Birding

Missouri's Important Bird Area (IBA) Program

Three Local SLAS Members Discover a Rare Bird in Florida in March, 2007

Big Plans for Riverland's Habitat Improvement

SLAS 2009 Trips

see schedule below

The Saint Louis Audubon society hosts a number of field trips throughout the year. Although most of the trips occur in the St. Louis area, they also include day trips a few miles away, and week-end trips to the best birding areas in Missouri and Illinois. Information about the trip locations and travel directions for each site are available on at the botton of this page. You may also access this information quickly by clicking on the location names that are underlined. This year we are including the schedule of Sunday walks offered by WGNSS and St. Louis Audubon Society as a joint effort, so there is no excuse for not going birding with us this year! To see a listing of the Sunday walks go to the following link from the WGNSS website. http://levee.wustl.edu/~rlk/wgnss/field_trips.html Most local half-day birding trips end by noon. Bring binoculars and bird books and meet at the designated site--click on site to get directions. For information contact Pat Lueders at pllueders479@aol.com or call her at (314-359-9364).

Upcoming Saint Louis Audubon Society

Date Day Time Meeting Place Leader
May 30 Saturday 7:30 am Lost Valley/ Blue Grosbeak traill
1/2d/h/gb/frs
New meeting place:
Blue Grosbeak trail		 Mike Grant
June 6 Saturday 7:30 am Columbia Bottom/RMBS
1/2d/h		 Pat Lueders
June 20 Saturday 5:45 am Blue Grosbeak Trail/Lost Valley
1/2 d/h 		Mike Grant
July 25 Saturday 7:00 am BK Leach CA
ad/cp/h/bl/frs
Josh Uffman

FIELD TRIP DESCRIPTION KEY

RR—reservations required; please consult the newsletter, MO.BIRDS announcement, or the website ½1/2 d—this is scheduled for a half-day trip, usually ending before noon
ad—this is an all day trip usually ending in the late afternoon
cp---we will have a carpool option to sites that are farther than 30 miles from central St. Louis County. The meeting place for those trips will be listed under the Event Locations section of the calendar.
w---this trip involves light walking over smooth trails
h--- moderate hiking over an extended period w/ some rough terrain
bl—bring your lunch and water since food might not be available for purchase-if stopping for lunch, this will be noted in trip announcement
gb—trip is very good for beginners but all levels of birders will be present frs—please bring your frs radio set at station 11/22 to stay in contact

EVENT LOCATIONS:

There are a number of reliable birding sites within 50 miles of the St. Louis City limits. Although this list is by no means complete, it contains many of the best sites in the area. These locations and many more are detailed in Birds of the St. Louis Area: Where and When to Find Them.

Babler State Park

Take Hwy 44 to Hwy 109 and go north past Manchester Rd.
Take Hwy BA to the park entrance.
From I-64, take the Long Rd. exit in Chesterfield Valley and go south to Wild Horse Creek Rd. Turn right and follow this road to Hwy 109.
Go left on 109 and take BA to the park entrance.
Meet at the Visitor Center’s parking lot.

Baldwin Lake (carpool)

Meet at the commuter lot at Hwy 270 and Hwy 30 west, at 12:00 pm if you wish to car pool.
Take Hwy 270 across the Jefferson Barracks Bridge to IL.
Take Hwy 3 south to Redbud. Go east on Hwy 154 to Baldwin, IL.
Follow the signs in town to Lake Baldwin.
Meet at the parking lot inside the gate.

Blue Grosbeak Trail (Busch)

Take Hwy 94 south from Hwy 40.
About ¼ mile down Hwy 94 there will be a parking lot and gate on your left.
Meet in the parking lot.

BK Leach (carpool)

Meet in the southeast corner of the Dierberg’s parking lot at the southwest side of the junction of Hwy 70 and Hwy 79 45 minutes before the start of the trip.
Birding will be done along Hwy 79 towards the trip destination.

Busch Conservation Area

Take Hwy 94 south from Hwy 40.
About ½ mile down the road, turn right on Hwy D.
Go about 1 ½ miles to the entrance on the right.
Turn left at the T to Hampton Lake.
Meet in the parking lot.

Carlyle Lake (carpool)

See trip announcement for meeting place if you wish to car pool.
Take I-64 east across the Poplar St. Bridge.
Exit I-64 at Hwy 50 east toward Carlyle.
Follow Hwy 50 to Hwy 127 and turn left at the junction.
Turn right and meet at the McDonald’s parking lot.

 

Columbia Bottoms

Off Hwy 270 east, take Riverview Blvd. exit and turn left (north).
Go about 3 miles to the entrance on the right and make the first left at Visitor’s Center.
Meet in the parking lot.

Cuivre River State Park (carpool): Meet at the car pool lot on the southeast side of the Hwy 94 exit off Hwy 40.

Emmenegger Park

Go west on Watson Rd., just east of Hwy 44.
Turn right onto Geyer Rd.
Cross over 44 and make the 1 st left onto Craigwold Rd.
Follow the road over Hwy 270 and turn left.
Proceed to the entrance of the park on the right.

Forest Park

From the corner of Skinker & Clayton Rds, go north on Skinker 1/2 block to Wells Rd. and turn right into the park. Go past Government Dr. on Wells till you reach the sign for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest and a triangular MDC sign on your left. Turn left and proceed back to the parking area with restrooms and a picnic shelter. We will meet there.

Horseshoe Lake

Take I-70 east across the Poplar St. Bridge.
Exit at Hwy 111 (exit 6) and turn left.
Go about 2 miles to the State Park entrance.
Meet at the 1st parking lot on the right.

Lost Valley Trail

Go south on Hwy 94 from Hwy 40 about 5.7 miles to the Lost Valley Trailhead on the right.

Mallard Lake Trail

Meet at the Lake House Restaurant parking lot.
Go west on Hwy 364 to the Maryland Heights Expressway exit.
Go north to Creve Coeur Mill Rd.
Turn right and go south, cross under Hwy 364, and look for the restaurant/parking lot on your left.

Powder Valley Nature Center

Go west on Watson Rd, just east of Hwy 44.
Turn right onto Geyer Rd.
Cross over Hwy 44 and make the 1 st left onto Craigwold Rd.
Follow the road for about 1 mile to the entrance on the right before crossing over Hwy 270.

Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary

Hwy 367 north from I-270.
Turn right on last road before the Alton Bridge.
Turn right on the next road to the Teal Pond parking lot.

Shaw Nature Reserve (carpool)

Meet at the commuter parking lot at Hwy 44 & Hwy 141, the northwest corner off the north outer road, ½ hour before the trip meeting time.
Take I-44 west to Hwy 100 (Gray Summit exit).
Turn left back over 44 and then turn right.
The entrance is on the immediate left.
( $3 entrance fee without MOBOT garden membership)

Tower Grove Park

Take Hwy 44 to Kingshighway. Go south on Kingshighway to Magnolia, about 1/2 mile. Turn left onto Magnolia to the entrance to the park, Tower Grove Ave. Turn right on Tower Grove Ave. and turn right again onto Northwest Drive. Take Northwest Drive to the Gaddy Bird Garden, which will be about 1/2 mile on your right. We will meet at the entrance to the garden.

Two-Rivers NWR (carpool)

Meet at the Riverlands Teal Pond parking lot (see above) ½ hour before trip meeting time. Cross the Alton bridge and stay left.
Take the River Road north through Grafton.
Meet at the Gilbert Lake parking lot just north of the entrance to Brussels Ferry.

Voelkerding Slough (carpool)

Meet at Busch Conservation area (see above) at the field trip meeting time.