PROGRAMS

We welcome you to our monthly programs.  Our October 21 meeting will be held in the Kings Point Clubhouse Banquet Room.  Effective November 15, all meetings will move to the Social Hall in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 1239 Del Webb Blvd W, Sun City Center.  Meeting dates and times are listed below.  The doors open at 1:20 PM for a social and sign-up time, the general public is invited.  There will be no refreshments at this time, but you may bring your own beverage. The meeting and program begin at 2:00 PM.

Note: We will follow current CDC guidelines and we ask for courtesy toward mask wearers.

Thursday, October 21, 2021
Tom Heitzman
Sweet Bay Nursery
Birds, Butterflies and Native Plants

Monday, November 15, 2021
Florida’s Endangered/Threatened Birds: Two Case Studies
Julie Stocksdale
Eagle Audubon

Florida is home to many unique habitats, and thus we have a number of rare, threatened, and endangered species.  Two of these species are the red-cockaded woodpecker and the Florida scrub jay. Julie will discuss the natural history of each of these birds, why they have become so rare, and what efforts are being made to save them. A field trip on December 1 to Oscar Scherer State Park will focus on Florida scrub jays and their habitat needs.

Monday, December 13, 2021
The West Florida Shelf: A Diverse Marine Ecosystem
Daniel Roberts, Contract Scientist
Mote Marine Laboratory, Center for Electronic Fishery Monitoring

The West Florida Shelf encompasses the offshore area along Florida’s Gulf Coast between around 65 to 650 feet deep from the Dry Tortugas to the northern Florida Middle Grounds, an area almost as large as the terrestrial state of Florida. Although gently sloping as it grades to the edge of the continental shelf, there are many high-relief structures such as drowned barrier islands, the deltas of ancient rivers, sand waves, hard bottom, chemosynthetic communities, submarine canyons and brine seeps. Natural and man-made disturbances, including over 100 years of fishing, have had a negative effect on the ecology of the shelf. We will discuss some of these environmental insults and their resultant impacts.

Monday, January 17, 2022
Christmas Bird Count in the Alafia Region
Charles Fisher
Coordinator of the Christmas Bird Count for the Alafia Region

Monday, February 21, 2022
Quest Ecology
Translocation of Burrowing Owls

Monday, March 21, 2022
Rocky Milburn
Sierra Club
Florida Birds

Monday, April 18, 2022
TBD