RIVERSIDE PARK CALL FOR COMMUNITY BIRD ACTION By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
We want to hear from our members about this story and can use your help. Duval Audubon member Cindy Corey alerted us last year to the many bird casualties occurring at Jacksonville's Riverside Park. The park, located on Park Street in the Riverside area, is a cherished urban green space for the community, and also provides essential habitat for a variety of bird species, many of which rely on the park’s trees, shrubs, and open areas for nesting and raising their young. Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Egrets are just two of the species that frequent and nest in and around Riverside Park. Many of our Duval Audubon members enjoy viewing the many birds in the park and the adorable fledglings (young flightless chicks) as they grow.
As we described in our July 2024 social media post, the heroic journey began when Cindy Corey and her daughter Calder Conner rescued many nesting birds that otherwise would not have survived. When Cindy reached out to us, we just had to help. We quickly recognized that we needed to work with the community to plan for the 2025 nesting season. The project is named: Support Kind Nesting at Riverside Park! With Cindy’s guidance, we met Maggie Theoni, Riverside Park’s amazing Park Steward. DAS also engaged the City of Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department, and we are thrilled to share that Lauren Chappell is our contact and expert. We have all united together intending to educate parkgoers on bird-friendly best practices and how to be kind to nesting birds. Our joint goal is to create an environment where humans and wildlife thrive in Riverside Park through collaborations with the City of Jacksonville (COJ), community organizations, and residents. By addressing the challenges faced by nesting birds and their young, we can build stronger community connections and support the conservation of birds in the heart of our city.
Here is a summary of upcoming events: on March 15, 2025, please join us for a Park Cleanup and a fun educational event. Later (dates TBD), a volunteer-driven nesting survey will document nesting bird outcomes, signage will be installed to delineate the nesting areas, and other ideas ignited by this amazing partnership. COJ has already started the education process, creating new urban bird-friendly signage educating parkgoers to not feed the wildlife and why it is harmful. We thank the City of Jacksonville for their support and continued partnership.
While our overall goal is to reduce the number of young bird deaths at the park, we understand that this is a pilot project. If you are interested in this project, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Cindy Corey at cindyleecorey@gmail.com or Elizabeth.filippelli@duvalaudubon.org.
Our work is funded by our members. If you would like to donate to our mission, please click here. Please remember if you find an injured bird, please follow the recommendations posted on our website.
URBAN OASIS OF NATURE AND WELLNESS By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
Our initiative to bring nature to historically underserved communities had a robust kickstart for 2025! Our first Martin Luther King Service Day happened at Eartha’s Farm and Market (EFAM) on January 18. The service day was centered around installing the six conservation-focused nesting boxes built by Girl Scout Troop 590. The installation team consisted of EFAM Gator Corps volunteers, members of Girl Scout Troop 590, and Yolanda Stephens, EFAM Program Director. All nesting boxes were installed and will be monitored for activity. Also on hand was our native plant expert and partner Chadd Scott, Conservation Director for the Ixia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. Chadd was hard at work continuing the native plant garden build out. We were also thrilled when Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman stopped by to see the nesting boxes and thank the team. This is the second UOONW in Ms. Pittman’s district and she was there to support us in connecting the community to nature. February activities will include installing the final bird feeder and completing the bulk of the native plant garden. Special thanks to our sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited Jax Beach. If you are interested in joining the festivities, please reach out to me. We can use extra hands and hearts.
LIGHTS OUT NORTHEAST FLORIDA By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
Our Lights Out Northeast Florida initiative hit the ground running in January. We continue on an amazing trajectory with our partnership with Ashantae Green, COJ’s Sustainability Manager, and Jaguars Leadership. As you may recall, LONF reached out to Honorable Mayor Deegan about the new Jags Stadium design and artificial light and window reflection threats to birds. In January, we were thrilled to be invited to a Daily’s Place facility tour. We learned more about the roof canopy product design and were able to see it and its reflective quality firsthand. More product analysis will occur, and we hope to get samples over to our American Bird Conservancy partners for testing and threat factor levels. We also shared bird-friendly lighting protocols with Jag Leadership. All in all, it was an amazing day for mutual respect, partnership, and stewardship. Stay tuned for an exciting update coming soon!
The new Feather Friendly visual markers at Jacksonville’s Museum of Science & History are already working, and no new dead or injured birds have been found so far! As a reminder, you might remember that in December our team installed Feather Friendly visual markers on the highly reflective lower windows in the inner courtyard. This was a first-time pilot, and we are thrilled with the results. We are now focused on a new solution for the highly reflective upper bank of windows in the courtyard. The position of the upper windows unfortunately makes them a non-starter for Feather Friendly visual markers. We needed a new solution, so we met with Jeff Acopian, the president of Acopian BirdSavers. This simple product features paracords hung vertically on outside windows, with a 4-inch space between them. Acopian BirdSavers are another highly effective product for mitigating bird collisions and are installed on some of the windows at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. If you are interested in learning more about our Lights Out program and how you can save birds at your home or business, please contact me at Elizabeth.filippelli@duvalaudubon.org.
DUVAL COUNTY SCHOOLS' ELEMENTARY SCIENCE FAIR By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
Duval Audubon's Outreach Director Johnna Bellen and I were joined by Rosemary McCoy, Executive Director of Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters, and Toinette Wells, Park and Bird Steward at Ribault Scenic Drive Park, for an amazing day of youth science education at Duval County Schools’ Elementary Science Fair at UNF last month. Our outreach table included showcasing the engaging “WonderGrove Kids” platform with the new bird-friendly science videos! We are excited to share that we taught 320 children and 80 adults how to keep birds safe in their very own backyard! With transparencies and an oil-based white Sharpie marker, each child was taught the 2-inch by 2-inch bird-friendly pattern for outside windows. The children learned about the perils of artificial light pollution and reflective glass in a fun and engaging way. Once they “passed” they could then create their very own Bird-Friendly artwork on the transparency and graduate with a Bird Ambassador Sticker. Students were able to take their artwork home with our Bird-Friendly Education Brochure attached. This was a pilot, and we received great feedback. We plan on continuing this type of outreach and assessing its effectiveness.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Here's what's happening this month:
- Bird Walk for Beginners at Fort Caroline National Memorial: 9 - 11 am, Sunday, February 2, 2025
Field Trip: Audubon Birds of Florida Exhibit at Daytona Museum of Arts & Sciences, plus birding at Port Orange Causeway Park: 10 am - 3 pm, Saturday, February 8, 2025
- Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) at your favorite birding spot!: Friday, February 14 - Monday, February 17, 2025
- Nature Walk and Volunteer Work Day at Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am - 12 pm, Saturday, February 15, 2025
- Florida Fiddle Fest Concert for the Birds at St. Paul's By the Sea Episcopal Church: 4 - 5:30 pm, Sunday, February 16, 2025
- Open House at Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am - 12 pm, Saturday, February 22, 2025
JaxParks hosts many events for nature lovers, too! Click here and select EVENT CALENDAR to learn more.
Duval Audubon Society, Inc. P.O. Box 16304 Jacksonville, FL 32245
www.duvalaudubon.org
   
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