The Florida Birding and Nature Festival is Back for 2023!

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 Osprey holding fish on fence post, 2017

This year the festival will be held from October 17 through October 20 at the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission (FWC) Suncoast Youth Conservation Center at 6650 Dickman Rd, Apollo Beach, FL. 

Field trips and hikes will be held nearby at Lower Green Swamp, Cockroach Bay, Blackwater Creek, and Fred and Ida Shultz Nature Preserves as well as Upper Tampa Bay Conservation Park and many other wild locations!

The festival is timed just right to coincide with the peak migration of more than 180 species of birds and features expert-led field and boating trips to the best wildlife sites in West Central Florida. 

The festival will also offer two days of live seminars featuring talks on sea urchins, dolphins, Florida butterflies, the sandhill crane, the ivory billed woodpecker, sawfish, penguins, turtles, and so much more! 

There will be two keynote speakers. Stan Tekiela will speak on the mysteries and magic of bird migration, and David Johnson will talk on burrowing owls - a floridian favorite! 


White eyes Vireo in nest

The Nature Expo on Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19, will feature booths and displays from numerous environmental organizations, nature-related businesses and artists. Exhibitors will offer for sale artwork, binoculars, bird boxes and other products for nature lovers. A silent auction will be held each day.

For information on registration, the schedule of events, and more, visit the Florida Birding and Nature Festival website or email info@fbnfestival.org.


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