Welcome to Duval Audubon Society

The Ocklawaha River in Putnam County is the largest tributary to the St. Johns River, but since the late 1960s the natural flow of the Ocklawaha has been blocked by the Kirkpatrick Dam (more commonly known as the Rodman Dam), a remnant of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal project, which was halted in 1971 due to the severe environmental damage that would be caused by completion of the project. Since the abandonment of the canal project, the Rodman Dam has no function other than to create a huge pool of water, drowning at least 20 natural springs and submerging 16 miles of the river and thousands of acres of forest under the massive pool. Debris and vegetation build up behind the dam, and the state of Florida regularly spends millions of dollars treating invasive aquatic vegetation in the pool. In addition, the gates of the dam must be opened every three to four years to draw the water level down to further control the excess vegetation. (Read more...)

Fall in Northeast Florida is a great time to enjoy cooler weather (finally!) and delight in the birds migrating through or just arriving in our area for the winter. It's also a great time to join our chapter if you are not already a member. Our Fall membership campaign is going on right now, and you might be the lucky winner of our membership campaign drawing!

When you join Duval Audubon Society, you also become a member of the National Audubon Society as well as Audubon Florida, and your membership supports the efforts of all three organizations. Audubon is one of the most respected conservation organizations in the world, and our local chapter is an all-volunteer non-profit group that works hard to protect the birds we love and achieve our mission of connecting people with nature. (Read more...)

We were thrilled to be able to resume birding field trips in September and so far they are going beautifully. Participants in our September Crosby Sanctuary Open House event enjoyed exploring the beauty and biodiversity of the swampy wetlands, pine flatwoods, and oak hammock ecosystems that comprise the 510-acre nature preserve, and you will have another opportunity to explore the sanctuary on October 23rd, so we hope you can join us for that.

Our September program, held virtually via Zoom, featured a fabulous presentation by author and conservationist Paul Baicich about the incredible birds of Cuba. In case you missed it, you can still catch it on our YouTube channel.

Our October program, "Light Pollution and Birds," will be presented on October 18th by Dr. Natasha Vanderhoff of Jacksonville University and Mike Taylor, Curator of Herps, Birds, and Others at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. Their presentation will focus on the dangers of light pollution for birds and other wildlife, and describe how a local initiative is working to reduce those hazards in Northeast Florida. Registration for this virtual program is available here.

Here are our upcoming activites for October:

• Field Trip @ Camp Blanding Wildlife Management Area: 8 am, Saturday, October 2, 2021 (register here).
• Birding 101 @ Reddie Point Preserve: 8 am, Sunday, October 3, 2021 (register here).
• October Big Day @ Your Favorite Birding Spot! All Day, Saturday, October 9, 2021 (sign up here if you don't already have an eBird account).
• Field Trip @ Jacksonville Arboretum and Gardens: 8 am, Saturday, October 9, 2021 (register here).
• Nature Walk & Work Day @ Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am, Saturday, October 16, 2021 (register here).
• Cleanup @ St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area: 8 am, Sunday, October 17, 2021 (sign up here).
• "Light Pollution and Birds" Virtual Monthly Program: 6:30 pm, Monday, October 18, 2021 (register here).
• Open House @ Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am - noon, Saturday, October 23, 2021 (no registration needed).
• Field Trip @ Huguenot Memorial Park: 8 am, Saturday, October 30, 2021 (register here).

We look forward to seeing you soon!