by Bill Mees, Conservation Chair

Below is an edited version of a Chat article submitted in 2024 by Edge Wade.  It is encouraging birders to begin the process of building the bird list for Alspaugh Park, a new Columbia park.  It’s easy to forget there are new destinations to explore and report.  Put this park on your list of hot spots to visit, you’ll be glad you did.

Originally submitted (Sept. 2024) by Edge Wade and edited for October 2026

The Missouri Birding Society(MBS) and Columbia Audubon Society (CAS) are providing bird occurrence at Alspaugh Park in Columbia. Stipulations in the gift of the park land to the City of Columbia include proscriptions of many typical park development features (playground, athletic fields, etc.). This is to be a nature park!

You are encouraged to bird the park and submit eBird checklists for the two hotspots designated for the park: Alspaugh Park for the portion on the south side of Mexico Gravel Road, and Alspaugh Park—Christmas Tree Farm for the areas north of Mexico Gravel Road.

The park has a very good variety of habitats. Join the fun of watching the eBird checklists grow as the seasons progress. You may bird there alone or in a group. Parking is at small lot on the south side of Mexico Gravel Road, east of the bridge over Hinkson Creek.