Welcome to our Blog! Check here for updates and stories to keep you in the loop including reports from birding trips, chapter successes and events.
On Saturday, March 22, twenty-six birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Martin and Northern Palm Beach Counties. Locations visited include Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Pine Glades Natural Area and John C. and Mariana Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area.
On Saturday, March 8, twenty-seven birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a very pleasant morning of birding at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Wetlands in southern Palm Beach County. We tallied 41 bird species at Wakodahatchee and 42 species at Green Cay; our combined total for both locations were 51 species.
On Saturday, March 1st, twenty-three birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. The trip began at the Coe Visitor Center; other locations visited while in the park included Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo Trails, the Gate 13 restoration area, Long Pine Key picnic area, Pa-hay-Okee overlook, Mahogany Hammock, Paurotis Pond, West Lake and the Flamingo area.
On Saturday, February 22, ten birders joined Brian Rapoza and Luis Gonzalez for Tropical Audubon’s annual Miami Exotics tour. The tour began and ended at Tropical Park: we also made stops in South Miami, The Falls area, Palmetto Bay, Kendall, West Kendall, Sweetwater and Miami Beach. A total of 65 species were tallied during the tour, including 20 introduced species.
On Saturday, February 8, forty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a very pleasant morning of birding at Black Point Park and along the Black Creek Trail in southern Miami-Dade County. Fifty-one different bird species, plus one additional taxon was recorded during the morning.
On Saturday, February 1st, twenty-two birders joined Larry Manfredi for a hike along the L31-W Canal, which forms the eastern border of Everglades National Park near the park’s Homestead entrance. The morning began very foggy, but that didn’t stop Larry from finding eight different flycatcher species, including this Cassin’s Kingbird, during the hike.
On Saturday, January 25, thirty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a cool but sunny morning of birding at two iconic birding locations in southern Palm Beach County: Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach and Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in Wellington.
The Kendall Area Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 21, 2024. Luis Gonzalez, the new compiler for this count (replacing Bill Boeringer), has prepared the following count summary.
Eight birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza this weekend for Tropical Audubon’s annual winter birding tour to the Tallahassee area in north Florida.
The 75th annual Coot Bay (Everglades National Park) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 28. On count day, 26 volunteers counted 43,137 birds of 103 species, plus two additional taxa. The totals were 18,611 less birds and 16 less species than in 2023.
On Saturday, January 5, an astounding 61 birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for the first birding trip of 2025, a full-day exploration of Everglades National Park. Among the 76 species seen were eight species of ducks and thirteen species of warblers, along with Purple Gallinule, American Bittern, Roseate Spoonbill, Bald Eagle and many more.
The 55th annual Miami (Dade County) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 14. On count day, 38 participants counted 11,491 birds of 115 species in spite of intermittent rain and gusty winds throughout the day. Compared with 2023, there were 1,696 less birds counted and 13 less species.
On Saturday, December 7, twenty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a productive day of birding along the Tamiami Trail (US 41) in Collier County. The trip began at the Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve.
On Saturday, November 16, fifteen birders joined TAS field trip leader Luis Gonzalez for his annual birding trip to the Flamingo area in Everglades National Park. During three hours of birding around Flamingo, the group visited the Guy Bradley visitor center, marina, amphitheater area, campground and Eco Pond, tallying an amazing 71 bird species!
On Saturday, November 9, Andrea Diamond led her first TAS birding trip, at Kendale Lakes Park in West Kendall. Following is Andrea’s trip report.
On Saturday, November 2, fifteen birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. Though we had to deal with intermittent rain showers, we still managed to tally 64 species before calling it a day.
On Sunday, October 13, twenty birders joined TAS field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza at Tropical Park to search for fall migrants. As has been the case since Hurricane Milton passed, fall migrants were everywhere we looked.
On Saturday, October 12, thirty-four birders joined TAS President Joe Barros for a post-Milton morning of birding at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables. Fortunately, overnight rains came to an end shortly before participants began to arrive. The group spent most of the morning in the section of the park on the west side of Old Cutler Road
On Saturday, October 6, twenty-one birders joined TAS field trip leader Michelle Louden for a fantastic morning of birding at Plantation Preserve in Broward County. Though rain was in the forecast, it didn’t actually start raining until we had almost returned to the preserve’s parking area.
On Saturday, October 5, nineteen birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for our annual fall trip to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Collier County. The traditional starting point for this trip is the Miccosukee Service Plaza at Exit 49 on I-75 in Broward County. From there, we headed north on Snake Road (CR 833) through the Seminole Reservation, then west on CR 846 to Corkscrew.
On Saturday, September 28, seventeen birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon’s annual fall trip to the Islamorada area in the Florida Keys. Birding stops included Long Key State Park, Grassy Key and Curry Hammock State Park.
On Sunday, September 22, twenty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a morning of fall migration birding at Greynolds Park in North Miami Beach. Bird activity in the park wasn’t especially high, but we still managed to find 31 species after about two-and-a-half hours of birding.
Thirty-two birders joined Luis Gonzalez on Sunday, September 15 for a morning of birding at A. D. Barnes Park. Here is Luis's recap of the trip:
Crandon Park, located on the barrier island of Key Biscayne, is one of the top biodiverse birding hotspots in Miami-Dade County. It’s situated in a critically important location, smack dab on the Atlantic Flyway, and is a prime spot for birds to stopover during fall migration. This strategic location, combined with a plethora of different habitats, have put it in the top ranks of Miami eBird hotspots with 271 bird species recorded to date. From tropical hardwood hammock, sandy beaches, coastal dunes, brackish water ponds, and other productive habitats, this is the place to be if you want to see a variety of birds within a compact area. Trip leaders Marc & Eliana Kramer chose this spot for the location of a Tropical Audubon Society field trip on Saturday, September 14, 2024.
Twenty-five birders joined Brian Rapoza and Luis Gonzalez for Tropical Audubon’s annual trip to the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. The trip began at A1-FEB (Flow Equalization Basin) on US 27.
On Saturday, April 20, twenty birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a morning of birding at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne. We began the morning at Crandon Gardens, followed by walks on the beach at the south, then the north end of the park.
On Sunday, March 24, twenty-two birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for our annual spring field trip to birding locations in Martin and northern Palm Beach County. This trip was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 23, but with heavy rain predicted for that day, the trip was moved to Sunday. Though Saturday turned out to be not as rainy as expected, Sunday’s weather was much improved, so everyone who attended was happy with the one-day delay.
On Saturday, March 2, twenty-five birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. The caravan trip began at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center and ended in Flamingo. Our itinerary included stops at Royal Palm Visitor Center (Anhinga Trail and Gumbo Limbo Trail), the Bill Robertson Center on Research Road, Long Pine Key Campground and Picnic Area, Mahogany Hammock, West Lake and the Guy Bradley Visitor Center and Amphitheater area in Flamingo.
On Saturday, February 24, ten birders joined Luis Gonzalez and Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon’s Miami Exotics tour. Locations visited in search of exotics (non-native/introduced species) included Tropical Park, Brewer Park, Pine Woods Park, Coral Reef Park, Dolphin Mall, Pine Tree Park and Morningside Park. Of the sixty-five species tallied during the day, twenty were exotics.
Banner Photo: Burrowing Owl by Federico Acevedo
On Saturday, March 29, TAS President Joe Barros and TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza led Tropical Audubon’s annual spring birding trip to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables. The assembled group, which included both Tropical Audubon and Fairchild Garden members, was split into two smaller groups, one led by Joe and the other by Brian. Both groups made a complete circuit of the garden, but in opposite directions, then reassembled at the end of the morning to compare sightings. As is often the case when we split into two groups, each group saw a few birds that the other group didn’t.