On a breezy, sunny, September day, my toddler, husband, and I turned onto the access road of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge along Florida’s Gulf of Mexico. St. Marks has fast become my favorite birding spot, with more than 68,000 acres protecting marsh, forest, and coastline. Still, I wasn’t really expecting to see a plethora…
Category: audubon
Audubon – Banded Brown Pelicans Moves from Alabama to Florida
Jeff Liechty, coastal biologist for the Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries (FCIS), motored up to Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge in the Tampa Bay region, pulling out his binoculars to record the sea and shorebirds resting on the sand. Through monthly surveys in coordination with Joyce Kleen from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jeff counts…
Audubon – Early Season Timing of Hurricane Elsa Wreaks Havoc on Sea and Shorebird Babies
Vulnerable beach-nesting sea and shorebird colonies lost sizable numbers of eggs and young chicks as Hurricane Elsa churned across the state this week. Even downgraded to a Tropical Storm, Elsa pushed high tide surges that swamped the low-lying beaches, covering eggs and tiny chicks with water and windblown sand. “Early storms are always devastating to beach-nesting…
E. Zambello Writing and Photography 