a wait list for this event.
For info Contact Christine Rowland president@pascoaudubon.com

Field Trip
Honeymoon Island (Pinellas)
This will be our first field trip here since it reopened after suffering major damage from the hurricanes last summer. Always a wonderful spot for shorebirds and the Osprey Trail for late migrants including Great Horned Owls if it is not overly buggy. Details TBD.

Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

Field Trip
Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive (Orange County).
Always a great opportunity to get a close-up look at many species we usually only see at a distance. This 12-mile drive through the area will give us lots of opportunities to see a very wide range of birds. Hopefully it will already be hosting thousands of ducks and shorebirds. It is also a reliable place to see Fulvous Whistling-ducks - a species we don’t see in this part of the state. Details TBD

Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

Heartwood Preserve
I have booked Vince Morris of the Florida Forestry Service to give a talk
on the Red Cockaded Woodpecker program at Withlacoochee State Forest
at the Heartwood Welcome Center on Sat. November 23.
More details to follow L. Starkey

Birding by Bike
Starkey park meet by ed center
Robertburkard9@gmail.com

Jan 17, 2026 Saturday

Circle B Bar Preserve - Polk County
(Always a member favorite)
Barred Owl, White Pelicans, Snail Kite, Painted Bunting and Bobcats have been seen at this restored preserve.
Natural wetland and berm trails around retention ponds.
Visitor Center has facilities but no food. Bring lunch if you want to spend the afternoon here.

For info Contact Christine Rowland president@pascoaudubon.com

Jan 31-Feb 1st, 2026

Panhandle Weekend
We are hoping to visit St. Marks National Wildlife Reserve and Tall Timbers Research Station. Many more details to come on this trip.

Feb 6-12, 2026 Saturday

Winter Shorebird Survey
This is when we participate in FWC’s survey of shorebirds. We are responsible for 4 locations within Pasco County and Fred Howard Park. If you are interested in helping, Please contact Christine at president@pascoaudubon.com

Feb 21st 2026

Field Trip
Paynes Prairie (Alachua County)
We visited here for the first time a couple of years ago. This is an excellent spot for a wide range of birds. There are a number of excellent trail options in the area, and we’ll be studying eBird closely as the date approaches in hopes of finding the best birding experience possible. We will likely see Snail Kites and White-crowned Sparrows (both common here in the winter) with a long list of other birds. There are almost always a good selection of rarities in the area, and we’ll see what we can find. While this can be taken as a single day field trip with a 2-hour drive there and back, some may want to turn it into a weekend. More details can be found in the February newsletter. The meeting place for Saturday morning, 8:00 AM, is Sweetwater Wetlands Park, 325 SW Williston Rd., Gainesville.
Contact Christine at president@pascoaudubon.com; christirow@aol.com for more details.

Feb 28th 2026

Field Trip
The Celery Fields (Sarasota)
Always another favorite with great looks at wetland birds such as Gray-headed Swamphen, Black-necked Stilt, Sora, and often rarities. Last year we were treated to both Crested Caracara and Tropical Kingbird! Details can be found in the February 2026 Newsletter.

Tampa Bay Native Planting Program
The vital role wetland plants play in the resilience of Tampa Bay’s ecosystems - by Tara Kok, the Native Plant Program Manager of Tampa Bay Watch

J. B. Starkey Education Center
Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

Columbia Trip
Birding the Central Andes (Colombia)
Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

March 21, 2026

Field Trip
Croom Tract and Chinsegut (Hernando County
This is always a popular trip with Croom providing excellent opportunities to see the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers and Bachman’s Sparrows, while our second stop at Chinsegut has to be the very best spot in the region for Red-headed Woodpeckers, and has an outstanding feeder station where we were able to see Pine Siskin as well as a good selection of regular visitors. There are great photographic opportunities in this location. Details TBA.

March 28, 2026

Field Trip
Felts Audubon Preserve (Manatee) along with a second stop, TBD.

April 12th, 2026

Field Trip
Migration at Fort De Soto
This annual field trip is a week or two earlier than we would normally hold it as a result of our second international trip, but holding it earlier will increase the likelihood of seeing tanagers and grosbeaks along with the earlier migrating warblers, although we may well miss some of the later migrants we normally see here.
Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

Coasta Rica Trip
Birding Southern Costa Rica
Contact president@pascoaudubon.com

May, 2026

Field Trip
East Pasco - TBD.