Date: 7/8/25 5:45 am From: Edge Wade <1edgewade...> Subject: 2025 Missouri Bluebird Conference THIS COMING WEEKEND
You can still attend the 2025 Missouri Bluebird Conference in Jefferson
City, July 11th- 13th. Attend the entire event or just the portions you
wish to attend.
See www.missouribluebird.org for the registration form or call 573638-2473.
You may Register and Pay at the Door--but PLEASE CALL by Thursday, July
10th at the phone number on the registration form if you plan to attend
Featuring:
• Missouri Bird Records Committee Chair: Pete Monacell
to update us on Missouri's Rare and Uncommon bird sightings!
PLUS...Pete will lead a bird walk at Mockingbird Hill - home to more than
one "rare and uncommon" bird sighting.
• Bluebird Basics by Jack Corrigan, MOBS Nest Box Grant Program Ambassador
.
• "Advanced Bluebirding" with an in depth probe into Predator Control and
feeding Bluebirds by Steve Garr, MOBS President
• A look at Missouri's Natural Areas by MDC Natural Areas Coordinator,
Michael Leahy.
• A Panel discussion on "Reclaiming abandoned Nest Box Trails" by a group
of Bluebirders who have done just that! Hear from representatives of
successfully reclaimed Bluebird Trails from East, West, and Mid-Missouri.
They are ready to answer your questions!
And of course....The Annual Bluebird Banquet,
Silent Auction and Raffle, Saturday Picnic, and time spent together at the
one and only "Mockingbird Hill" for food, friendship, and bird walks. This
year featuring the terrific music of Alan Ames!
Edge Wade
Columbia, MO
<1edgewade...>
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
Date: 7/6/25 5:09 pm From: Jane Frazier <janefraz2828...> Subject: Binder Lake
Today at Binder Lake, Cole County, Betty Richey, Shirley Seabaugh and I saw about eight Forster's Terns sitting or flying. They are not listed in the MO frequency chart as appearing now but there they were. We had pretty good looks at one on a post.
Jane Frazier Jefferson City
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Date: 7/2/25 12:02 pm From: Mary Dueren <mary.dueren...> Subject: No Sighting-Updates to Little Creve Coeur Ecological Area
Good afternoon. To our surprise this morning, Karen Meyer and I found a construction crew working on the old shed. The entire roof system has been repaired and new shingles were being installed. That work should be complete tomorrow. There are now picnic tables with more to be added according to STLCO Parks staff we spoke with today. Lighting will also be installed. Plumbing is not being considered at this time. More clean up on and around the shed is also planned such as painting. Mary Dueren West STL County
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Date: 7/2/25 8:59 am From: Edge Wade <1edgewade...> Subject: Sites to bird the first week of July
Mobirders,
Below is the list of focus sites MBS is working with the Missouri Department of Conservation and DNR Missouri State Parks in an effort to collect bird occurrence data for at least one birding trip per week for each week of the year.
This is an effort within the CACHE/SPARKS program. All that is needed from birders to contribute to the database is to bird the site and enter an eBird checklist.
Earnings from the CACHE/SPARKS program are used to fund partnership projects in bird conservation, habitat work, education, and research. See https://mobirds.org/MBS/Conservation.aspx for a list of projects funded through this program.
Grand Gulf State Park, Oregon County, is new to our focus areas. It has been called "Missouri's Grand Canyon", and is definitely worth experiencing.
Current River SP, Shannon Co,: July week 1
Sam A Baker SP, Wayne Co. : July week 1
Friendly Prairie C A, Pettis Co.: July week 1
Washington SP, Washington Co.: July week 1
Pomme de Terre SP, Hickory Co.: July weeks 1,2
Dark Hollow NA, Sullivan Co.: July week 1 and 4
Grand Gulf SP, Oregon Co.: July weeks 1 and 4
Edge Wade
MBS Conservation Partnership Coordinator
<1edgewade...>
------------------------------------------------------------ The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
Date: 6/28/25 10:26 am From: Sandra Elbert <selbert1...> Subject: Great crested flycatcher
Gcfl has returned to same cavity where she nested last summer! The river birch has been greatly trimmed so I thought she wouldn't return even though I been hearing it's frequent call nearby.
Sandy Sandra Elbert Columbia, Boone County <sandraelbert...> <selbert1...>
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Date: 6/22/25 10:56 am From: Marge Lumpe <margelumpe...> Subject: Sunday at Hi Lonesome
It was a warm day at Hi Lonesome at about midday. I had gone out earlier, but I'd forgotten my binoculars! So back home I went. It was about 11:00 when I went out again, and I didn't expect to find a lot of birds. There. were, however, more than my average tripi. There were the usual species, with a few favorites: Eastern Kingbird, Gray Catbird, Henslow's Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Bell's Vireo, Yellow-breasted chat, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and Loggerhead Shrike.
Have a great Sunday and try to stay cool. Happy birding, Marge Lumpe Benton County
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Date: 6/22/25 8:41 am From: Mike Taylor <3catacres...> Subject: Possible Peregrine Falcon - Ha Ha Tonka
While birding at the North Glade Project hotspot in Ha Ha Tonka State Park this morning, I had a large falcon-like bird soar close overhead. I was one the west side of Deamond Road on the north glade. Bird flew from east to west, soaring the entire way. It went towards the ridge on the west side of the creek below the glade.
I’ll have to add details to my checklist later but I wanted to get this info out, just in case. I will say that I have been able to reasonably eliminate all other raptors as possibilities. As soon as I saw it, I thought PEFA.
Mike Taylor
Bollinger County
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Hi Becky,Enjoyed reading your report. I too over the last four years have become a RGV addict. Although during those four years most visits have been Christmas week or shortly after, a few years ago had an early May trip to check off the last "common" bird of the valley, the Groove Billed Ani.I had gone to the island and loved the spring birding at the nature center and the mudflats just north. I hope you got the see the Mangrove version of the Yellow Warbler at the naturecenter. During that time there i saw many birds not found in the winter but common at this time of year.Just this past May I made a 48 hour trip down there. Last winter a Flamingo had been seen for months near Corpus Cristi but left a few weeks before I got down there. It is now back so decided to go for it and with now Yellow Green Vireos reported the last three summers took a couple extra days to try for that. Then after booking everything a Mexican Violetear reported down there. And then when staying in Corpus Cristi another lifer reported ten minutes away... I got three of the four but also did get to visit the mudflats on the island, a great thing to do from your AC car when it is 100 degrees out. This mini trip reminded me to return again in May, but earlier in the month.I can see how you can stay in one county as so many great places to visit. I usually end up with three and then on the way I have become fascinated with what has been in the Corpus Chisti area the last couple of years. The hazards of driving there as the temptation...Anyway, glad to hear you had a great time. I always enjoy reading Edges reports and glad to see another that shares that interest. Ironically I was looking at ebird reports for the Corpus Cristi area today and saw the name of another Missouri birder on it. It must be a fever many of us Missourians are catching... 😀Thanks,Steve Griffaw <Sgg.bluesfan...> Jefferson City MOSent via the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone -------- Original message --------From: Becky Lutz <000003b72781bbe2-dmarc-request...> Date: 6/20/25 4:44 PM (GMT-06:00) To: <MOBIRDS-L...> Subject: May RGV trip I used to live in the RGV (Laguna Vista) between 2004-2008. Although I was always excited to see the cool "big birds" like Roseate Spoonbills and Long-billed Curlews, I wasn't much of a birder...just enjoyed being outside in "nature". About a year after we moved down there, mom and dad came down to visit. After a trip to Laguna Atascosa NWR, they gifted me my first bird book. It definitely helped, but I was still more of a bird watcher than a birder. It was more about identifying what was in front of me than actively searching out and discovering something. Fast forward to 2017, dad convinced me to go birding with he and mom. Truth be told, I think I did it more to appease him and spend time with them. Somewhere over the next few years, things changed. I enjoyed looking for birds, being able to ID them, and learning a few calls. I can't tell you how many times I looked at a female Red-winged Blackbird before I finally "knew" what it was instead of asking for help or pulling out the bird book. Over the last couple of years, I've eagerly awaited reading about Edge's RGV adventures in winter. I'd been hoping to get back there myself. In April 2008, just a few months before we moved back to MO, I experienced a mini-fallout at the Convention Center. That always stuck with me and I wanted to go back during Spring migration. By pure chance, I noticed I had 7 days off the first week of May. I work 12 hr shifts and it was just the way they happened to land. I immediately started getting excited that I just might get to get my Spring migration trip to the valley. I messaged my parents and to my surprise and delight, my mom was up for the adventure. We boarded Southwest at 5am and was birding in Harlingen, TX before 10am. With a couple of exceptions, our efforts were all focused on Cameron County. One of those exceptions was Estero Llano Grande State Park (Hidalgo County) was offering free tram tours (with $5 entrance fee) around the park the day we arrived. This was well worth it and we were able to see a few areas of the park we wouldn't have been able to on our own. It's also a great way to explore for those that can't do a lot of hiking. We visited the South Padre Island (SPI) Convention Center/Boardwalk several times chasing all those migrants mixed in with those RGV residents. Our favorite spot was the SPI mudflats. We visited here almost daily...first thing in the morning, last thing in the evening, and sometimes both. We also visited the Valley Land Fund lots (new spot for me) and the World Bird Center on the island, Laguna Atascosa NWR, the South Texas Ecotourism Center (new spot for me), Palo Alto Battlefield to find 2 lifer sparrows and Oliveira Park in Brownsville (new spot) to find some lifer parrots and a few other spots. We packed as much as we could into those 6 days while somewhat limiting our driving. We still put lots of miles on the rental car, but to get from one end of the valley to the other, you can drive about 3 hrs and we wanted to avoid those extremes. I also wanted to stay on the island, so that was another limiting factor.While many things were the same as I remember from 17 years ago, I was surprised at how much had changed. I didn't get all of my targets, but I got a bunch. In 6 days, we saw 167 species, 12 of which were lifers for me. Mom had close to 30 lifers. I added almost 40 birds to my Texas life list (total 228 now) and my Cameron County life list (220). I want to go back again and explore more by foot. I also gotta go back in the winter and see what kind of surprises I can find. Anyway, I finally got through my pics and I think I've ID'd everything correctly, so thought I'd share my list with you. Hope you enjoy. I don't have a nice RGV report written up like Edge, but if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to try and answer them.RGV w/mom 2025 - eBird Trip ReportBecky Lutz636-432-9442Washington, MO Franklin County
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I used to live in the RGV (Laguna Vista) between 2004-2008. Although I was always excited to see the cool "big birds" like Roseate Spoonbills and Long-billed Curlews, I wasn't much of a birder...just enjoyed being outside in "nature". About a year after we moved down there, mom and dad came down to visit. After a trip to Laguna Atascosa NWR, they gifted me my first bird book. It definitely helped, but I was still more of a bird watcher than a birder. It was more about identifying what was in front of me than actively searching out and discovering something.Â
Fast forward to 2017, dad convinced me to go birding with he and mom. Truth be told, I think I did it more to appease him and spend time with them. Somewhere over the next few years, things changed. I enjoyed looking for birds, being able to ID them, and learning a few calls. I can't tell you how many times I looked at a female Red-winged Blackbird before I finally "knew" what it was instead of asking for help or pulling out the bird book.Â
Over the last couple of years, I've eagerly awaited reading about Edge's RGV adventures in winter. I'd been hoping to get back there myself. In April 2008, just a few months before we moved back to MO, I experienced a mini-fallout at the Convention Center. That always stuck with me and I wanted to go back during Spring migration. By pure chance, I noticed I had 7 days off the first week of May. I work 12 hr shifts and it was just the way they happened to land. I immediately started getting excited that I just might get to get my Spring migration trip to the valley. I messaged my parents and to my surprise and delight, my mom was up for the adventure.Â
We boarded Southwest at 5am and was birding in Harlingen, TX before 10am. With a couple of exceptions, our efforts were all focused on Cameron County. One of those exceptions was Estero Llano Grande State Park (Hidalgo County) was offering free tram tours (with $5 entrance fee) around the park the day we arrived. This was well worth it and we were able to see a few areas of the park we wouldn't have been able to on our own. It's also a great way to explore for those that can't do a lot of hiking. We visited the South Padre Island (SPI) Convention Center/Boardwalk several times chasing all those migrants mixed in with those RGV residents. Our favorite spot was the SPI mudflats. We visited here almost daily...first thing in the morning, last thing in the evening, and sometimes both. We also visited the Valley Land Fund lots (new spot for me) and the World Bird Center on the island, Laguna Atascosa NWR, the South Texas Ecotourism Center (new spot for me), Palo Alto Battlefield to find 2 lifer sparrows and Oliveira Park in Brownsville (new spot) to find some lifer parrots and a few other spots. We packed as much as we could into those 6 days while somewhat limiting our driving. We still put lots of miles on the rental car, but to get from one end of the valley to the other, you can drive about 3 hrs and we wanted to avoid those extremes. I also wanted to stay on the island, so that was another limiting factor.
While many things were the same as I remember from 17 years ago, I was surprised at how much had changed. I didn't get all of my targets, but I got a bunch. In 6 days, we saw 167 species, 12 of which were lifers for me. Mom had close to 30 lifers. I added almost 40 birds to my Texas life list (total 228 now) and my Cameron County life list (220). I want to go back again and explore more by foot. I also gotta go back in the winter and see what kind of surprises I can find.Â
Anyway, I finally got through my pics and I think I've ID'd everything correctly, so thought I'd share my list with you. Hope you enjoy. I don't have a nice RGV report written up like Edge, but if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to try and answer them.
RGV w/mom 2025 - eBird Trip Report
Becky Lutz636-432-9442Washington, MOÂ Franklin County
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
Date: 6/19/25 5:35 pm From: Yvonne Homeyer <yhomeyer...> Subject: City of Brentwood killed Canada Geese at one of its parks
Hello everybody,
I wish I had a positive post, but the information I have to share is disturbing. I live in Brentwood, MO (a suburb of St. Louis County). Recently, the City of Brentwood created a huge new park as part of a huge flood control program along Manchester Road to control flooding from a local creek. There are some lovely ponds in the park, along with extensive native plant habitat and a mile-long paved walking trail. The park also includes a destination playground that is truly impressive.
Some Canada Geese discovered our park and our ponds and decided to raise families there this year. The City of Brentwood teamed up with a federal agency during breeding season to kill some of the birds (presumably the adults - still trying to reach the Parks Department head to get details) and to relocate others (presumably the goslings). The City of Brentwood Board of Aldermen approved this plan this past Monday and the deed was done on Wednesday. I am still trying to find out how they were killed. To make it sound so much better, the goose meat was apparently processed and donated. I don't know what attempt was made to reach out to those of us who live in Brentwood but I heard nothing about this until after the fact. It only came to light because of a post on Next Door. Apparently only the Parks Director spoke at the Board of Aldermen meeting so no nature-friendly voices were heard. How could they be when the issue was not known to those of us who live here?
What did the City of Brentwood think would happen when they created this beautiful habitat and ponds? And their plan is, kill the birds that are attracted to the ponds that the City of Brentwood created? Why can't we co-exist with the wildlife that our ponds attract?
My own condo community in the City of Brentwood has a large lake with many Canada Geese present every year and they present no danger to anyone walking around our community. We have never killed any geese. A nearby St. Louis County park (Tilles Park) has a large goose population. There are ponds all over residential neighborhoods and corporate campuses in the St. Louis area. I've never heard of a wholesale slaughter of geese.
New geese will come in and then what? Is the City of Brentwood going to do this again? and again?
I want to educate our city officials and Board of Aldermen that they need to stop over-reacting and see the geese as another natural element rather than an enemy to be feared as dangerous (the alleged basis for killing them). If anybody knows of other ponds on private or public property that have Canada Geese on them, what do those property owners do about the geese? Co-exist or exterminate?
Yvonne Homeyer Brentwood (St. Louis) MO
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Date: 6/18/25 10:10 am From: Edge Wade <1edgewade...> Subject: State Parks filling in blank (unbirded) weeks
Mobirders, Most of you are aware of a goal to complete bar charts (fill in weeks with no eBird checklists) for several state parks and conservation areas, with some identified for special focus--either because they have fewer than 10 blank weeks in the bar chart, or because they have far more than warranted for the quality of birding potential for the site.
This effort is part of the Missouri Birding Society (MBS) program called CACHE/SPARKS to gather data and provide other services for the Missouri Department of Conservation and Missouri State Parks via contractual agreements. Participation in this program earns funding used for partnership grants (for a list of partnership projects see the Conservation section on the MBS website, www.mobirds.org
Two state parks we're focusing on have no eBird reports for the third week of June (15-21). We are half-way through the week. If you're looking for a place to go birding before Sunday, please consider one of these: Lake Wappapello SP, Wayne Co. Big Sugar Creek SP, McDonald Co.
There are several sites with blanks for the first two weeks of July. I'll send a list of those next week.
Date: 6/12/25 7:32 pm From: Daniel Getman <000002b3a133f539-dmarc-request...> Subject: Killdeer nest in neighborhood
While walking in our neighborhood, I came across a Killdeer calling, but not flying away. This is typical behavior for one with a nest. They try to draw a predator away from the nest by calling and acting injured.
A quick search of two nearby rock beds revealed a nest with 4 green eggs, with dark spots. I them moved away and left them alone.
For those who’ve never seen Killdeer eggs or their nest among rocks on the ground, a photo can be found at:
flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
The rocky area was only about 10 ft from the road in a garden bed full of rocks. They often nest right next to roads, in gravel. Seems pretty risky!
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast Mo
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
Date: 6/11/25 1:54 pm From: Dana Ripper <dana.ripper...> Subject: No sighting - Webinar on King Rails next Monday!
Hello MO Birders,
Please join us for a presentation entitled King Rail Distribution and Wetland Management Associations of Breeding Secretive Marsh Birds in Missouri, presented by Ryan McGinty of MDC.
About our speaker: Ryan McGinty recently signed on as the Wetland Community Ecologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. In January of 2025 he completed his M.S. degree at SUNY Brockport studying management associations of breeding secretive marsh birds in Missouri. Prior to this, he completed his bachelor’s degree in wildlife ecology at Pittsburg State university.
Talk description: King Rail have experienced range wide population declines and their historic range has contracted. Migratory King Rail have been particularly influenced by these population declines leading King Rail to be listed as a state endangered species in 12 U.S. states including Missouri. The last focused survey effort for King Rail in Missouri was conducted in 2014, and the status and distribution of King Rail in the state is not well known. The objective of my study was to determine the current distribution of King Rail in Missouri. I used two survey methodologies, call broadcast surveys in 2023 and autonomous recording units in 2024, to detect King Rail at publicly managed wetlands throughout Missouri. I surveyed 14 wetland properties in 2023 and 12 properties in 2024. Across survey years, King Rail were detected at only 4 properties: B.K. Leach Conservation Area, Grand Pass Conservation Area, Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, and Ted Shanks Conservation Area. Due to the few and geographically distant detections, our results support past research that King Rail occupy scattered distributions at low densities throughout the state and potentially more broadly across the Midwest.
Regards,
Dana
Dana Ripper
Co-Director
mrbo.org
[A logo of a bird observatory Description automatically generated]
For it is not light that is needed, but fire
Not the gentle rain, but thunder.
-Frederick Douglass, July 1852
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
Date: 6/10/25 6:51 pm From: Daniel Getman <000002b3a133f539-dmarc-request...> Subject: Great Crested Flycatcher eggs
We’ve been gone for a while, but today we checked our nestboxes.
Besides boxes with Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and House Wrens, the highlight was the 6 eggs in the Great Crested Flycatcher nest box. Cornell reports that flycatchers usually lay 4-8 eggs, with incubation for 13-15 days and then fledging after another 13-15 days.
This nest boxes is actually a larger kestrel/screech owl box, but this is the 3rd year they’ve nested there and it’s conveniently visible from our back patio.
A couple photos can be viewed at:
flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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The Missouri Birding Society's Wild Bird Discussion Forum
