PROPOSED DUVAL AUDUBON BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2025-2026
by Pete Johnson, Outgoing Chapter President
 I can't believe it's time to elect our board members again! It's been nice serving you as the President for the past two years, but the time has come to pass the torch to a new President. Johnna Bellen has graciously offered and has been nominated to be our 2025-2026 President. If you don't know Johnna, she has been our Community Outreach Director for several years and is also the manager of the Wild Birds Unlimited location on Argyle Forest Blvd. Johnna has accomplished a lot of great things in her work as Outreach Director, including helping to create bird friendly habitats at schools and Urban Oases of Nature and Wellness at parks in Jacksonville.
Our proposed slate of officers and directors is provided below. They will be voted in at our May Board meeting unless we receive any opposing nominees from the membership by May 12. Please note that there are still two Director positions available, so please by all means let us know if you are interested in serving as Programs or Volunteer Director! You can apply here or download and complete our paper application form and send via US Mail to Duval Audubon Society, PO Box 16304, Jacksonville, FL 32245. Please feel free to reach out to us at duvalaudubon@gmail.com with any questions.
Officers:
- President: Johnna Bellen
- Vice President / Conservation Director, Duval County: Elizabeth Filippelli
- Secretary: Nora Bertacchi
- Treasurer: James Taylor
Directors:
- Community Outreach Director: Sabrina Lehmann
- Conservation Director, Nassau County: Andrew Schumann
- Crosby Sanctuary Director: Pete Johnson
- Education / Youth Outreach Director: Kate Zeray
- Field Trips Director: Jessica Dyszel
- Membership Director: Christine Lucas
- Programs Director: OPEN
- Volunteer Director: OPEN
Happy Birding and have a good Summer.
LIGHTS OUT NORTHEAST FLORIDA INITIATIVE HITS MILESTONE
By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
With partnership and support from Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and Ashantae Green, City of Jacksonville Sustainability Manager, our Lights Out Homeowner Pledge roster continues to soar. As of today, we have achieved a whopping 110 homeowners dedicated to saving birds! This milestone is a credit to all of you for supporting our mission and protecting our migrating birds. We see you and deeply appreciate your commitment to our birds.
 Your Lights Out Northeast Florida volunteer collision monitors are 2/3 of the way through our Spring Migration survey. We have a total of 30 collision monitors, who get up very early to drive to downtown Jacksonville, walk the routes, and survey the birds who have died from window collisions. Sometimes we get an opportunity to save a bird, and we are grateful for those rare happy occasions. Our partner Mike Taylor, Curator of Birds, Herps and Others at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, reports that so far this season our team has recorded a smaller number of collision deaths than in previous years. While this seems like good news, it’s difficult to pinpoint the reasons behind this. We hope that we’re seeing positive results from our Lights Out Northeast Florida outreach and pledge campaign, but it’s also possible that there simply haven’t been as many birds migrating through our area this spring. We will wait until Mike and our Data Science Team (Lindsay and Travis) complete their spring analysis to provide our final assessment of the season.
Our outreach campaign is going strong, and Ashantae and I were invited to appear on WJCT’s First Coast Connect radio program in early April. We stressed to listeners that the problem for birds is twofold: Artificial Light Pollution at night confuses birds, and once grounded the birds are not able to see glass and are often killed by collisions with windows. We encouraged people to dim their non-essential outside lights and to apply visual markers in a 2 in by 2 inch pattern to their reflective and transparent windows. We shared the latest BirdCast migration numbers and encouraged listeners to visit BirdCast.info throughout the migration season for the latest forecasts.
 We also participated in two noteworthy outreach events last month: the Riverview Collective Community Organization’s Oyster Fest; and the City of Jacksonville's Earth Day Event organized by Ashantae Green. We spoke to 200 plus people at the Oyster Fest, and all of them are nature lovers! We highly recommend that event; if you can attend next year, do it! Great food, dancing, river views, and conservation education for children and adults. Special thanks to my table mates, volunteers Toinette Wells and Eloise Ginty. Earth Day at James Weldon Johnson Park was chock full of sustainable fun, education, games and prizes. We awarded Ashantae Green our Certificate of Appreciation in a green frame; she loved it! Special thanks to Duval Audubon Society Directors Sabrina Lehmann and Johnna Bellen as well as the Zoo’s Mike Taylor for educating the public and encouraging people to sign the Homeowner Pledge. Chloe Fuller, one of our Collision Monitors stopped by to say hi and support our table, thank you Chloe. Chloe and I discussed having an outreach table at the wonderful Riverside Arts Market; stay tuned for a Fall update. Next month, Mike and I are going to be on News4Jax's River City Live program on May 13th at 9:30 am. We are not stopping and thank all of you for supporting our work.
RIVERSIDE PARK AND A CALL TO BIRD ACTION
By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
 At Jacksonville’s Riverside Park, our goal continues to be to educate the public on urban park and wildlife friendly protocols, provide transportation to wildlife rehab for injured birds found at the park, and partner with the City of Jacksonville and Friends of Riverside Park to provide transparency on the situation. In this case, the wildlife are the nesting waterfowl birds and their nestlings (flightless chicks) at the park. Unfortunately, the park in its current state is not an ideal place for nesting waterfowl. Our small team of bird stewards walk through the park two to three times a week, engaging with the public, checking on the state of the birds and their nests, and updating our bird survey. Park Steward Cindy Corey has engaged with the local wildlife rehab and FWC, and the City of Jacksonville is working with us to provide more educational signs for the public. Our signage is working because Cindy has received regular texts and calls when there are nestlings on the ground.
We recently held our second community outreach event at the park and were able to engage with some families as well as several regular parkgoers and received positive feedback. We even had a new volunteer join our team, thanks Cat! This is a pilot project and a bit of a nail-biter for us; we just could not look away from the birds and their vulnerable chicks. We thank everyone for your support and will continue to keep the lines of communication open. Please look for occasional social media updates on our park activities. If you are interested in helping, please contact me: Elizabeth.filippelli@duvalaudubon.org.
 Recently we had an adult Great Egret who was snagged on fishing line near her nest in one of the treetops. Cindy called in experts to help get the bird safely to the ground, but sadly the bird succumbed to the fishing line injuries. We always recommend people to please recycle their fishing line in the receptacles by the water line. This is a fixable problem, and we are trying to educate people to clean up after they enjoy their fishing activities. With a little effort, humans and wildlife can thrive side by side.
Now for some good news: in early April a struggling Great Egret nestling was transported to The Ark Wildlife Rescue avian rehab facility in St. Augustine. We learned that he has started to pick up fish on his own and may graduate into a larger enclosure later this week. Please consider donating to The Ark; they help countless birds of all sizes and are the only wildlife rehabilitation group licensed to care for wild birds in Northeast Florida.
Please remember, if you see an injured bird at the park, send a text to Park Steward Cindy Corey at 904-673-6740. For your safety, please do not handle deceased birds on your own and always wear gloves / PPE. Our work is funded by our members. If you like what you see and hear and would like to donate, please click here. Thank you.
PLANTS FOR BIRDS: URBAN OASIS OF NATURE AND WELLNESS
By Elizabeth Filippelli, Conservation Director
 Continuing our mission on our school partnerships to educate youth on the benefits of plants and birds, we installed a bird feeder at Faith Christian Academy in Nassau County in April. The event was a big hit! The students were engaged with nature and asked great questions. The bird feeder was planted near their school vegetable garden in a great location away from the school building. Outreach Director Johnna Bellen and volunteer Eloise Ginty were part of our team, and all three of us were so impressed with the students and the school. (PS: the school did not have any reflective glass we could notice, so we were assured birds would be safer from potential collisions into glass). Thanks to Educator Dianne Harelson for giving us the best welcome, and we can’t wait to see what Fall and 2026 brings on with our partnership.
Duval Audubon’s Youth Outreach Director Kate Zeray and I had a successful and fun nature inspired youth event at Eartha’s Farm and Market last month! We educated 20–25 youth on backyard birds and how to attract them to your yard. The native plant garden at the Farm is growing but struggling without a water source, so we will be working with farm leadership on solutions. We invited Duval County UF/IFAS Extension Agent Tonya Ashworth to come out for a first tour of the farm. Tonya loved what is happening at the Farm and we will continue to partner with Duval County Extension for educational opportunities for the community. Next steps are for a joint planning meeting with Farm leadership, IXIA Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society’s Conservation Manager Chadd Scott, and Duval Audubon.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Here's what's happening in May:
 Bird Walk for Beginners @ Fort Caroline National Memorial: 9 - 11 am, Sunday, May 4, 2025- Global Big Day 2025 @ Your Favorite Birdwatching Spot(s): All Day, Saturday, May 10, 2025 (learn more here)
- Nature Walk & Volunteer Work Day @ Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am - 12 pm, Saturday, May 17, 2025
- Virtual Monthly Program: Bird Habitat—Native Gardens, Insects, Birds, and Connections: 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Monday, May 19, 2025 (register here)
- Open House @ Crosby Sanctuary: 8 am - 12 pm, Saturday, May 24, 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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