In this issue:

• Note from the President
• Christmas Bird Count and Chili Supper on Dec. 20
• CAS Eternal
• CoMoGives Campaign Begins
• Winter Finch Forecast 2025-2026
• Field Trip to Stephen’s Lake Park!
• Statement on Bike Trail at Gans Creek Recreation Area
• Background on a Growing Issue at Gans Creek Recreational Area
• Note from the President
• Article with CAS Representing on the Big Business of Birding
• Upcoming Events

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

Note from the President

by Lottie Bushmann, President

Greetings all! It appears that winter has arrived a bit early with this cold blast coming on the heels of Thanksgiving. I spent some time this past week reflecting over all I am grateful for in my life. My birding community is near the top of the list. I find that birding helps ground me in stressful times, challenges my skills (always!), and brings me around people that I like and respect. Thank you for being a part of this amazing Columbia birding community!

I hope that you’ll consider taking part in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) this year. If you’ve not heard from your team leader yet, email them to find out the plan. If you’ve not participated before I hope you’ll read the details in this month’s Chat and reach out to me so we can get you on a team. It brings all the best in our community together.

Our annual CoMoGives fundraising campaign begins on December 1 and runs through December 31. We use these funds to support educators, to continue our education mission, and to care for our properties, including work removing invasives and burning our prairie. If you can, please consider making an additional gift this year. Thank you for supporting CAS.

Whatever this holiday season holds for you, I hope you can spend some of it soaking up nature. Maybe you’ll spot some of those special finch species we’re watching for this year!

Best wishes,

Lottie

 

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

Christmas Bird Count and Chili Supper on Dec. 20

by Lottie Bushmann

With all our section leaders in place for this year, the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a go! Thankfully, birding is a safe, outdoor activity and we have plenty of birders in Columbia that plan to do just that. We will send out our teams on Saturday Dec. 20^th. Please contact your section leader if you have worked with someone in the past to get details for your job. If you haven’t participated recently (or are a newbie!) please email me at lottie.bushmann@gmail.com and we’ll get you on a team.  All experience levels are welcome.

• Columbia Audubon has a strong tradition with participation in this amazing citizen scientist project. Please read Bill Clark’s article in the Nov. 2021 Chat at this link  History of the Christmas Bird Count  to learn more about this historic event. Plan to use safe practices if riding in a car.
• We’ll use ebird to compile our data as well as a count during the Chili Supper. Simply share your ebird lists from the day with the username: casbirddata.
• Not interested in going out to bird but would like your feeder birds included in the count? If your home is within our 16 mile count circle, you can submit an ebird list and share it with casbirddata. If you’re not sure if your home is in the area, email me and I’ll help you figure it out. Not an ebird user? You can still participate by emailing me a list of your yardbirds and I can submit an ebird list on your behalf. This is another fun way to become involved and make your birds count.
• We’ll top off the day at 5:30 with a chili supper at Fairview Community of Christ Church, 1111 S. Fairview Rd., where participants can chat about their day and share stories. We’ll look at species totals and see how this year stacks up against previous years. The Chili Supper is potluck. We need contributions of chili, bread, veggies and desserts. We hope to see you there!

LOOK FOR CBC RESULTS in the January CHAT newsletter.

QUESTIONS? Ask John Besser (jbesser1 at gmail.com) or Lottie Bushmann (lottie.bushmann at gmail.com)

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

CAS Eternal

by Allison Vaughn

CAS lost three longtime leaders and members in recent months. These three powerhouses were not only exceptional birders but incredible leaders who guided the organization to be a strong force in Columbia.

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

CoMoGives Campaign Begins

by Lisa Schenker

Columbia Audubon Society is participating in the 2025 CoMoGives fundraising campaign for the 11^th year. This annual fundraising drive for local non-profit organizations begins Monday, December 1^st and ends on Wednesday, December 31^st.

CAS has been very fortunate to have members and friends who support our mission… “to preserve the natural world and its ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and the earth’s biological diversity, through education, environmental study and habit restoration and protection.” Thanks to the generous contributors made in 2024, we surpassed our goal of $10,000!

We hope you will consider donating during the campaign to help fund projects such as prairie restoration, educational programs and conservation efforts.

Consider donating in honor or memory of a relative or friend. Or contact your friends, relatives and neighbors and encourage them to consider donating to a cause close to your heart (and binoculars!) If you’re an enthusiastic Audubon member, donor, or just a fan, your support would be greatly appreciated!

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

Winter Finch Forecast 2025-2026

by Lottie Bushmann

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

Field Trip to Stephen’s Lake Park!

by Edge Wade

Eleven birders joined field trip leader Ben West for a pleasantly warm afternoon birding around Stephens Lake Park on Sunday, November 16.  Most of the attendees saw about 20 species of good variety for the season.  Highlights included a Sharp-shinned Hawk high overhead, and a Northern Mockingbird at a short distance on a fence.

Mon. Dec. 1, 2025

Statement on Bike Trail at Gans Creek Recreation Area

by Allison Vaughn

The Parks and Recreation Department has designed a network of bike paths at Gans Creek Recreation Area. One is in an ecologically sensitive area next to Gans Creek and Rock Bridge Memorial State Park’s Gans Creek Wild Area, a designated area that does not allow bicycles. CAS and the Sierra Club have hopes that Parks and Recreation will designate this sensitive area as a Nature Area and reroute the bike path through a different area.

Gans Creek Recreation Area Fact Sheet

November 2025

Endorsed by Mid-Missouri Chapter of Sierra Club, Columbia Audubon Society, Friends of Rock Bridge State Park, and Missouri Coalition for the Environment

 

We propose to designate Gans Creek Nature Preserve (about 140 acres) within Gans Creek Recreation Area (about 320 acres).  Recreational development would focus on uses that are compatible with the high ecological significance and sensitive natural features in this area and improve the core habitat connectivity with Gans Creek Wild Area to the west.  Compatible recreational development would include low-impact footpaths, interpretive displays, and opportunities to participate in habitat restoration, and would exclude bike trails.

 

1. Gans Creek Recreation Area shares a common border with Gans Creek Wild Area within Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. These public lands together form an important, core natural habitat that has been recognized by national and statewide organizations.  No other City Park land is so ecologically important based on connectivity and landscape context.
   1. The area is at the northeast edge of an Important Bird Area designated by the American Bird Conservancy and The National Audubon Society.
   2. The area is within a Conservation Opportunity Area designated by Missouri Department of Conservation.
   3. Gans Creek is designated an Outstanding State Resource Water by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources immediately downstream within Gans Creek Wild Area.
2. The area contains natural features, including the creek, karst topography (cave and sinkholes), highly erodible soils, and steep slopes that are recognized as sensitive to development and disturbance by the City’s Natural Resource Inventory (2023) and Columbia Imagined (2013).
3. City master plans for Gans Creek Recreation Area in 2010 and 2018 included a 87.5-acre natural preservation area along Gans Creek and adjacent steep slopes, but these plans were ignored by the 2024 development plan.
4. The Columbia Climate Action and Adaptation Plan specifies action to “Manage publicly-owned natural areas to enhance and maintain diverse native communities.”
5. Despite the area’s natural ecological significance and highly sensitive features, and in opposition to the City’s own 2010 and 2018 park development plans and the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, the City proposed a high density of mountain bike trails for development. Bike trails north of Gans Creek were approved for development in late 2024.  A trail south of Gans Creek was put on hold by the City Council due to advocacy of environmental groups.  That trail originally crossed Gans Creek, had switchbacks that crossed a steep upland drainage 4 times, and consisted of high density in sensitive uplands with karst features and highly erodible soils.
6. Mountain bike trail construction and use is inherently more destructive to the environment compared to nature trail development, causing removal of native vegetation and increased levels of soil erosion and sedimentation of Gans Creek. These results have already been witnessed during construction of the first bike trail at Gans Creek Recreation Area.
7. Increased disturbance from a mountain bike trail will be exacerbated by climate change, which will cause more frequent high intensity rainfall events and flooding. Increased erosion would damage Gans Creek, both within Gans Creek Recreation Area and segments downstream.
8. Development of mountain bike trails would effectively exclude other recreational users who favor a nature trail system due to competition between mountain bikers and hikers as has occurred in other communities with dual purpose trails.
9. Mountain bike trails adjacent to Gans Creek Wild Area would risk bikes trespassing onto that property, where biking is not permitted. Any trespass would degrade the experience of users of Gans Creek Wild Area.

 

Proposed specially designated Gans Creek Nature Preserve (about 140 acres) with Gans Creek Recreation Area.

 

Wed. Oct. 1, 2025

Background on a Growing Issue at Gans Creek Recreational Area

by David Diamond

Gans Creek Recreation Area Fact Sheet

1. Gans Creek Recreation Area shares a common border with Gans Creek Wild Area within Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. These public lands together form an important, core natural habitat that has been recognized by national and statewide organizations.  No other City Park land is so ecologically important based on connectivity and landscape context.
   1. The area is at the northeast edge of an Important Bird Area designated by the American Bird Conservancy and The Audubon Society.
   2. The area is within a Conservation Opportunity Area designated by Missouri Department of Conservation.
   3. Gans Creek is designated an Outstanding State Resource Water by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources immediately downstream within Gans Creek Wild Area.
2. The area contains natural features, including the creek, karst topography (cave and sinkholes), highly erodible soils, and steep slopes that are recognized as sensitive to development and disturbance by the City’s Natural Resource Inventory (2023) and Columbia Imagined (2013).
3. City plans in 2010 and 2018 included a 87.5-acre natural preservation area along Gans Creek and adjacent steep slopes, but these plans were ignored by the 2024 development plan.
4. Despite the area’s natural ecological significance and highly sensitive features, and in opposition to the City’s own 2010 and 2018 development plans, the City proposed a high density of mountain bike trails for development. Bike trails north of Gans Creek were approved for development in late 2024.  A trail south of Gans Creek was put on hold by the City Council due to advocacy of environmental groups.  That trail originally crossed Gans Creek, had switchbacks that crossed a steep upland drainage 4 times, and consisted of high density in sensitive uplands with karst features and highly erodible soils.
5. Mountain bike trail construction and use is inherently destructive to the environment compared to nature trail development, causing removal of native vegetation and increased levels of soil erosion and sedimentation of Gans Creek.
6. Development of mountain bike trails would effectively exclude other recreational users who favor a nature trail system due to competition between mountain bikers and hikers as has occurred in other communities with dual purpose trails.
7. Environmental groups propose to designate Gans Creek Nature Preserve (about 140 acres) within Gans Creek Recreation Area (about 320 acres) and limit development to uses that are compatible with the sensitive natural features, such as nature trails, and preserve and improve the core connectivity with Gans Creek Wild Area. Ecological restoration should be a focus of future management plans.

 

Tue. Apr. 1, 2025

Note from the President

by Lottie Bushmann

Spring has finally sprung!  I love seeing the daffodils and crocuses, along with all the buds on the trees. Bird activity has certainly picked up, and the migrants are continuing to drop in. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for another migratory season of confusing and exhilarating bird song. Every year it takes me a few times to remember the migrants from last spring, but every year it comes back a little quicker. Don’t be daunted—pull out your Merlin and start hunting. You’re sure to find a jewel among the branches.

I hope that you’ll plan to make CAS events a part of your spring. We have a very different April general meeting. It will be held at Ellis Library, adjacent to the Museum of Art and Archaeology, where Dr. Alicia Dissinger will talk to us about her research into bird imagery on ancient pottery. We can test our skills with a visit into the museum immediately after her talk. She will be here on campus for two talks, and you’re invited to both! Check out the details (including where to park) on our website and in this month’s Chat.

We have fabulous field trip birding opportunities available as well, and I hope you can join us for one or all of them. Nothing improves birding skills quite like hanging out with an expert that can zero you in on the important details to notice. It’s also a great way to meet like-minded folks and perhaps meet a new friend that you might enjoy birding with.

We had a fantastic March meeting, with Isaac Breuer sharing with us all the native plant work they have done at the A. L. Gustin golf course on the MU campus. Plans are in the works for an evening field trip to bird the golf course with Isaac. Watch the Chat next month for details.

You may have noticed a lot of emails from Audubon asking for volunteers to help with invasives control at Wild Haven. We have a young man working with us (using funds from a donation for this purpose) and more folks makes for greater coverage. Wild Haven is a jewel of a property and looking better by the day. Thanks to all who’ve participated, and I want to encourage you to check it out if you’re so inclined.

Happy Spring! Hope to see you on the trail!

 

Mon. Mar. 3, 2025

Article with CAS Representing on the Big Business of Birding

by Allison Vaughn

Here’s a nice article several CAS members contributed to last year on the economic impact of birding:

https://www.missouribusinessalert.com/industries/booming-birding-business-spurs-spending-encourages-conservation-in-missouri/article_921f6230-e8c8-11ef-a458-3314da13ea2f.html

Upcoming Events

Saturday Morning Birding at Perche Creek Trail

Saturday, December 13, 2025 | 9:00 AM

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Christmas Bird Count and Potluck Chili Supper — Saturday, December 20

Saturday, December 20, 2025

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Winter Weeknight Social at Bur Oak Brewing Co.

Tuesday, January 13, 2026 | 5:00 PM to ~6:30 PM

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