WELCOME TO SOUTH FLORIDA AUDUBON SOCIETY
2010 Florida Audubon Society's Chapter of the Year
South Florida Audubon Society, based in Broward County, fosters conservation through local, regional, national, and global environmental advocacy and activities throughout South Florida with an emphasis on birds and other wildlife and their habitats. This Home page highlights upcoming birding and special events, action alerts, and news of interest for the region which includes Broward, Martin, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Indian River Counties in the Greater Everglades Ecosystem.
Click on Advocacy to access pages on Wildlife and Protected Species, Land Conservation and Public Land Management, Water for the Environment, Growth Management and Transportation, and Global Climate Change and Energy. Click here to visit the Conservation Blog for updated alerts and news. Click on Birding to access pages on how to bird and where to bird. Click on Photos to see photos of birds feeding, fighting, flying, mating, and nesting, as well as young birds learning. Click on Join to access the membership form and click on Archives to see our accomplishments and former status as Broward County Audubon Society. The Index-Links page provides easy access to areas of this educational website. You can now visit South Florida Audubon Society on Facebook. Stop by and become a friend there.
Call for Young Artists
The 6th Annual Everglades Eyes Children's Art Competition and Exhibit has a deadline of March 29th. School classes are encouraged to have their children compete to celebrate Earth Day. Click here for a poster. Click here for submitting art. Click here for the exhibit information.
Backyard Bird Count
The 15th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count is being held this year from February 17-20. To see last year's result and learn more about this event go to www.birdsource.org/gbbc.
Florida Legislation
Audubon of Florida tracks legislation that impacts the environment. They will need your help to support bills that positively impact the environment and help prevent bills that negatively impact the environment. Click here for upcoming legislation and the potential impact of each.
Wildlife Issues
Click here to read a take action memo regarding Florida Panthers from Matthew Schwartz, Executive Director, South Florida Wildlands Association.
Strategic Plan 2012
The Strategic Plan of Audubon for 2012 is now available. Click here to see the slides in pdf format.
Spoonbills & the Everglades
If you had the power to keep Roseate Spoonbills nesting in the Everglades, would you? Click here to learn how.
Audubon News and Ideas
The National Audubon Society provides to chapter leaders and members several informational resources: Audubon Networker, Audubon Newswire, Audubon Wingspan, and Chapter Leader. Access Audubon Newswire for December 23, 2011 by clicking here. Review the latest Audubon Wingspan dated 1/19/2012 by clicking here.
For Audubon Networker click here. For Chapter leaders strategic planning information Click here. For Florida Audubon News Blog click here.
Cool Planet Program
Because of an AD Henderson Foundation grant, South Florida Audubon is offering the Cool Planet program to upper elementary students in Broward County Title One Schools. The program is an interactive environmental education divided into four one hour modules delivered weekly over 5 weeks.
Teachers of 4th & 5th graders and school principals should contact Maria Rotunda (maria@myearthprints.com) or call 954 937-4903 to set this up for your class or school.
Eco-Movie Events
On the second Tuesday of each month the public is invited to free eco-movies at Secret Woods Nature Center, 2701 W. State Road 84, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312. These are being co-sponsored by South Florida Audubon Society, Broward County Environmental Education Council (EEC), and the Green League of Broward in conjunction with Sawgrass Nature Center.
The films represent many hours of research and production to help educate the community about the ecosystems around us. After each movie, there will be a panel discussion on ways to make a positive impact based on the topic of the day.
South Florida Audubon Meetings
Join members of the South Florida Audubon Society for monthly meetings from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month from September 2011 to April 2012. The location alternates between Fern Forest Nature Center (FF) in Coconut Creek and Anne Kolb Nature Center (AK) in Hollywood. Save February 16 (AK), March 15 (FF), and April 19 (AK).
"Bird Behavior: is the topic for the February 16th meeting. Our speaker, Laura Edwards, Ph.D., will illustrate ways that "birds do it too" as she compares the behavior of birds and humans. Before retiring in 2005, Dr. Edwards had a career in rehabilitation and education in roles ranging from Information Officer and Training Services Coordinator to Program Coordinator and Department Chair. Since her retirement she has been passionately photographing and studying birds and volunteering at the Rancocas Nature Center, New Jersey Audubon Society. She is currently webmaster for six websites including this one.
Grant Campbell, Director, Wildlife Policy and Conservation Chair, will be the speaker at the March 15th Meeting. His slide show is titled: "Plastic--Bane or Boon?".
To see Award Winners from the April 21st Meeting Click here .
BIRDING EVENTS
South Florida Audubon Society either provides or participates in local field trips as well as special birding events in South Florida from Fall to Spring. The next special events are:
- 2/18-20 Florida Adventure Getaway weekend - Merrit Island, 3 Lakes and much more
- 3/28-31 Big "O" Birding Festival
Tropical Audubon Society
Tropical Audubon Society also provides weekend birding field trips. They maintain a blog on sightings of rare birds in South Florida. Click here to visit their website.
Audubon of the Everglades Society
This chapter of the National Audubon Society has arranged birding trips to Stormwater Treatment Area 1 for the dates of 2/4, 2/19, 3/3, 3/18, and 4/22. Reservations are required and everyone meets at the entry point at 8 am. Call Linda Humphries (561) 742-7791 to reserve your spot.
LOCAL/STATE EVENTS
2/2/2012 Sierra Club meets at Fern Forest Nature Center, Coconut Creek, FL (7:30pm) Speaker is Carole Morris, Broward Intergovernmental Representative for SF Water Management Division
2/13/2012 Romance in the Gardens 5-7pm fund raiser with food from Cafe on the Go, Moonlight Birding, and a lot more at Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S Flamingo Rd, Davie, FL. Click here and here for postcard information.
Birding Tours
For birding tours worldwide go to our Birding the World webpage.
New Books & DVDs
Snake in the Grass: An Everglades Invasion by Larry Perez.
Chasing the Ghost Birds (book) and Saving the Ghost Birds (DVD) (whooping cranes) Visit www.videoagepro.com/stgb.html for details.
Black-capped Petrel Chick
Click here to see photos and learn about the Black-capped Petrel Chick in its mountaintop nest.
An Eagle Story
Click here to read about the relationship between Freedom, an injured eagle, and Jeff as he dealt with cancer.