Join the A.D. Barnes bird walk for a chance to see this spring migrant
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South Broward Birding
Saturday, April 7, 8am-4pm
John Hutchison will lead this full-day carpool trip to birding locations in southern Broward County. Meet at 8am at Markham Park’s Meadow Nature Trail. From I-75, exit at Royal Palm Parkway (Exit 15). Drive west 0.5 miles to Weston Road. Turn right and drive west 2.8 miles to the park entrance. From I-595, exit at 136 Street (Exit 1A) and drive west 2.0 miles on SR 84 (I-595 service road) to the park entrance. Turn left after the entrance station (fee) to reach the nature trail parking area, opposite the dog park. Bring lunch. No pre-registration required.
Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park & Arch Creek Park Bird Walk
Saturday, April 14, 7:30-11am
Jim King will lead birders through Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park and adjacent Arch Creek Park. Meet at 7:30am in the Enchanted Forest parking area (1725 NE 135th Street in North Miami). No fee. No pre-registration required.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Bird Walk
Sunday, April 15, 7:30-11am
Joe Barros (bilingual) will lead birders through Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Meet at 7:30am in the Matheson Hammock parking area adjacent to Fairchild’s north entrance. Entrance fee to Fairchild will be waived for TAS and Fairchild members. No pre-registration required.
Ft. DeSoto Birding
(Tour full)
Saturday, April 21-Monday, April 23
Brian Rapoza leads this three-day, two-night van trip to Ft. DeSoto and other spring migration hotspots in the Tampa Bay area. Stops en-route will include Babcock-Webb Wildlife Management Area, Oscar Scherer State Park and Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Facility. Costs: $450 per person double occupancy; $150 single supplement (includes hotel and van/gas).
E-mail Brian to be wait-listed
, or for information about future birding adventures on his calendar.
A. D. Barnes Park Bird Walk
Saturday, April 21, 7:30-11am
(Stop by TAS for an iNaturalist Bootcamp @ TAS, scroll down for more)
Bill Boeringer will lead birders through A.D. Barnes Park. Enter on SW 72nd
Avenue
just north of Bird
Road
(SW 40th
Street
), turn left at the T intersection and park in spaces on either side of the road. Meet at 7:30am. No fee. No pre-registration required.
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park Bird Walk
(Happy Earth Day!)
Sunday, April 22, 7:15-11am
Robin Diaz will lead birders through Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne. Participants will meet promptly by 7:15am at the exit gate of the park and carpooling is encouraged. The gate will close at 7:20am. We will assemble at No Name Harbor (from the entrance station, take your first right and drive west to the parking area), where park fees will be collected. The walk will begin at 7:30am. No pre-registration required.
Matheson Hammock Park Bird Walk
Saturday, April 28, 7:30-11am
John Boyd will lead birders through Matheson Hammock County Park on Old Cutler Road.
Meet
at 7:30am in the parking area at the south end of the park, adjacent to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. No fee. No pre-registration required.
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Now Perching @ TAS
One can hear them in the wee small hours... not that we're here then ;-)
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What’s that whistling in the trees at TAS's Steinberg Nature Center? Why, it’s a Chuck-will’s-widow. A Chuck-will’s-whaaat? The brownish nocturnal bird, a large flat-headed member of the Nightjar family, has been roosting in our tropical hardwood hammock. Its excellent camouflage makes it difficult to spy by day because it tends to lurk low to the ground in leaf litter. By night, Chuck-will’s-widows make themselves known with rich, throaty chants. We feel lucky to have this climate-threatened bird in residence. Some haven’t fared so well.
Last month, our friends at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station received at least 10 Chuck-will’s-widows in one day with head trauma suffered from window strikes.
You can help:
Purchase translucent window decals shaped like hummingbirds, leaves or butterflies:
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Colombia: Birding the Central Andes
(spaces available)
Save the Date
February 8-16, 2019
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TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza (together with a local guide) will lead this 9-day tour to Colombia, a birder’s paradise with 1,900
+
avian species – more than any other country in the world. The tour is being arranged through Holbrook Travel, and will focus on the Central Andes region, famed for its high level of species diversity, and will include the Rio Claro Natural Reserve, Nevado del Ruiz, Rio Blanco Reserve and Otún Quimbaya Flora and Fauna Sanctuary. High-elevation mountains, humid tropical forest, páramo, wetlands and highland savanna habitats will be explored in search of an array of tropical avifauna, including flycatchers, hummingbirds, tanagers, toucans and more. Participants will meet members of the local community along the way, and learn about conservation efforts tied to birding as a sustainable development resource.
Fee: $3,295 per person double occupancy; $450 single supplement. Fee includes all ground transportation, lodging, meals, entrance fees, excursions and the services of your skilled leaders. Not included are international airfare from your city of departure to Medellin, return international airfare from Bogota, tips, laundry costs and other incidental expenses.
Reservations are required; application and fee are due by November 4, 2018.
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Say
NO
to expanding 836 beyond the UDB
Contact your Commissioner, Attend a Meeting
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The Urban Development Boundary (UDB) is perennially under attack, most recently by the County Mayor himself, who has persistently promoted the expansion of State Road 836 (aka Dolphin Expressway) beyond the UDB (click
here
for more info). The UDB is a regional “line in the sand” used to prevent urban sprawl and preserve natural and agricultural lands lying west of the boundary.
Building roads beyond the UDB is a bad idea. Here's why:
- It promotes sprawl
- It does not alleviate interior traffic problems
- It puts our sensitive wetlands, our water supply and agricultural lands at risk to development
Here’s how you can help:
CONTACT
your County Commissioner to let them know that you think this is a bad idea and why! If you live within Commissioner Rebeca Sosa’s or Xavier L. Suarez's districts (Districts 6 & 7), please thank them for their strong support of the UDB
.
Find your County Commissioner
here
.
ATTEND
the Board of County Commissioners Meeting on
April 25, 9:30am,
Stephen P. Clark Commission Chambers,
111 NW 1 St., Miami, FL 33128
.
This will be the most important public hearing!
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Opportunity to Fix Cooling Canals could be a WIN-WIN-WIN
Tell MDC you support the Water Reuse Plan IF they get it right!
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Miami-Dade County is negotiating a draft Joint Participation Agreement (JPA) with the Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) over the treatment and use of wastewater at FPL’s Turkey Point facility. This would solve a pressing problem for the county, which, by law, has until 2025 to treat and reuse 117 million gallons of wastewater per day (MGD), and it would provide an alternative water supply for FPL’s Turkey Point facility, Miami-Dade County’s biggest water user.
Additionally, because the Turkey Point facility would be adjacent to the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Restoration Project site, it could help deliver much-needed freshwater to Biscayne Bay and help advance a longstanding Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project.
This could be a WIN-WIN-WIN for the County, FPL and our environment if the following conditions are included in the agreement:
Meet Water Quality Standards
. Wastewater must be treated to meet Outstanding Florida Water Body standards, so it can be used for restoration projects such as the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project.
Retire Cooling Canal System
. FPL must bring its cooling technology up to modern standards, such as a cooling tower, and eliminate the cooling canal system.
Why is FPL interested in this NOW?
Because it is asking for a 20-year license extension for Turkey Point reactors 3 & 4! IF APPROVED, this will make them the longest operating nuclear reactors in the entire country. NOW is the time to upgrade their cooling technology.
CONTACT
your commissioner!
Find your County Commissioner
here
.
ATTEND
the Board of County Commissioners Meeting
April 10, 9am
,
Stephen P. Clark Commission Chambers,
111 NW 1 St., Miami, FL 33128
. Show your support of
Getting the Water Right!
Read the
Miami Herald
article on the Reuse Plan
here
.
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Make Everglades Restoration a Federal Funding Priority
Register today for the Everglades Summit in DC April 24-25
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Join fellow Everglades activists next month as the #NowOrNeverglades movement migrates to Washington D.C. April 24-25. Let's rally together and fight for the EAA reservoir, lobby for WRDA and raise our concerns about the cost of inaction. The Everglades is on life support -- it’s our job to save it.
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Year of the Bird
April Action: Protect the Migratory Bird Species Act!
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The landmark Migratory Bird Treaty Act, ratified a century ago, helped inspire declaring 2018 the Year of the Bird. Because the Act is now facing some legal reinterpretations that might weaken it highlighting the good it has done over the decades is both timely and imperative.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is among the oldest wildlife protection laws on the books, and over the last 100 years it has saved countless numbers of birds in peril. While the Act is credited with saving many species from extinction, including the Snowy Egret, Wood Duck and Sandhill Crane, many birds protected by it are now facing serious threats and many are in rapid decline. The world has changed since MBTA was enacted in 1918, yet it still brings together industry, government and conservationists to collaborate for a common cause.
Find out how the MBTA works, its success stories, what it protects, what kind of activities fall under the law and how you can help. Raise your voice to make sure we protect birds now and for the next hundred years.
Read more about the MBTA
here
.
What is Year of the Bird? Audubon, National Geographic, Cornell, BirdLife International and, most importantly, bird lovers everywhere are teaming up for a year of action for birds! Twenty-eighteen marks the Migratory Bird Treaty Act Centennial. To honor our country's most important bird-protection law it's important to remain vigilant about protecting birds in our own backyard. Year of the Bird is about celebrating the wonder of our feathered friends, examining how our changing environment is driving dramatic losses among bird species and learning what we can all do to reverse this trend.
Sign the pledge
to build a better world for birds. Audubon will send you one simple action you can take to make a difference for birds and the planet.
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#EvergladesDay
Saturday, April 7
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Every April 7 we celebrate Everglades champion Marjory Stoneman Douglas and honor the unique environmental and economic benefits of the nation’s largest wetland.
Join TAS on Social Media for more details. Scroll up to take action in honor of the "River of Grass" author's legacy as a champion for the environment. Scroll down to spend this day becoming an Audubon Ambassador in honor of her pioneering spirit.
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Help this adorable Piping Plover: Become an Audubon Ambassador
April 7 & 14, 10am-Noon
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Ready to be inspired by South Florida's leading Environmentalists? The Audubon Ambassador Program is designed to make you a more engaged, educated and effective communicator.
Learn from leaders in their fields and become a strong advocate for the water we drink, the air we breathe and the habitat that nurtures, shelters and sustains our region’s birds and other wildlife. You’ll come away knowing more about South Florida’s ecosystems, environmental challenges, sea level rise and hurricane resilience issues.
Earn your wings! The Audubon Ambassador Program is FREE to anyone 18 and over who is curious to learn more about the environment.
April 7 Climate Change & Sea Level Rise
Introduction to the Bipartisan Climate Lobby
Presenters
:
Yoca Arditi-Rocha, The CLEO Institute
Greg Hamra, Citizens Climate Lobby
April 14 Introduction to Biscayne Bay Ecology & Bay Issues
Topics include Seagrass die-off & Algal Blooms, Turkey Point Cooling Canals, Sewage
Presenters
:
Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides, FLorida International University;
Rachel Silverstein, Miami Waterkeeper Executive Director
The Audubon Ambassador Program was hatched by Tropical Audubon Society and underwritten by Audubon Florida, Everglades Foundation and National Audubon Society.
Ride:
Bike to TAS or take the Metro-rail. TAS is a 10-minute walk east from the South Miami Metro Station!
Park:
Limited on-site parking via our 55th Avenue auto gate. Nearby metered, valet and garage options.
Limited Free Parking available via 55th Avenue Gate. Additional Street and Garage parking is also an option.
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Doc Thomas House Docent-guided Tours @ TAS
Y'all Come!
Saturday, April 7, 1 & 3pm
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Photo: Arden Hayes "Doc" Thomas and his mother, Margaret, perched on the house's then-unscreened front porch.
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Visit the historic Doc Thomas House for a captivating, 45-minute guided tour led by a TAS docent. Learn about the Birds' benefactor Arden Hayes Thomas, the renowned architect he commissioned and the home's distinctive architectural features. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, named a Florida Heritage Site and designated a Dade County landmark, the charming 1932 cottage has much to say for itself! Gain insights into local and national Audubon history, too. Tours include a stroll through our Steinberg Nature Center grounds weather-permitting.
Admission FREE: Donations Welcomed
CLICK HERE
to invite Friends on Facebook & spread the word
REMEMBER: follow us on
Twitter
, to tag us on Historic Facts and on
Instagram
, to share your photos in a post or story!
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Every year the Audubon Photography Awards showcase the best in Bird Photography (check out last year’s winning photos
here
. Winning photos are published in Audubon magazine and Nature’s Best Photography magazine, and displayed within the 2017 Nature’s Best Photography Exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in D.C.
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Florida Trail Association Meeting @ TAS
Tuesday, April 10, 7-9pm
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FTA's March meeting will feature a talk
by Zachariah (Zac) Cosner, an environmental consulting associate at Conservation Concepts LLC.
He will discuss the current state of the SR 836 expansion proposal, the proposed deal
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez
is trying to strike with FPL, some legislative updates on action items for the 2018 session, and a few updates on other environmentally sensitive local issues.
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Eco Restoration Day @ TAS's Porter Russell Pine Rockland
Saturday, April 14, 8:30-11:30am
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Help TAS steward our Porter Russell Pine Rockland, an 8-acre property in South Miami-Dade County, and one of the few remaining tracts of globally imperiled Pine Rockland habitat remaining outside of Everglades National Park.
We will provide water. Please bring sunscreen and your refillable water bottle; wear closed-toe shoes.
Eco-restoration days take place on the second Saturday of every month. Groups welcome!
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3rd Bi-Annual National Water Dance
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center
Saturday, April 14, 4pm
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The Miami performance of National Water Dance, produced by Dale Andree's NWD Projects, will feature 70 dancers and musicians at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne. Participating Miami-Dade schools include Conchita Espinosa Academy, South Miami Community Middle School, MDC/Kendall Campus Jubilation Dance Ensemble, along with these professional Miami dance companies: Dance Now Miami, Augusto Soledade BrazzDance, IFE-ILE Afro-Cuban Dance Company and dancers with NWD Projects.
The performance is part of National Water Dance, wherein 1,500 dancers from across the country perform a site-specific dance at a river, a bay, a lake, the ocean, or any water site nearby. Miami dancers and those from Seattle to Mississippi, Maine to Puerto Rico, Canada to Mexico, will perform in solidarity on April 14 to celebrate and take responsibility for protecting our Water.
TICKETS: Free & Open to the Community
Beach wheelchairs available.
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Rise Up Florida Environmental Committee Meeting @ TAS
Thursday, April 19, 6:30pm
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Rise Up Florida! is a grassroots group of engaged citizens whose goals are to mobilize people, activate them to protect our community from unfair and unjust policies, and work toward electing representatives who reflect the core values of equal rights and opportunity for all.
Pot-luck — bring something delicious! Please be mindful and refrain from using disposable items to make, carry or serve your dish. No plastic bags, single-use plastic or styrofoam, please.
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Eco-Restoration Day @ TAS's Steinberg Nature Center
Saturday, April 21, 8:30-11:30am
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Photo Credit Tom E. Smith
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Learn about indigenous plants and help us maintain our near-native landscape at the Steinberg Nature Center on the TAS campus. We need you! Restoration Days are held on the 3rd Saturday of every month. We're flexible -- show up between 8:30 and 11:30am — you will meet conservationists, birders, plant lovers and gardeners just like you lending a hand.
We will provide water. Please bring sunscreen and your refillable water bottle; wear closed-toe shoes.
Eco-restoration days take place on the third Saturday of every month. Groups welcome!
Click Here to Send Us an Email!
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iNaturalist Bootcamp @TAS
Saturday, April 21, 10am-1:00pm
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Visit Tropical Audubon Society's Steinberg Nature Center to
rev up for a 2018 City Nature Challenge Miami win
!
It’s easy to download and use the iNaturalist app on your phone,
but
if you’d like guidance with the app
and
the perfect place to practice, come join iNaturalist bootcamp! You can learn (and practice) how to collect data on all of the animals* and plants that call our campus home.
About iNaturalist City Challenge:
*
If are on e-Bird and are interested in reporting biodiverse data, give iNaturalist a try, especially on City Nature Challenge weekend, April 27-30. Let’s win this, Miami!
Parking options:
Limited on-site parking via the 55th Avenue entry gate; nearby metered, garage and valet parking options within 1-3 blocks; Metro-rail service to South Miami Station.
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Party for the Planet @ Zoo Miami
Saturday, April 21, 10am
-3pm
Sunday, April 22, 10am-3pm
(Happy Earth Day!)
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Party for the Planet at Zoo Miami’s annual Earth Day celebration! There will be lots of fun conservation-themed activities for the entire family.
During Party for the Planet, attendees will enter free of charge if they donate a cell phone for the Zoo's ECO-CELL recycling program. Not only will each person who donates a cell phone enter the zoo free of charge on either day, they will also help save gorillas. Cell phones components include coltan, a mineral extracted in the deep forests of Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa, home to the world's endangered lowland gorillas. Fueled by the worldwide cell phone boom, the Congo's out-of-control coltan mining business has, in recent years, led to a dramatic reduction of habitat and the rampant slaughter of great apes for the illegal bush-meat trade. By donating your old cell phone, the harvest of additional coltan can potentially be reduced and the gorillas protected.
Party for the Planet conservation-themed activities are included with Zoo admission.
www.zoomiami.org
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Do the Shore Thing -- Baynanza
Sunday, April 22, Dawn-Dusk
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Baynanza is a celebration of Biscayne Bay and its significance as one of our most important ecological systems in South Florida. While Baynanza includes more than 25 great events throughout March and April, the event that has become synonymous with this celebration is the Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day.
Registration for the Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day is now open.
www.miamidade.gov/environment/baynanza.as
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Perch @ TAS on Earth Day
Sunday, April 22, Dawn-Dusk
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Stroll our Pine Rockland and Hardwood Hammock habitats — roost under the Audubon oaks and picnic in the shade as the birds flutter by. Bring a book, breakfast, lunch, yoga mat, journal, camera or just breathe deep in our 2.2-acre urban oasis.
Wherever you alight, do something meaningful for Mother Earth, and ask your friends to do the same! It's as easy as joining Tropical Audubon Society or renewing your membership on Earth Day.
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Go Solar!
Join a Solar Co-op Information Session Near You
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Live in Miami-Dade and want to go solar? Residents have come together to form a neighborhood-centric Miami-Dade Solar Co-op, with the help of Solar United Neighbors of Florida, to make it easier to save money on the purchase of solar panels, while building a community of local solar supporters. Attend an information session in your neighborhood to learn more about how the Southern Miami-Dade Solar Co-op is streamlining the process of going solar and earning a discount through bulk purchase power.
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Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition Meeting @ TAS
Thursday, April 26, 7-9pm
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Get the latest developments surrounding Walmart/Coral Reef Commons Development plans to bulldoze and pave over imperiled habitat at the former University of Miami South Campus.
Learn about plans to Save the Pine Rocklands, and how you can participate by helping ramp-up "Save it, Don't Pave it" efforts all the way to Washington D.C.
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#NationalAudubonDay
John James Audubon’s 233
rd
Birthday
Thursday, April 26
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Join us on Social Media as we celebrate the naturalist's legacy.
Become a Member
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#BIRDSTOCK @TAS
Saturday, April 28,
7pm
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Topflight South Florida bands will headline the 8th annual
Birdstock
on Saturday, April 28th.
Andy Waks & Friends, Tall Boys, The Neverly Brothers and special guests TBA will
comprise the all-original music playbill. Be sure to catch this 2018 ConCon finale as these premier singer/songwriters showcase their uniquely personal sounds.
The
muy delicioso Taco Fresh
food truck
will make its 2018 encore; donation
Bird Bar
beverages will flow courtesy of Republic National Distributing Co. and local craft beer maker
Miami Brewing Company.
While grooving to the tunes, you can also preview the Members Migration Silent Auction and get a 24-hour jump on Sunday's bidding.
Picnic tables available on a first-come basis
CASH Door: $10 donation, children under 12 free
Proceeds benefit capital improvements to the historic Doc Thomas House and near-native 2.2-acre Steinberg Nature Center grounds, as well as staging of on-site conservation and education workshops.
Parking options:
Limited on-site parking via the 55th Avenue entry gate; nearby metered, garage and valet parking options within 1-3 blocks; Metro-rail service to South Miami Station.
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Members Migration
Potluck Picnic & Silent Auction @ TAS
Sunday, April 29, 4-7pm
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Our annual Members Migration & Potluck Picnic
(a shindig once known as WingDing) celebrates our Birding Community and Conservation Heroes on Sunday, April 29. TAS members and High Pines neighbors will gather under the Audubon oaks to enjoy music, Pot Luck picnic fare, Bird Bar libations and Silent Auction bidding.
Citizens, volunteers and public officials will be recognized for their notable conservation efforts over the past year.
Kindly present your Pot Luck offering in re-usable platters or bowls; no disposable ware please. TAS will provide eating utensils and plates.
The festivities are free to TAS members and High Pines neighbors, and to anyone who joins on the 29th (annual membership begins at $25; Students & Seniors $10). Nonmember Admission, $10
Parking options:
Limited on-site parking via the 55th Avenue entry gate; nearby metered, garage and valet parking options within 1-3 blocks; Metro-rail service to South Miami Station.
Community Partners: Community Newspapers, I'm Not Your Boring Newspaper, Miami Brewing Co., Republic National Distributing Co.
onsite free parking via SW 55th Avenue entry gate
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Joy Wallace, pictured here with Domaine Chandon's Matt Wood at April 2015's "Walk in the Woods with Wine & Whisk"
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A JOY WALLACE … the catering, design and special events firm that so graciously and elegantly sets our “Walk in the Woods with Wine & Whisk” dinner tables every spring and fall. Founder Joy Wallace’s patronage of the birds has been instrumental in our ability to stage the biannual event and direct nearly all of its proceeds to restoration of our historic Doc Thomas House headquarters and our 2.2 acres of near-native habitat. Not to mention re-thatching our chickee (under which WWWW is staged) twice! Supporting those vendors who support TAS is an easy way to contribute to our Mission. The birds will thank you!
A Joy Wallace
305.252.0020
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