Bird Walk at Lettuce Lake Park Credit: Cathy Salustri

Bird Walk at Lettuce Lake Park Credit: Cathy Salustri
In the early 1980s, you'd almost never see osprey hanging around Tampa Bay (thanks a lot, DDT) — but things are looking up for bird populations. If you've wanted to try your hand at birdwatching but felt unsteady about going it alone, well, no worries, mate — the Tampa Audubon Society is here to help, and help they will this Saturday morning at Lettuce Lake Park. 

For the cost of parking — $2 per car — anyone can join the two-hour walk through Lettuce Lake Park. The walk — organizers call it a stroll — starts at 8 a.m. and will either take birders along the boardwalk or along one of the trails, depending on where the Audubon Society thinks the better birding will be. 

What kinds of birds can you see there? According to Andy Fairbanks, who works for Hillsborough County, you can see "all of them." While we would love to see, oh, a Carolina parakeet or ivory-billed woodpecker, we suspect he's being facetious — but a quick check of ebird.org shows Lettuce Lake is actually a birding "hotspot" with 187 different species of birds sighted there. So, yeah, if you want to see a black swan, purple martin or a black-billed cuckoo, here's your chance.

Make sure to bring water and apply sunscreen and bug repellent before the walk — and don't forget to look out for osprey!

Beginning Bird Walk at Lettuce Lake Park | 6920 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa | June 9: 8 a.m. | $2 | 813-987-6204 | Learn more

This article appears in Jun 7-14, 2018.

Cathy's portfolio includes pieces for Visit Florida, USA Today and regional and local press. In 2016, UPF published Backroads of Paradise, her travel narrative about retracing the WPA-era Florida driving...