CAS Events Listings

Twilight Timberdoodle Trek at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

Join us for the 2026 edition of the Timberdoodle Trek! Early spring is the time to enjoy the fascinating twilight mating displays of the American woodcock (a.k.a. timberdoodle). This year, we have permission from the Missouri DNR to linger after sunset at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park‘s High Ridge Trail to (hopefully) enjoy this annual treat. We will also enjoy the sunset and look for any other evening bird activity that develops. Meet at the High Ridge Trailhead at 5:45 p.m. Parking is available in a gravel lot across the road from the trailhead, with overflow parking along S. Rock Quarry Road. From the trailhead, we hike to the top of the main hill on High Ridge Trail and wait until twilight for woodcock displays. Total walking distance will be ~1 mile roundtrip on a mowed grass trail with mild elevation gain. Sunset on the trip date is at ~6:09 (note: Daylight Savings Time kicks in the following morning).

As described by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,

American Woodcock spend most of their time hidden in fields and on the forest floor, where they probe for earthworms. They often rock back and forth while walking along the ground. On spring nights, males perform very conspicuous displays, giving a buzzy peent call, then launching into the air. Their erratic display flight includes a distinctive, twittering flight sound and ends with a steep dive back to the ground.

Photo credit Anthony Van Schoor / Maryland Biodiversity Project.

Contact: Ben West; benjwest@gmail.com

March Membership Meeting — Talk by Tim Scherrer: War Pigeon! Missouri’s role in the training of pigeons and pigeoneers in WWII

Neosho, Missouri found itself the home to Camp Crowder, a US Army Signal Corps replacement training center, built in 1942. In 1943, the Army Signal Pigeon Corps moved from New Jersey to Missouri and began operations. Camp Crowder became the training and breeding home to the pigeon corps. Several of the ten Signal Pigeon Companies the Army created in WWII were built and training at Camp Crowder. In 1946 the pigeons moved back to New Jersey, leaving an unusual history in the Missouri base that has long been forgotten.

The presentation covers the Pigeon Corps from 1917-1957, with an emphasis on the training program at Camp Crowder. It also covers the unusual field formation of the Signal Pigeon Company, the only Army formation capable of self-sustaining its own staffing due to breeding of birds. Stories of hero birds are also told. The program survived through the Korean War and was disbanded in 1957, 40 years after its creation.

Tim Scherrer, a native of Quincy, Illinois, earned both his B.A. and M.A. in History from Truman State University, where he was also named a Distinguished Military Graduate in the Army ROTC program. He also pursued additional study at University of Missouri–Columbia.

Scherrer has held a range of educational and leadership roles, including work at Truman State University, teaching Military Science and Military History at the University of Missouri–Columbia, and serving as Director of College Placement/Counseling and Instructor of American and Military History at Missouri Military Academy. He currently serves as Dean of Academics at Father Tolton Catholic High School in Columbia, Missouri.

A retired Lieutenant Colonel, Scherrer served 28 years in the United States Army Reserve as a Military Intelligence Officer. His honors include the Knowlton Award (2015) and induction into Truman State’s Army ROTC Hall of Fame. He curently resides in Columbia, Missouri.

Contact: buckinghame@missouri.edu

CANS Workday-Honeysuckle Removal with Missouri Conservation Corps

Contact: John Besser or Bill Mees

Saturday Afternoon Birding at Alspaugh Park

Join us on a field trip to one of the City of Columbia’s newest parks! Alspaugh Park is a 201-acre property where the City of Columbia, Missouri Department of Conservation, and Columbia Audubon are collaborating. Expect to spend up to 2 hours walking about 2 miles across diverse upland habitats. Wild turkeys, woodpecker, hawks, and hermit thrushes are among the birds previously observed at Alspaugh Park that might be present in March. Terrain may be uneven or muddy in places, depending on the weather. See the map attached to this post for the parking location (gravel pull-off on the south side of Mexico Gravel Road), or follow this link for directions.

Contact: Lottie Bushman, lottie.bushmann@gmail.com

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

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 (map) at 8 a.m. sharp and then drive down the hill to park near the wetlands (less than a 5 min. drive). We’ll enjoy all the Missouri birds in this natural, lush landscape. The walk is about 1.75 miles on a level, gravel trail. Waterproof shoes are recommended, but not required. After our walk, we’ll return to Songbird Station by 11 a.m. and enjoy coffee and donuts.

Contact: Lottie Bushman, lottie.bushmann@gmail.com

Shorebirds and a Social: Katy Trail and Cooper’s Landing

Join Columbia Audubon for a hybrid field trip and social event featuring a couple sections of the Katy Trail and Cooper’s Landing! Feel free to attend the field trip, the social, or both!

Our first birding location will be Columbia Wetland Unit #1, assuming water levels are suitable for shorebirds and/or waterfowl. We will meet at the McBaine Trailhead parking lot of the Katy Trail (map) at 1:00 PM. From there, we’ll walk around 1/3 of a mile out-and-back along the Katy Trail and up a small, grassy hill to Columbia Wetland Unit #1, scanning for eagles, shorebirds, swallows, and waterfowl. After the first stop, we will caravan by car to Cooper’s Landing parking lot (map), with an ETA of 2:00 PM. From there, we will plan to walk out and back along the Katy Trail north of Cooper’s Landing, planning to walk about 2 miles round trip, returning to Cooper’s Landing around 3:00 PM.

For those interested in just the social event, plan to join up with the field trip crew at Cooper’s Landing (map) around 3:00 PM. For anyone unfamiliar, it is an outdoor venue along the Missouri River that serves a variety of beverages, including beer and soft drinks; they usually have food trucks available. To find our group, look for binoculars and potentially bird plushies if we end up securing tables! If it doesn’t look like we’re there yet, feel free to text the trip leader; we probably just got caught up in some good bird activity!

Check back for updates as the trip gets closer, as details may change with shifting weather or water levels! If the weather forecast looks rainy, we will have a rain date of Saturday, April 18, 2026

Contact: Ben West; benjwest@gmail.com

Columbia Audubon April Membership Meeting: Sarah Kendrick on Tracking Migratory Songbirds to Inform Conservation Action

The Wood Thrush is an iconic bird of eastern forests and a priority for conservation in 25 U.S. states and holds threatened status in Canada. Improving our understanding of the species’ full life cycle ecology, including migration patterns between their breeding and nonbreeding ranges, is essential in order to better understand the species’ conservation needs and actions. Join Sarah to learn about an international group of over 60 bird-conservation partners undertaking a hemispheric research and conservation project across the Wood Thrush breeding and nonbreeding ranges from Canada through Costa Rica. This Motus project is the largest to date across a migratory songbird’s annul range to better understand migratory connections, routes, timing, and survival to inform conservation.

Sarah Kendrick is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Biologist and Midwest Motus Coordinator based in Columbia, MO.

Contact: buckinghame@missouri.edu

Swift Night Out: A Tour of Bird-Friendly Chimneys in Downtown Columbia

Join us to explore the architecture of downtown Columbia from the perspective of Chimney Swifts, and to watch for possible roosting activity during spring migration.

These fascinating birds use open chimneys as overnight roost sites, otherwise remaining in constant flight. Trip leaders Eric & Joanna Reuter have observed flocks of swifts roosting in chimneys on 12 downtown buildings. This walk will feature many of these locations while discussing the surprising behavioral complexity of these birds.

In addition to admiring architecture, we’ll watch and listen for all species of birds in this urban area that often has considerable avian activity. The walk is timed to arrive at the most likely sites for swift activity around sunset (7:59 p.m. on April 28), in hopes of watching some spring migration roosting action over the subsequent half an hour. The prior year’s spring Swift Night Out event featured an estimated 400 Chimney Swifts entering a roost. Migration timing and chimney choice are not entirely predictable, however, so we make no promises!

Meet at the corner of 6th and Cherry (in front of the parking garage) at 7:00 p.m. Total round trip walking distance ~2 miles on city streets. We’ll return to the starting point by approximately 8:45 p.m. Bring binoculars if you have them.

No rain date is planned, so the event will go on rain or shine, unless threat of severe weather forces cancellation. For updates, check the Columbia Audubon listing: https://www.columbia-audubon.org/swifts_spring_2026

This walk is co-sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Columbia Audubon Society.

Contact: Erin Holmes, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, erin_l_holmes@fws.gov

First Friday Bird Hike: 3M Wetlands

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 (map) at 8 a.m. sharp and then drive down the hill to park near the wetlands (less than a 5 min. drive). We’ll enjoy all the Missouri birds in this natural, lush landscape. The walk is about 1.75 miles on a level, gravel trail. Waterproof shoes are recommended, but not required. After our walk, we’ll return to Songbird Station by 11 a.m. and enjoy coffee and donuts.

Contact: Lottie Bushman, lottie.bushmann@gmail.com

May 2026 Potluck and Bird Walk at Bonnie View and CANS

Contact: Lottie Bushman, lottie.bushmann@gmail.com