LIGHTS OUT NORTHEAST FLORIDA SPRING RECAP
Our Lights Out Northeast Florida (LONF) partnership initiative with the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens and St. Johns Regional Audubon just concluded their spring 2025 window collision monitoring season. Thirty dedicated volunteers walked the streets of downtown Jacksonville before dawn for two months during peak songbird migration season, and we’re happy to report that fewer dead or injured birds (60 total) were found this spring compared to last year (81 total), even though nearly 83 million birds were estimated to have traveled over our area on their way north this year compared to just over 79 million last year. We can’t be sure whether our intensive community outreach efforts this spring combined with Mayor Deegan’s “Lights Out Northeast Florida Nights” proclamation are the main causes of the reduction in bird mortality in our area, but they certainly contributed!
Kudos to the LONF volunteers, many of whom have been with the initiative since the beginning in the spring of 2021. Without their hard work and incredible dedication, it would be difficult if not impossible to show that sadly, some migrating birds don’t make it through Northeast Florida during the spring and fall migration seasons. We especially appreciate all the efforts by the Zoo staff members who volunteer for LONF and also handle most of the logistical work of managing the daily survey routes and compiling the post-season statistics.
Credit also goes to our Conservation Director Elizabeth Filippelli for spearheading much of LONF’s community engagement efforts, with special thanks to the City of Jacksonville’s Sustainability Manager Ashantae Green for facilitating the Mayor’s proclamation as well as conversations with the Jacksonville Jaguars about nighttime lighting at their current stadium and bird-friendly glass at their planned new stadium.
Speaking of bird-friendly windows, we’re happy to report that more and more projects are taking shape around the area. The latest is the installation of Acopian BirdSaver cords on the three large picture windows on the Nature Center building at Tillie K. Fowler Regional Park. The cords hang down the outside of the windows, making them visible to birds and thus reducing the chance of window strikes, while being nearly invisible from the inside. Duval Audubon funded the purchase of the cords, which were installed with volunteer help from Timucuan Parks Foundation and support from JaxParks. If you haven’t visited the Tillie Fowler Park Nature Center yet, we highly recommend checking it out, especially now that the beautiful new walking path through the pollinator garden surrounding the building has been completed! The Nature Center is open Friday through Sunday from 1pm – 4pm.
The LONF initiative has had a lot to celebrate this spring but their work is not over. The fall migration season runs from mid-September through mid-November, so they will be back at their collision survey routes again in a few months. Typically, there are far more avian window collisions during the fall migration than in spring, as more birds are traveling after the summer breeding season, with many young, inexperienced birds migrating for the first time. We are hoping for a continued reduction in collisions in the fall, and this is where you can help! If you haven’t already done so, please make sure to sign our Lights Out Northeast Florida pledge to turn off all non-essential lights at night from 11 pm until 6 am throughout both the spring and fall migration seasons (ideally, all year round), and make sure your windows and glass doors are safe for birds by installing screens or applying designs or decals on the outside of the glass, leaving no more than 2” of open space on the surface. You can learn more about making windows bird-safe here.
JUNE CHALLENGE
Are you ready for the 2025 June Challenge? June Challenge is a friendly competition designed to keep folks excited about birding during a month when some may be discouraged by the warmer weather.
Participation is easy. Simply get outside and go birding as often as you can during the month of June, and try to rack up as many different bird species in your home county as possible. The catch for the June Challenge is you have to actually SEE the bird in order to count it on your June Challenge list.
It’s a county-by-county challenge, and although competing in more than one county is allowed, your bird sightings from different counties must each be reported separately. At the end of the month, report your sightings on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail website. This year’s deadline to submit your final June Challenge checklist is July 7, 2025, and winners will be announced on their website later this summer.
SUMMERTIME VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
Love birds? Love the beach? We have a great summertime volunteer opportunity for you! The Timucuan Shorebird Partnership is looking for bird stewards to help our imperiled shorebirds nest safely! All you need are a few hours to spend at nesting sites and a desire to help the public share the beach responsibly with our feathered friends. In Duval, the primary location is Huguenot Memorial Park. Other areas are Little Talbot Island State Park, Amelia Island State Park, and Fort Clinch State Park.
The best part is getting to see all the adorable baby birds! For more details, please reach out to Duval Audubon’s Conservation Director Elizabeth Filippelli at elizabeth.filippelli@duvalaudubon.org, or Chris Farrell, Audubon Florida’s Northeast Florida Policy Associate, at cfarrell@audubon.org.
SUMMER BREAK!
Our chapter is on summer break!
During the months of June, July, and August, we are taking our annual hiatus from our regular schedule of birding outings and other activities, but chapter leaders will still be working hard to plan activities for our upcoming 2025/2026 season starting in September.
Over the summer we’ll be planning fall field trips to great birding spots in Clay, Duval, and Nassau Counties, and in September we will once again offer access to our Crosby Sanctuary conservation property in Orange Park from 8 am until noon on the fourth Saturday of every month (except December). We’ll also be reaching out to confirm fascinating speakers for our monthly program series starting in September, some of which will be in person and some virtual, depending on speakers’ availability and preferences.
We will also use the summer months to continue to work with our Lights Out Northeast Florida partners the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens and St. Johns Regional Audubon Society to plan our volunteer-driven data collection efforts and public awareness campaign for the fall 2025 migration season starting September 15.
f you’re not a member of Audubon, please consider joining us. Your membership in Duval Audubon strengthens our messages to the public and government leaders. The more members we have, the more effective our voices for birds and bird habitat will be. Education about conservation issues is an important part of our work, and you can help us amplify our messages. Your membership means a better community for people and birds and other wildlife. (Not sure of your membership status? Please feel free to reach out to our Membership Director Christine Lucas at christine.lucas@duvalaudubon.org.)
Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing summer. We look forward to seeing you in the fall!
All content by newsletter editor Carol Bailey-White unless otherwise noted.