St. Petersburg Audubon Society

08/20/2026

We are starting to see some cool migrants in our area - and Cornell Lab of Ornithology's BirdCast migration maps are live!

During periods of seasonal bird migration, "live" migration maps show where nocturnal bird migration is occurring in near real-time, as detected by the U.S. weather surveillance radar network between local sunset to sunrise. The maps show how many birds are present and in what direction they are mov

08/12/2026

UPDATE: The Pinellas County Commission met yesterday and heard feedback about the proposal to defund Shell Key and Weedon Island. They acknowledged they had received many emails agaist the defunding (thank you!) and several commissioners spoke in defense of the preserves. However, the cuts (along with 7 staff) are still in the proposal. According to a Tampa Bay Times article "Pinellas commissioners are set to debate the budget in coming weeks, including at an Aug. 20 work session. The next fiscal year starts on Oct. 1, so commissioners must pass the budget in September." If you have not written a letter yet - now is your moment!

📧Please email the Pinellas County Commissioners if you do not support this measure📧
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Some have suggested also emailing: [email protected] (the County Administrator)

Read the latest Tampa Bay Times article: https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/08/11/pinellas-weedon-island-shell-key-parks-funding-budget/

08/10/2026

📢Pinellas County Residents - click here: https://audubon.emailmachine.co/web-view/1504
Audubon Florida has created an alert that you will fill out to tell County Commissioners about defunding Shell Key and Weedon Island.

Below is a photo of a chick hatched on Shell Key! In addition to protecting wildlife, these are also important areas for recreation (a good thing to point out as a resident). Photo by Indangie Sein.

08/08/2026

Save the Date! Come to St. Pete Audubon's Fall Meeting: Tuesday, 9/15 6:30-8:00pm, Hammock Hall at Boyd Hill. Register so we know how much food to bring! https://www.mobilize.us/audubon-chapters/event/1006113/

08/07/2026

⚠️Weedon Island, Shell Key preserves could lose Pinellas County funding⚠️
St. Pete Audubon just heard about this! While we are saddened that the county is short funds, we don't think this is a good place to make cuts. Both areas are vital habitat for our birds. Shell Key supports both nesting and migratory shorebirds and seabirds. We've had nesting by American Oystercatchers, Black Skimmers, Least Terns and Wilson's Plovers in recent years.

Here is an article from St. Pete Catalyst: https://stpetecatalyst.com/county-proposing-major-cuts-to-its-parks-and-rec-budget/

Here is an article from the Tampa Bay Times (need subscription):
https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2026/08/07/pinellas-weedon-island-shell-key-fort-de-soto-park-funding/

📧Please email the Pinellas County Commissioners if you do not support this measure📧
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

The county parks department is also proposing to end the seasonal lifeguard program at Fort De Soto and Sand Key parks.

07/29/2026

The black skimmers are having a good summer, but it was a very rough start. Thank you so much to FWC law-enforcement and investigators for cracking the moth ball case. And for the wonderful volunteers who helped clean it up, twice!

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers responded in April to reports of mothballs scattered on St. Pete Beach behind the hotel.

07/16/2026

EVENT: Join Tampa Bay Audubon on a Sunset Boat Trip to Coffeepot Bayou Bird Island.

LOCATION: The trip will depart from the St. Pete Pier via the Tampa Bay Watch’s vessel Discovery.

PRICE: The cost is $30/person. Proceeds will benefit Tampa and St. Pete Audubon (based on the number of passengers from each area).

Boat space is limited, so reserve now! Contact Ann Paul [email protected]

This is a popular sunset boat cruise, so register now before it sells out. We'll see herons, egrets and more! This Sunday, July 19, 6:45 pm. Contact [email protected] to sign up.

07/13/2026

We still have a few spots left for our very resonably priced birding trip with Holbrook travel to Costa Rica! $2,775 + airfare to SJO. March 16-22. Spend time in the cool mountains of Arenal and the dense forests and wetlands of Carara National Park.
https://www.holbrooktravel.com/where-we-travel/central-and-south-america/costa-rica/birding-cloud-forest-rainforest-mangroves-arenal-st-petersburg-audubon

07/10/2026

We had another successful Teacher's Ecology Camp - organized by Board Member Laura Packard and taught by Jeanne Murphy and Brian Lane of Sensing Nature®, LLC. The camp was at Moccasin Lake with several field trips and the focus was identifying and creating habitat to attract wildlife to your landscape. Activities included building Screech Owl boxes, propagating native plants and identifying native plants for birds and pollinators. Thank you to our participants from public and private schools in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Citrus County!

07/03/2026

Thanks to all of you who are helping steward this weekend. Our birds need you!