Join us in keeping this beautiful ecosystem healthy!

Saturday, April 13, 2024 starting at 9:00 AM

Additional parking is available on FAMU Way, close to Stearns St. There's also a 20-spot parking lot off of the roundabout at FAMU Way and Robert and Trudie Perkins Way (just west of Stearns St.). It’s about a 3 minute walk from the parking lot to the Stearns St. entrance of the park.

Kayakers and canoeists are welcome and needed!

Gloves, trash bags, and other supplies provided.

Water provided, but please bring your own reusable water bottle

Ecological Landscaping: Gardening for Wildlife Field Trip and Native Plant Tour

Cost—$15: All funds support Birdsong Nature Center’s Butterfly/Pollinator Garden

Click to learn more about this event.

Join us for our litter clean-up for our newly adopted street—Sharer Road!

We will meet up at 9 AM on Sunday, March 17 in the parking lot near the City Beauty Supply—2806 Sharer Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32312. Park near the building and we will organize and deploy from there.

We will supply bright green safety vests, gloves, trash bags, and trash pick-up tools.

Started in 1992, Keep Tallahassee Beautiful is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to keeping our community litter-free and educated about recycling, solid waste and beautification of our environment.

Read more about Adopt-a-Street and Keep Tallahassee Beautiful.

Join us in keeping this beautiful ecosystem healthy!

Saturday, February 3, 2024 starting at 9:00 AM

Additional parking is available on FAMU Way, close to Stearns St. There's also a 20-spot parking lot off of the roundabout at FAMU Way and Robert and Trudie Perkins Way (just west of Stearns St.). It’s about a 3 minute walk from the parking lot to the Stearns St. entrance of the park.

Kayakers and canoeists are welcome and needed!

Gloves, trash bags, and other supplies provided.

Water provided, but please bring your own reusable water bottle

Join us for our litter clean-up for our newly adopted street—Sharer Road!

We will meet up at 9 AM on Sunday, January 21 in the parking lot near the City Beauty Supply—2806 Sharer Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32312. Park near the building and we will organize and deploy from there.

We will supply bright green safety vests, gloves, trash bags, and trash pick-up tools.

Started in 1992, Keep Tallahassee Beautiful is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to keeping our community litter-free and educated about recycling, solid waste and beautification of our environment.

Read more about Adopt-a-Street and Keep Tallahassee Beautiful.

You are invited to come out and socialize with fellow Tallahassee nature lovers! This winter social is co-hosted by the Sierra Club Big Bend Group and Apalachee Audubon Society. We will meet Thursday, December 7, starting at 6:00 PM at Waterworks Tiki Bar & Restaurant, serving Tallahassee for over 28 years.

Light hors d’oeuvres will be provided, but you can also buy a sandwich from the menu. Beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase as well.

No need to RSVP, just show up!

Banner Photo: Waterworks owner Don Quarello (far right) and friends.

Join us for our first litter clean-up for our newly adopted street—Sharer Road!

We will meet up at 9 AM on Sunday, November 19 in the parking lot near the Chuck E Cheese 2810 Sharer Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32312 and organize and deploy from there.

Started in 1992, Keep Tallahassee Beautiful is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization dedicated to keeping our community litter-free and educated about recycling, solid waste and beautification of our environment.

Read more about Adopt-a-Street and Keep Tallahassee Beautiful.

Arrive at 6:30 pm to mingle and grab a beverage and bite to eat.

Marina Mertz, with the Panhandle Wildflower Alliance Liaison, will be presenting on the importance of creating habitat within our urban spaces utilizing native plantings.

Marina joined the Florida Wildflower Foundation in 2022 as the Panhandle Wildflower Alliance Liaison. There, she works with local advocates, alliance members, and various governmental entities to create and nurture wildflower corridors on roadsides, utility easements, public gardens, and schools.

Join us, grab a beverage and some food, and listen to Mertz’s colorful talk on native wildflowers

Banner photo: Purple Coneflowers, by Kathleen Carr

Join us in keeping this beautiful ecosystem healthy!

Saturday, November 4 starting at 9:00 AM

Additional parking is available on FAMU Way, close to Stearns St. There's also a 20-spot parking lot off of the roundabout at FAMU Way and Robert and Trudie Perkins Way (just west of Stearns St.). It’s about a 3 minute walk from the parking lot to the Stearns St. entrance of the park.

Kayakers and canoeists are welcome and needed!

Gloves, trash bags, and other supplies provided.

Water provided, but please bring your own reusable water bottle

At 9:00 AM meet at Ochlockonee Bay Boat Ramp which is just past the Ochlockonee Bay Bridge, and on the right as you are heading south on Highway 98.

There is a portable potty on site.

We will work the shore and into the woods to collect trash which we will haul back to the boat ramp in a canoe. This property, known as the Bluffs of Saint Teresa, was recently purchased by the State of Florida and is a truly beautiful area in which to work.

Please call Norma Skaggs at ‭(850) 508-1457‬ if you plan to volunteer so we can collect the proper number of supplies. Wear or bring sunscreen, bug spray, protective clothing (hats, long pants, long-sleeved shirts), work or close-toed water shoes, water bottle. You can bring your own work gloves, but plastic and cloth gloves will be provided.

Lake Munson photo by Nick Evans.

Social begins at 6:30 PM. Arrive early and order a beverage or scrumptious sandwich.

Join the Big Bend Sierra Club for their April 18 program, a presentation on the Ecology of Lake Munson by Dr. Seán McGlynn. The program is hosted at Waterworks located at 1133 Thomasville Rd. Arrive at 6:30pm to enjoy a bite and a beverage; program starts at 7:00pm.

Lake Munson was once the dirtiest lake in Florida, now it is seventh dirtiest in a state that leads the nation in having the most polluted lakes. Lake Munson is not just a lake, it is the most endangered type of lake in the US, a karst or sinking lake, that fills with stormwater runoff from Tallahassee Red Hills. This polluted water replenishes the Floridan Aquifer and feeds Wakulla Springs, where the aquifer water flows out of the ground. My talk will detail the story of Lake Munson, one of the foulest spots in the Wakulla Springshed, its future and what must be done to protect the Red Hills, the Floridan Aquifer and Wakulla Springs forever.

Dr. McGlynn is currently on the Board of Directors of the Florida Lake Management Society and the Florida Springs Council, and on the Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council. He is a past President of the Big Bend Sierra Club, Friends of Wakulla Springs, Wakulla Springs Alliance and Apalachee Audubon Society. And is currently the Technical Director for McGlynn Laboratories Inc.

Dr. McGlynn earned a Bachelor of Science degree from LSU and a Doctorate at FSU. His dissertation was on biological cycling of petroleum hydrocarbons, their metabolism by aquatic plants and their fate in the food chain, in Lake Jackson a karst lake and the only freshwater lake designated an Aquatic Preserve in Florida. He became interested in the unique karst hydrology of the region and the interaction of the karst lakes with the largest and deepest spring vent spring in Florida, Wakulla Springs, only to discover that the karst system was intimately linked to the coast at Spring Creek and other Marine Springs. Now he is documenting the changes in this intricately complex karst system as it gets developed and suffers hydrological stresses from climate change and rising sea levels.

This program will explore ways to conserve the Aucilla River Watershed. Peter Kleinhenz is the Aucilla River Watershed Coalition Coordinator at Tall Timbers Land Conservancy.

When he's not involved with Audubon, Peter works as a Conservation Coordinator for Tall Timbers after several years as an interpretive writer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Although his background is in herpetology, he is a birding convert. His current U.S. bird species tally sits at 580, and he has birded internationally in ten other

Rebecca Means will talk about wetlands, amphibians, and how to get involved in the conservation work CPI is doing. The mission of the institute is to preserve the biodiversity of the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States in three ways:

1. Conducting biological research to generate new knowledge about Southeastern ecosystems, with emphasis on the longleaf pine ecosystem and its embedded temporary wetlands.

2. Provide environmental education opportunities to the general public through field trips, classroom visits, festivals, lectures, website, and social media.

3. Acquire lands and directly manage or restore them back to native, natural habitat.

A Sentinel Landscape is an area designated by the U.S. Departments of Defense, Agriculture, and Interior. Sentinel landscapes provide focus areas where these agencies work together with other public agencies and private partners. The partnership strives to maintain compatible land uses that conserve listed species habitat and minimize encroachment threats and constraints to military missions. Northwest Florida was designated a Sentinel Landscape on February 15, 2022. 

Kent Wimmer, Senior Representative and Coordinator for the Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape, will give a presentation on this recent designation. It’s purpose is to create a regional partnership platform for the NWFSL, increase recognition of Sentinel Landscapes within Florida, and enhance coordination and problem-solving ability among stakeholders and partners (including landowners, military, state natural resource and agricultural agencies, funding agencies and entities, and NGOs). This will address resiliency and sustainability challenges to military installations, working lands and wildlife.

CYNTHIA BARNETT is an author and environmentalist based in Gainesville, Florida. This presentation is sponsored by the Tallahassee Scientific Society as part of their Horizons 2023 speaker series. Tickets for this talk are available at the TSS website.

The human fascination with seashells is primal. In the 1950s, the nation burned with a shell-collecting fever only a Florida beach vacation could cure. Traveling from Florida to the Bahamas to the Maldives, West Africa, and beyond, Barnett uncovers the ancient history of shells as global currency, their use as religious and luxury objects, and the rarely appreciated but remarkable creatures that make them. While shells reveal how humans have altered the climate and the sea—down to its very chemistry—they are also sentinels of hope for coastal adaptation for climate change, alternative energy and other solutions that lie beneath the waves. Barnett illuminates the beauty and wonder of seashells as well as the human ingenuity and scientific solutions they represent for our warming world.

A Sentinel Landscape is an area designated by the U.S. Departments of Defense, Agriculture, and Interior. Sentinel landscapes provide focus areas where these agencies work together with other public agencies and private partners. The partnership strives to maintain compatible land uses that conserve listed species habitat and minimize encroachment threats and constraints to military missions. Northwest Florida was designated a Sentinel Landscape on February 15, 2022. 

Kent Wimmer, Senior Representative and Coordinator for the Northwest Florida Sentinel Landscape, will give a presentation on this recent designation. It’s purpose is to create a regional partnership platform for the NWFSL, increase recognition of Sentinel Landscapes within Florida, and enhance coordination and problem-solving ability among stakeholders and partners (including landowners, military, state natural resource and agricultural agencies, funding agencies and entities, and NGOs). This will address resiliency and sustainability challenges to military installations, working lands and wildlife.

Magnolia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society presents: A History of Florida Land Conservation By Clay Henderson

Location: King Life Sciences Building, FSU - 319 Stadium Dr.

Book Signing and Social will begin at 6:45 and the Meeting will begin at 7:30

Clay is an environmental lawyer and educator who has worked to protect Florida land since the 1980s. He drafted or sponsored many of the environmental provisions in the Florida Constitution. Clay's descriptions will celebrate the individuals and organizations who made Florida a leader in state-funded conservation and land preservation. He will recount how many of Florida's activists, artists, philanthropists, and politicians have worked to designate threatened land for use as parks, preserves, and other conservation areas.

His book, Forces of Nature - A History of Florida Land Conservation, recently published by University Press of Florida, will be available for purchase and signing.

The City of Tallahassee and Leon County Government invite residents to celebrate Arbor Day by planting trees in Governor's Park, 700 N. Blair Stone Road, on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 9 a.m. This fun and educational volunteer opportunity will help enhance the park's natural habitat and provide residents with information about native tree species and planting techniques.

Plantings will be done throughout the park and include a diverse mix of over 250 trees, including a variety of native hardwood species.

While volunteers give back to the community, the City and County want to ensure volunteers gain something, too. Staff foresters and arborists will be available to explain the characteristics of each species being planted and to assist with proper planting technique. Additionally, representatives from the Apalachee Chapter of the Audubon Society and Florida Division of Forestry (DOF) will be on hand to provide insight into bird habitat, forest management and tree care. Attendees can use this new knowledge to help choose the right tree for the right location in their own yards, serving to strengthen the overall quality of the urban canopy. As part of this effort, DOF will do a tree giveaway on site (limited supplies available).

Volunteers are asked to dress for the weather and bring gloves, shovels, drinking water and friends. The event will take place rain or shine.

The City of Tallahassee and Leon County Government have a long history of celebrating Arbor Day. Last year, hundreds of trees and shrubs were planted by friends and families at Broadmoor Pond Park.

For more information, contact the City's Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs department at 850-891-3866.

This program will feature local naturalist, Cait Snyder, whose presentation will focus on things learned and unlearned over the past few years about Lake Jackson, our fascinating sinkhole lake. Come early to socialize and grab a bite to eat at Waterworks before the program officially starts at 7:00 PM.

Apalachee Audubon/Big Bend Sierra Club Social-Wednesday December 7, 2022 at Waterworks, 1133 Thomasville Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32303. (NOTE: The original date was December 8, but it has been rescheduled.)

You are invited to come out and socialize with fellow Tallahassee nature lovers! This winter social is co-hosted by the Big Bend Sierra Club and the Apalachee Audubon Society.

No need to RSVP, just show up.

Florida’s Rivers: A Celebration of Over 40 of the Sunshine State’s Dynamic Waterways by Doug Alderson

The rivers of Florida are steeped in natural and cultural history. They are avenues through time, allowing us to wrap ourselves in a rich tapestry, and they are showcases for wildlife and natural beauty. On some rivers, idyllic scenes are revealed bend after bend for miles and sometimes days, appearing to have changed little since early native people plied the waters in dugout canoes.

Imagine gliding along a clear watercourse beneath a leafy canopy of maple, cypress, and gum. The current swirls eelgrass in undulating patterns as schools of silvery mullet shoot past. Ahead, a manatee’s snout breaks the surface in a loud whoosh, its gray body lumbering slowly along and showing little fear as you pass by. A red-shouldered hawk cries and soars over treetops while a black anhinga stretches long wings to dry while perched on a cypress knee.

“Florida’s Rivers is a result of many years of river journeys throughout the state with some great people and groups, and trying to steady a camera on a kayak,” says Alderson. “And so it is very satisfying to put my descriptions, observations and photographs together into this volume. The book pays homage to the incredible beauty and diversity of Florida's rivers and the need to protect them. I hope readers will come away with a strong appreciation of our rivers and will want to experience them in person.”

For the program, Alderson will share photos from the book along with historical and environmental information and ways we can help our rivers.

About the Author:

Doug Alderson is the author of several books, including America’s Alligator, Wild Florida Waters, Waters Less Traveled, New Dawn for the Kissimmee River, Encounters with Florida’s Endangered Wildlife and A New Guide to Old Florida Attractions, which the Florida Writers Association placed in the top five of published books for 2017. He has won five first place Royal Palm Literary awards for nonfiction books, two gold medals from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association, and several other state and national writing and photography awards. Additionally, his articles and photographs have been featured in numerous magazines.

Doug received the inaugural Environmental Service Award by Paddle Florida in 2015 “for conspicuous commitment, unflagging dedication and love of Florida’s natural environment.” For several years, he coordinated Florida’s designated paddling trail system and helped to establish the 1,515-mile Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. He currently works as an outdoor recreation specialist for the Office of Greenways and Trails.

CANCELLED: Due to Tropical Storm Nicole, the lecture for Thursday, November 10th is canceled and will be rescheduled in the Spring of 2023.

Join The FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory for their 2023 Lecture Series beginning in January, one way in which the FSUCML reaches out to the community to enhance global coastal & marine literacy in Florida. Open to the public, lectures take place from 7:00 until 8:00 PM in the FSUCML Auditorium.

Over a thirty year career, Dr. Lorenz has studied the ecology of Florida Bay focusing on Roseate Spoonbills and, more recently, on American Flamingos. He will present some of his scientific findings regarding both species with a focus on conservation and restoration of the Everglades and Florida Bay. With Flamingos, he presents why the state of Florida considered them an introduced and why historic and recent data indicates that they are indeed native to Florida. He discusses that Florida Bay was historically the major habitat for Flamingos in the state and why they warrant legal protection. Using Spoonbills as an ecosystem indicator species he reviews the reasons for the decline of this species since the early 1980's; what Everglades Restoration is doing and should be doing for this species and why climate change and sea level rise are further threatening what was once the sole nesting place for this species in Florida.

Jerome J. Lorenz's research focuses on the impact of water management in the southern Everglades on the coastal ecosystems of Florida Bay. Specifically, the project examines the linkages between fresh water deliveries from the Everglades, the abundance of aquatic plants and prey fishes in the mangroves and the success of nesting Roseate Spoonbills in Florida Bay. In 2000 Jerry became Research Director at Audubon Florida's Everglades Science Center after completion of his Ph.D. from University of Miami. He was promoted to Research Director for Audubon Florida in 2005. He currently serves as a member of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and on the Monroe County Climate Change Advisory Council.

Banner photo: Roseate Spoonbills by Kathleen Carr

Meet at the Ochlockonee Bay Boat Ramp.

Apalachee Audubon volunteers will once again be participating in Coastal Cleanup this year along the shores of Ochlockonee Bay. Leaders Donna Legare and Jody Walthall will pick up supplies at the Leonard’s Landing ICC Sign-in at 8:30 and then meet our volunteers at the boat ramp just beyond the Ochlockonee Bay Bridge on the right as you are heading south on Hwy. 98 at 9:00 AM.  There is a portable potty on site.

We will work the shore and into the woods to collect trash which we will haul back to the boat ramp in a canoe. The Bluffs of Saint Teresa is a tract of Bald Point State Park and is a truly beautiful area in which to work.

Call Donna at (850) 386-1148 if you plan to volunteer so we can collect the proper number of supplies. Wear or bring sunscreen, bug spray, protective clothing (hats, long pants, long-sleeved shirts), work or close-toed water shoes, water bottle. I like to bring my own work gloves, but plastic gloves will be provided. If you want, bring a picnic lunch, and relax along the shore after the cleanup. 

You are invited to come out and socialize with fellow Tallahassee nature lovers! This winter social is co-hosted by the Big Bend Sierra Club and the Apalachee Audubon Society.

Location: Waterworks, 1133 Thomasville Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32303

No need to RSVP, just show up.

Apalachee Audubon/Big Bend Sierra Club Social-Thursday December 9th at Waterworks at 1133 Thomasville Road from 6-8.

Meet at Ochlockonee Bay Boat Ramp

Apalachee Audubon volunteers will be participating in Coastal Cleanup this year along the shores of Ochlockonee Bay. Leaders Donna Legare and Jody Walthall will pick up supplies at the Leonard’s Landing ICC Sign-in at 8:30 and then meet our volunteers at the boat ramp just beyond the Ochlockonee Bay Bridge on the right as you are heading south on Hwy.98 at 9am.

There is a portable potty on site.

We will work the shore and into the woods to collect trash which we will haul back to the boat ramp in a canoe. This property, known as the Bluffs of Saint Teresa, was recently purchased by the State of Florida and is a truly beautiful area in which to work.

Call Donna at (850) 386-1148 if you plan to volunteer so we can collect the proper number of supplies. Wear or bring sunscreen, bug spray, protective clothing (hats, long pants, long-sleeved shirts), work or close-toed water shoes, water bottle. I like to bring my own work gloves, but plastic gloves will be provided. Please wear a mask as we gather. We can then spread out and remove them. If you want, bring a picnic lunch, and relax along the shore after the cleanup.

During Swift Night Out people all over the country stand beneath chimneys to watch and count chimney swifts enter their roost.  The Lodge at Wakulla Springs has a large flock that roosts in one of its inactive chimneys.  Come to witness the “flying cigar” shaped birds perform their swirling aerial dance prior to their descent into the chimney.  Be part of a nationwide program to estimate their numbers.  Enjoy this unusual ranger-led program to see firsthand one of nature’s amazing spectacles.  \

Free with Park Admission

Meet at the Lodge Entrance

Contact Wakulla Springs State Park if you would like to make reservations for a cruise and dinner at the lodge prior to the program.

Protecting Upland and Wetland Forests While Producing Beef for People

*** The tour is full. To join the waiting list contact Peter Kelly triskell7@comcast.net***

Please register before March 31 so that Troy can have an idea of how many people plan to attend and whether he will need to hook up a hay wagon to his tractor or plan for a walking tour. Register by contacting AAS board member Peter Kelly at triskell7@comcast.net . The tour is free, but you may want to bring your wallet to purchase some of their delicious, grass fed beef. You may contact deeprootsmeat@yahoo.com if you want to order in advance or call Troy at (321) 480-9077.

Troy Platt and his family are 6 th generation cattle ranchers originally from the St. John’s River area. Their farm is several thousand acres and the gateway to the 23,000-acre Hicks Bottom Swamp on the Florida Forever list. Troy has developed a multitude of strategies to protect the watershed, sequester carbon dioxide, promote healthy cattle with a minimum of medical interventions, and create nutrient dense, tasty beef. Some of their management practices include rotational grazing, planting nutritious forbs to minimize parasite load, and using organic methods like diatomaceous earth for their cattle.

The farm is located a few miles east of Greenville just off Highway 90 on the right side of the road. Directions can be located at their website. Bring your binoculars!