Past Events

Saturday, Oct 28, 2017

Hart Creek CA and Katy Trail field trip

We will hike for 3-4 miles and will return by noon. Bring bug spray and anything you need for a hike. For more information on Hart Creek Conservation area: https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/hart-creek-ca Leader: Eric Seaman, 573-529-0530 Carpool departs 7:30am from the AC Commuter Parking Lot.

Saturday, November 4th, 2017

Field Trip to Smithville Lake

10am

We will leave Moser’s at 8:00 am and meet with Grand River Audubon at the Crows Creek Shelter at around 10:00 am viewing the lake from there and the dam until 3:00 pm arriving home by 5:00 pm. We will be eating at the lake so a sack lunch will be necessary. Bring:  Sack lunch,

Saturday, November 11th, 2017

Field Trip to Binder Lake

8:00 am

The lot is on the southeast corner of the AC exit off Hwy 63 on Lenoir St.  If you’re not joining the carpool, meet at the tackle shop on the north side of the lake at 8:40 a.m.  where we will join with River Bluff Audubon Society. After the trip we’ll have lunch near Binder

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

November CAS meeting: “Photo Pot-Luck“

7:00 p.m.

No, dinner won’t be shared (just the usual snacks). But we hope you will share a few of your favorite photos, and a few minutes of your time, with other participants at our November meeting. This is an opportunity to show and tell the group about your favorite photo-documented natural event of the past year

Saturday, November 18th, 2017

Long Branch Lake field trip

We leave Moser’s at 7:00 a.m. and return by 3:00 p.m. Mostly driving and stopping at viewpoints looking for gulls, grebes, loons, waterfowl, and a possible Northern Shrike. With a possible easy trail walk. Bring:  Binoculars, and spotting scope and FRS radio if you have one.

Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017

BIRDWISE! childrens’ program

2pm

Become bird wise as you uncover the unique adaptations of birds through activities that look closely at their beaks, feet and feathers. Presented by members of the Columbia Audubon Society in the Childrens Program Room at the Columbia branch of the Daniel Boone Regional Library. Free! Ages 8-15. Parents welcome. To register, call the library at

Saturday, Dec 2, 2017

Free Woodpecker Seminar

1pm

Bring a friend to Songbird Station (2010 Chapel Plaza Ct.) for a FREE Woodpecker Seminar including Q&A presented by Julie and Jim Lundsted. Saturday, Dec 2, 2017 at 1pm.

Saturday, December 2nd, 2017

Field Trip to Chert Hollow Farm

8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Leader:  Eric & Joanna Reuter Contact Info:  eric@cherthollowfarm.com 573-474-0989 or Eric Wood ewood802@yahoo.com 573-673-0215   Come explore the 40 acres of mixed woods and fields managed by CAS members Eric & Joanna Reuter in northern Boone County (about 15-20 minutes from Columbia). We’ll look for winter birds and observe their behavior in a variety of habitats; our

Saturday, December 16th

Annual Christmas Bird Count

Throughout the day

We will be counting birds within a 15 mile radius of Rock Bridge Elementary school in south Columbia. This count circle is broken into many areas, each with a leader and helpers who try to find and count as many of the early-winter birds as possible. Most groups start early (sometimes before sunrise) and count

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Christmas Bird Count Chili Supper Potluck

6:00 p.m.

This is the annual chili supper potluck following the Christmas Bird Count, at which we share food and company while reporting and compiling the results of the day-long count. The potluck will start at 6 p.m. at Fairview Road Community of Christ Church, 1111 S. Fairview Road in Columbia. Table service and hot and cold

Monday, January 1st

Cancelled – Field Trip to Forum Nature Area and Twin Lakes

1:30 p.m.

Due to extreme cold predicted for Monday it has been decided to cancel this field trip.  

Saturday, January 6th

Field Trip to Grasslands Trail – Rock Bridge SP

8:00 am

This area was burned in March 2017 and hosts a great display of prairie grasslands teeming with prairie plant seeds and lots of sparrows and raptors. The 2 mile trail passes by natural sinkhole ponds that sometimes harbor wetland birds. A section of the trail traverses woodlands with open canopy structure and lots of woodpeckers.

Wednesday, January 17th, 2018

January CAS Meeting: Presentation by Sarah Kendrick (State Ornithologist for MDC)

7:00 p.m.

Speaker: Sarah Kendrick, State Ornithologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation Title: Technology and Tracking Bird Migration: What We Are Learning and How You Can Help Tracking birds during migration is a rapidly growing field of ornithological study due to development of new technologies that improve each year. Tracking devices small enough to be placed

Saturday, January 27th

Field Trip to Riverlands and Columbia Bottoms

6:00 a.m.

  WE will meet the St Louis Audubon Society group at Riverlands (Teal Pond parking lot) at 8:00 AM. Should be a great chance to see lots of swans and other wintering water birds, if the weather cooperates! The SLAS trip will last all day and the CAS group will plan to return to Columbia no later

Saturday, Feb. 3

Free Feeder & Seed Pairing Workshop

10AM

Songbird Station is excited to partner with the Columbia Audubon Society in what promises to be an informative and fun workshop on Missouri’s backyard birds, how to make your backyard habitat more amenable for birds, and information on this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count (going on February 16-19). Songbird Station’s General Manager & birding enthusiast

Saturday, February 10th

CANCELED: Field Trip to Eagle Bluff CA

9 a.m. until 12 p.m.

Canceled due to the forecast for wintry precipitation and lack of open water for water birds.

Saturday, February 17th

Great Backyard Bird Count Feeder Crawl

8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.

  The Feeder Crawl will start at Songbird Station at 8 a.m. From there 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 to eBird.  The trip will last about 2 to 3 hours and return

Saturday, February 24th

CAS Lake Tour 2018

8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

  We will leave the AC commuter parking lot at 8 a.m. and visit as many lakes as we can until noon in search of ducks and geese.  Phillips, R-1, and Little Dixie Lake will be visited, along with other lakes around Columbia. If it happens that the lakes are frozen we will visit Bradford

Saturday, March 3rd

Field Trip to Eagle Bluffs CA

9 a.m. until 12 p.m.

  We will drive through Eagle Bluffs, stopping to look and set up scopes if we see something at a distance and finish around noon. Bring:  Binoculars, and spotting scope and FRS radio if you have one. Leader: John Besser Contact Info: jbesser1@gmail.com  

Thursday, March 8th

Return of the Twilight Timberdoodle Trek

5:30 p.m.

Meet at Rocky Fork Lakes CA parking lot at 5:30 p.m. finished by 7:00 p.m. The goal for this evening field trip is to hear and see (hopefully!) the twilight mating ritual of the American Woodcock (AKA Timberdoodle).  Please bring a flashlight.   Here’s a description of the Timberdoodle’s mating behavior from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Woodcock/id : “American Woodcock spend most

Saturday, March 17th

Field Trip to Gans Creek Recreation Area

8:00 am

We’ll meet at the Gans Creek Recreation Area parking lot and go on a rambling hike.  There is small brush cover, trees, a nicely secluded pond that has had ducks and migrants.  We’ll check for the return of Great Blue Herons to the rookeries.  By recent count the upper nests have decreased by half and the

Wednesday, March 21st

March Meeting: Book Discussion of The Genius of Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman

7:00-8:30 p.m.

This event has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 21st due to icy conditions on the original February date. This will also function as the CAS general meeting for March. Years ago, a Common Raven on the Channel Islands (off the coast of California) discovered and opened a zippered pocket in our long-used backpack, a pocket

Sunday, March 25, 2018

The Many Uses of Native Plants For Your Yard

10AM

Featuring native plant expert, Dr. Nadia Navarrete-Tindall. Nadia will be joined by the City of Columbia’s stormwater engineer, Dillon Flesner and community conservationist, Danielle Fox. Learn from the experts how to use native plants in your yard for stormwater mitigation, wildlife habitat, and edible landscaping. Location: Unite4Health Community Garden next to Columbia/Boone County Public Health

Cedar Creek valley from the Smith Creek Trail, Mark Twain National Forest - photo by Joanna Reuter

Saturday, March 31

Field Trip to Smith Creek Trail, Mark Twain National Forest

8:30 a.m. to noon

We’ll hike the Smith Creek Trail south along Cedar Creek along the Boone/Callaway County border. This trail crosses a historic bridge and ascends to beautiful blufftop views along the Cedar Creek valley; we’ll follow this a mile or so to the tributary Smith Creek.  We hope to observe a variety of early spring birds in

Saturday, April 7

Basic Birding Skills class

8:00 a.m. to noon

CAS members Eric & Joanna Reuter are offering this one-time, four-hour class for beginning birders through the Columbia Area Career Center. Offered annually for the past three years, the class uses the various habitats at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area to practice observational and listening skills and consider bird behavior. The focus is on skill development

Saturday, April 14th

Field Trip to Bradford Farm

7:00 a.m.

We will meet at the Bradford Farm Visitor’s Center parking lot at 7 a.m. from which John Besser is leading a 3 hour Bird Watching Walk before the Native Plant Day Sale.  We hope to find Smith’s Longspurs, Le Conte’s Sparrows, and other grassland specialists.  We will be walking in the fields so wear comfortable

Purple Coneflowers - used with permission from the Prairie Garden Trust

Wednesday, April 18

April Meeting: Sharing the Magic of Nature at the Prairie Garden Trust

7:00 p.m.

The April membership meeting, held at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, 2615 Shepard Blvd, Columbia MO, will consist of a presentation by Lorna and Henry Domke. Lorna will tell the story of the Prairie Garden Trust (PGT), a public nature garden and birding hot spot just south of Fulton, MO. Using images of the property taken by Henry,

Saturday, April 21st

Field Trip to Prairie Garden Trust

7:00 a.m.

We will explore the savanna area overlooking miles of forests, walk along Hillers Creek, explore the native prairies that are sustained by prescribed burns and walk along the lotus ponds.  If meeting at PGT be there by 7:40 AM.  For directions or to learn more about PGT please visit their website at http://prairiegardentrust.org/

Saturday April 28, 2018

Dig In: Tree Planting at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary

9:00 a.m.

As a participant in the city’s Adopt-a-Trail project, the Columbia Audubon Society adopted a quarter-mile segment of the Scott’s Branch Trail.  Last fall, as a first step, all the bush honeysuckle was removed from this section of the trail, but improving habitat requires more than removing invasives. Mark your calendar for April 28th when 200

Sunday, April 29

Beginning Birder Event: Guided bird walks at the 3M wetlands

Any time between 1:00–4:00 p.m.

Are you a beginning birder? A backyard bird-watcher who would like to learn how to find and identify birds away from the feeders? Or a casual birder who wants to improve their birding skills? This event will help less-experienced birders enjoy the wealth of bird species that will migrate through mid-Missouri this spring or return

Tuesday, May 1st

Field Trip to Rock Bridge Memorial SP

8:00 am

This field trip is open to all.  Beginners are especially encouraged.  We will be looking for spring migrants and emphasis will be on everyone seeing and learning how to identify what we find.  We will begin by birding the Devil’s Icebox parking lot, then move out along trails at a slow birding pace.  End time

Sunday, May 6 and Sunday, May 13

Work days at Wild Haven Nature Area

2:00 to 5:00 p.m. both days

Come help get this area ready for our spring picnic meeting. We will focus on cleaning up around the workshop building (picking up and bagging trash) and the picnic shelter (weed whacking, raking). If time and conditions permit, we will also burn brush piles and clear trails. Bring a pickup truck or other vehicle we

Tuesday, May 8

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

7:30 p.m. to 9-ish.

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 enjoy 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. We’ll meet before

Wednesday, May 16

May Meeting: Picnic at Wild Haven Nature Area

4:00 walk, 6:00 picnic

Join us for our traditional May meeting picnic, this year at Columbia Audubon’s Wild Haven Nature Area northeast of Columbia. Feel free to arrive any time after 4:00 p.m. to explore the property and enjoy its diverse habitats and birds. Around 6:00 we’ll gather at the main shelter for a potluck picnic dinner. Please bring

Saturday, May 19

Field Trip to Chert Hollow Farm

8:00 a.m. to noon

Come explore this diverse landscape in northern Boone County, where CAS members Eric & Joanna Reuter have worked for over a decade to integrate environmentally friendly food production into the broader ecosystem. We’ll use our local knowledge to seek out warblers and spring wildflowers along a forested stream, observe the birds using our fields and

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

[Of Interest] CoMO Public Workshop on the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan

5:30pm

Climate change will intensify heat waves, droughts, and flooding in Columbia. How can we reduce our community’s impact on climate change and prepare our homes and neighborhoods? How should Columbia invest time and money to reduce emissions and build resilience? Join fellow Columbians on May 22 from 5:30-7:30pm for a community-wide workshop to share your

Saturday, May 26th

Field Trip to Hinkson Creek Nature Preserve and Big Sky Nature Preserve

8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

  This will be short bird surveys at both sights (about 1 ½ hours each) starting with Hinkson Creek across the road from Capon Park then Big Sky Preserve down by Easley. Hinkson Creek Nature Preserve is located between 2 bends of the Hinkson Creek near downtown Columbia, it includes floodplain forest, upland woodland, and meadow. The site connects with city recreational land,

Thursday, May 31, 2018

[Of Interest] ABC’s of Climate Change

8:30pm

ABC’s of Climate Change: How do we know the climate is changing and what is causing it? The science behind climate change in an easy to understand form. Speaker: Dr. Michael Urban, Associate Professor and Department Chair, Geography, University of Missouri. Dr. Urban regularly teaches classes on the science of climate change and does research

Eastern Phoebe fledgling; photo by Joanna Reuter

CAS summer schedule

The Columbia Audubon Society does not publish a monthly newsletter during June, July, or August. Although we will continue to update the website with summer events and field trips (several are planned), and reminder emails will still be sent to those who are subscribed to the relevant email lists, there will be no full newsletter

Thursday, July 12

Introduction to Bird Song Program

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Why and how do birds sing? How can sound help you identify them?  We’ll touch on these questions and more as we explore the fascinating language of birds, with an emphasis on local species. This hour-long program will include an introduction to sonagrams (visual representations of bird vocalizations) and examples of how to listen to,

Monday, July 16

Eagle Bluffs Documentary Airing on KMOS

8:00 p.m.

A recent documentary about Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area will be shown on public television on the evening of Monday, July 16. As recounted in a nice article from the Missourian earlier this year, The wetlands, along with the citizen activism and government collaboration that helped make them what they are, are the focus of a

Wednesday, August 8

Evening bird walk at Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary

7-8:00 p.m.

Listening to and identifying bird vocalizations is a fun and useful skill. We’ll take an evening walk around the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS), placing an emphasis on hearing what the local birds are doing and saying while practicing skills for noticing and recognizing their sounds. Come join us on what should be a pleasant

Sunday, August 26th

Field Trip to Eagle Bluffs CA

8:00 am

This is a joint field trip with MoBCI. We will meet at the Katy Trail parking lot in McBaine at 8:00 a.m. where we will carpool thru Eagle Bluffs stopping to look and set up scopes if we see something at a distance. Bring:  Binoculars, and spotting scope and FRS radio if you have one.

Friday, September 7th

Field Trip to Rock Bridge Mem. State Park

8:00 am

This trip is especially for beginner birders. Everyone welcome – experienced birders please come and share the fun. We will bird the parking lot and walk trails.  We’ll be done by 11:00 a.m.  Anyone is free to leave before that.

Friday, September 7th

Field Trip to Rock Bridge Memorial SP

8:00 am to 11:00 am

This trip is especially for beginner birders. Everyone welcome – experienced birders please come and share the fun. We will bird the parking lot and walk trails.  We’ll be done by 11:00 a.m.  Anyone is free to leave before that.

Sun. September 16th

September Meeting: Picnic at Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary

4:00 p.m.

The Columbia Audubon Society will begin its new year with our members and friends through socializing, birding, and eating at the Bonnie View Nature Sanctuary shelter. The event will be a potluck, for which CAS will provide a meat course (pulled pork and turkey) and water. To help CAS make this a greener event, we

Saturday, September 22nd

Field Trip to Little Dixie Lake and Tucker Prairie

7:30 am

We will leave from the Moser’s on Keene Street at 730 AM and carpool to Little Dixie. We’ll stop at the west-side parking lot on Highway J, at the main parking lot at the dam and at the east side parking lot and see which areas look promising. We will let the birds decide where we spend our time. (If

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Bird Walk for Children

3:00pm

Join us for a bird walk for children and their parents. This walk is open to children who have an interest in nature and birds, aged 8 to 15. We’ll meet at the Forum Nature Area parking lot and walk on the MKT trail to the east to walk in the 3M Wetlands. We’ll plan

Saturday, Oct 21, 2017

Bradford Farms field trip

7:30am

We will leave the Auditorium parking lot at 7:30 a.m. to explore Bradford Farms until around 11 a.m. A mostly walking field trip looking for sparrows, raptors, and a mix of late summer birds and early winter migrants. Leader: Brad Jacobs

Tuesday, October 2nd

Field Trip to Columbia Wilderness Sanctuary

8:00 a.m.

Note: This is not the Columbia Audubon Sanctuary, see below for directions. Leader: Edge Wade, edgew@mchsi.com We will bird for about 2 hours along a wide mowed paths through the 37 acre sanctuary in the Hinkson Creek valley. Expect a good variety of woodland birds. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with the Columbia