The Life Explorers Speaker Series will feature programs for adults interested in expanding and sharing their knowledge on a variety of environmental and cultural topics. The Life Explorers series will tap the resources of experts from the Central Florida community to serve as speakers for the programs which are offered free of charge.

Topic: Birds of Mead and Beyond

Speaker: Kathy Rigling

Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023

Doors open: 9:45 A.M.

Program Time: 10:00 – 11:30 A.M.

Location: Azaela Lodge

Cost: Free

About the Guest Speaker:

Did you know that Mead BG is a favorite rest stop on the migration pathway for dozens of species of birds? Just like your favorite hotel on a well-traveled route, hundreds of warblers, tanagers, and other songbirds find the Garden to be a welcome place to rest, feed, and feel safe on their journeys.

Kathy Rigling, the Education Coordinator for Orange Audubon Society and a Florida Master Naturalist, will explain the migration patterns that bring birds here for a nurturing community space as they make their way from north to south and back every early fall and spring. She will highlight special places in the garden where and when birds can be spotted. The migrating birds fly at night and wind, temperature, and storms can affect their flight paths.

Rigling will also point out the habitats of some of Mead’s year-round resident birds, such as Barred Owls and hummingbirds, for birders to spot as they walk the garden.  To help you enjoy more birds in your own backyard, Rigling will offer tips on how to attract different species using native plants, water features, and feeders. 

Rigling, a UCF grad, has been the nature coordinator for Wekiva Youth Camp since 2015 and served a 35-year career as a middle school science teacher for Orange County Public Schools. She leads field trips and bird surveys, and is on the Audubon Society Bird Chat team which produces weekly Zoom programs.