Author Archives: Joanna Reuter

Friday, August 4, 2023

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

8:00 a.m.

First Friday Fun! Join the Columbia Audubon Society for a bird walk. This walk is open to anyone who enjoys birds, and beginners are encouraged to attend. We will walk at the 3M Wetland Trail, just off the MKT Trail near Forum Blvd. We’ll meet at the Songbird Station parking lot at 8 a.m. sharp

Friday, July 7, 2023

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

8:00 a.m.

First Friday Fun! Join the Columbia Audubon Society for a bird walk. This walk is open to anyone who enjoys birds, and beginners are encouraged to attend. We will walk at the 3M Wetland Trail, just off the MKT Trail near Forum Blvd. We’ll meet at the Songbird Station parking lot at 8 a.m. sharp

Friday, June 2, 2023

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

8:00 a.m.

First Friday Fun! Join the Columbia Audubon Society for a bird walk. This walk is open to anyone who enjoys birds, and beginners are encouraged to attend. We will walk at the 3M Wetland Trail, just off the MKT Trail near Forum Blvd. We’ll meet at the Songbird Station parking lot at 8 a.m. sharp

Saturday July 15, 2023

Summer Saturday at 3M Wetlands

8:00 a.m.

Join the Columbia Audubon Society for a bird walk. This walk is open to anyone who enjoys birds, and beginners are encouraged to attend. We will walk at the 3M Wetland Trail, just off the MKT Trail near Forum Blvd. We’ll meet at the Songbird Station parking lot at 8 a.m. sharp and then drive

Saturday June 10, 2023

Summer Saturday at 3M Wetlands

8:00 a.m.

Join the Columbia Audubon Society for a bird walk. This walk is open to anyone who enjoys birds, and beginners are encouraged to attend. We will walk at the 3M Wetland Trail, just off the MKT Trail near Forum Blvd. We’ll meet at the Songbird Station parking lot at 8 a.m. sharp and then drive

Spring Field Trips and More

Spring is here, and migration is getting underway! A variety of CAS field trips and other community birding opportunities are coming up, so check out the offerings and mark your calendar.  As always, reminder notifications of CAS events go out by email; if you’re not already on the email list, be sure to sign up.

Self-guided Moss Walk Popular with Wild Haven Visitors

If your best guess for the definition of “acrocarp” involves something about a gymnastically talented fish, then you should consider taking part in the recently developed self-guided moss walk at Wild Haven Nature Area. You’ll learn what an acrocarp actually is, but the walk isn’t about memorizing scientific jargon. Instead, it’s an opportunity to become

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Kiwanis Park: Birding Without Bush Honeysuckle

7:00 a.m.

A new local nonprofit, the Missouri Conservation Corps, has worked hard to remove invasive bush honeysuckle from Kiwanis Park. See this story from the March issue of The Chat for more details. What birds will make use of this cleaned-up habitat? The Columbia Audubon Society has been asked to help find out! On May 10,

Date/time of your choice

Self-guided moss walk: Wild Haven Nature Area

Have you taken the time to examine mosses close up? And to think about the relationships between mosses and birds? We’re excited to announce a new, self-guided moss walk at Wild Haven Nature Area that encourages you to do just that! The trail guide is formatted to be easily read on a mobile device (with

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Hundred Acre Woods: Joint field trip with the Native Plant Society

8:00 a.m.

Join us for a joint field trip of the Columbia Audubon Society and the Hawthorn Chapter of the Native Plant Society at Hundred Acre Woods, a property of the Greenbelt Land Trust.  Hundred Acre Woods is a wonderful property with woodland and grassland habitats that feature high botanical biodiversity. As timing coincides with the season

Birds in Big Numbers: Snow Geese in Spring Migration

Part three in an occasional series, Birds in Big Numbers If you want to see as much biomass of a single bird species as possible, at one place and time in the state of Missouri, what should you be looking for? A blackbird roost hosting millions of birds? Nope. A high-density commercial poultry house? Nope.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Great Backyard Bird Count Feeder Crawl

As part of the 2023 Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), CAS will lead its Feeder Crawl on Saturday, February 18th. Starting at Songbird Station at 9 a.m, we’ll “crawl” to various backyard bird feeders in and around the Columbia area and count birds for at least 15 minutes at each backyard, then submit each checklist

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Heron Rookery Count at Gans Creek Recreation Area

8:00 a.m.

Field Trip Leader: Louise Flenner Every year for the past 9 years I have counted the number of herons at the rookery on March 15. There are always some returning birds on that date.  There are actually 2 rookeries.  One is more visible from the higher ground (upper) and the other from the creek area

Saturday, April 22, 2023

Migrants and Wildflowers at Wild Haven

8:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.

Late April typically combines the best of the spring woodland wildflower display with increasing migrant songbird arrivals. Where better to enjoy it than Columbia Audubon Society’s own Wild Haven Nature Area, with its mature woods along upper Hinkson Creek? In addition, there’s a small sandstone glade that hosts interesting mosses, a prairie patch, and some

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows at Rocky Fork Lakes CA

7:30 p.m.

Join us for this evening walk through the mixed habitats of Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area in northern Boone County to listen for and hopefully hear the distinct sounds of Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-will’s-widows. These nocturnal birds are hard to see but fun to hear once their song begins from dusk into darkness. Meet at 7:30

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Twilight Timberdoodle Trek at Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area

6:45 p.m.

Early spring is the time to enjoy the fascinating twilight mating displays of the American Woodcock (a.k.a Timberdoodle). We’ll walk out into the southern grasslands at Rocky Fork Lakes Conservation Area to (hopefully) enjoy this annual treat while experiencing whatever other evening bird activity develops. Meet at the end-of-road parking lot south of the lake