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click below for IBA info:
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SLAS 2008 Trips
see schedule below
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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 John Solodar at
solodar@sbcglobal.net or call him at (314-862-5294.
Upcoming Saint Louis Audubon Society
Birding Field Trips
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| Date |
Day |
Time |
Meeting Place |
Leader |
Apr 19th |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Shaw Nature Reserve |
Connie Alwood |
Apr 25-27 |
Fri-Sun |
TBA |
|
Joe Merkelbach |
Apr 26-27 |
Sat-Sun |
All day |
Weekend Bootheel Trip |
|
May 3rd |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Columbia Bottoms |
Bill Rowe |
May 7th |
Wednesday |
7:30 am |
Tower Grove Park |
John Solodar |
May 10th |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Tower Grove Park |
Bob Bailey |
May 17th |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Columbia Bottoms |
Mike Arduser |
May 21st |
Wednesday |
7:00 am |
Shaw Nature Reserve |
John Solodar |
May 24th |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Riverlands |
Josh Uffman |
May 31st |
Saturday |
7:30 am |
Lost Valley/Katy Trail |
Mike Grant |
ST.
LOUIS BIRDING 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.
Baldwin
Lake:
Take
I-270 across the Jefferson Barracks Bridge to Illinois
Take Hwy 3 South to Redbud
Go East on Hwy 154 to Balwin, IL
Follow signs in town to Lake Baldwin
Meet at parking area inside gate
BK Leach:
From I-70 in St Charles County, MO, take Hwy 79 north through Winfield
and into Foley. About 4.5-5.0 miles north of Foley turn right onto County
Rd M with signs to B.K. Leach on Hwy 79 at this turn. Follow M until you
see sign for B.K. Leach and road turning right. Meet at this intersection.
Busch Conservation Area:
Busch
C.A. is a 6987 acre site in St. Charles County managed
by the
Missouri Department of Conservation. This area is
good for birding all year
long, containing a variety of habitats offering
good locations for Waterfowl,
Shorebirds, Raptors, Sparrows, Warblers, and other
migrating Passerines.
Maps of the site are available just inside the
gate. Best birding
locations include the Fallen Oak trail feeders,
the Archery range trail to
Dardeene Creek, The Busch Hiking Trail, Lake 33,
Shorebird area,
Lake 34, and Lake 35.
Take
Highway 94 South from US 40
Go 1 mile to Hwy D, turn right
Go about 1.5 miles to the Busch entrance on the
right
Pass through the gate
Turn left at the "T" to Hampton Lake
Turn right into parking lot
Meet in the parking lot
Carlyle
Lake:
Take
I-64 East across the Poplar Street Bridge
Exit I-64 at Hwy 50 East (toward Carlyle)
Follow 50 to Hwy 127, and turn left at the junction
Turn right into McDonalds - meet in the parking
lot
Castlewood
State Park:
Castlewood
state park is comprised of 1778 acres along both
sides
of the Meramec River. The park includes floodplain,
upland woods, river bluffs,
gravel bars, and the river itself. Enough woodland
habitat variety exists that
this
park is a wonderful location for migrating and nesting
warblers and other
passerines, riverside specialties, and a very interesting
blend of raptor species.
The best areas in this park are the River trail
and the Grotpeter trail.
This area is best in spring and summer.
Take
Big Bend road West from I-270 for about 6 miles
Turn left on Ries Road
Follow Ries Road to it's termination
Turn left into the Park
Park in the lot on the right side of the road, just
before the stream
Clarence
Cannon NWR:
Take
Highway 79 North from I-70 to Annada, MO
Turn at the sign on the South side of Annada
Follow the signs to the headquarters
Columbia
Bottoms:
Take
Riverview Blvd North from I-270
2.8 miles to Columbia Bottoms
Go 1.7 miles and meet at the River Access parking
lot
Forest
Park/Kennedy Forest:
Forest
Park covers nearly 1300 acres of downtown St. Louis.
Fifty acres of woods at the southwest corner of
Forest park is known as
Kennedy Forest. This area serves as an effective
migrant trap in the spring.
The woods and trails along Valley and Government
drives can
yield excellent varieties of warblers and passerines
during early May.
Take
Hampton North from I-64 in St Louis city
Follow the signs to the Art Museum
Then Park on the street behind the Art Museum
Meet at the edge of the woods
Forest
44/Tyson Research Ctr:
Take
I-44 West from I-270, 3.5 miles to Hwy 141
Travel south on 141 to Meramec Station Road (first
stoplight)
Turn right and follow Meramec Station Road west
to Hillsboro Road
Turn left on Hillsboro for .4 mile to the parking
area on the right.
Horseshoe
Lake:
Horseshoe
Lake is an Oxbow Lake in Southern Illinois formed
from a
stranded bend of the Mississippi River. Both sides
of Horseshoe Lake
offer good birding in season. The side of the lake
bordered by Route 111
contains Horseshoe Lake State Park. Each year in
July or August, the
South end of Horseshoe Lake is drained to allow
grasses to grow in time for
Fall Waterfowl migration. This makes for some of
the best shorebird viewing
(from a paved causeway crossing the lake) in the
St. Louis area until the
grass gets too high. The State Park is also one
of the best locations for
Grebes, and other less common waterfowl. The other
side of the lake is a
good location for wintering waterfowl, gulls, and
a good assortment
of sparrows. Just west of route 203 where Bend Road
goes east, is
Eagle Park Lake. This is another good location for
waterfowl, and a good
breeding location for some of the less common waterfowl
species like
Common Moorhens.
Take
I-70 East across the Poplar Street Bridge
Exit at Hwy 111 (exit 6) and turn left
Go about 2 miles to the State Park entrance (on
the left)
Meet at first parking lot on right
To reach
the other side of Horseshoe Lake
Take the route 203 exit from I-70
go left two stoplights to Bend Road
Turn Right on Bend road, and travel along the side
of the lake
to the end of the road.
Highway 79 Corridor
Highway 79 Corridor - Starting point is the parking lot at Winfield Lock and Dam.
From I-70 take Hwy 79 north 14 miles to Winfield. Barely 100 yards past Winfield
is a bridge and a sign to County Rd N to the right . Drive about 3 miles on this road
until you see a sign to the Lock and Dam. Turn left here, go over the slough and
park in the parking lot.
Little
Creve Coeur Lake:
From the intersection of I-270 and Olive, take Olive west for 2.0 miles
to the intersection of Olive and Creve Coeur Mill Rd (white Royal Bank
Building on corner). Take a right on Creve Coeur Mill Rd and go exactly
1.3 miles to the
road over the railroad tracks leading to Seeger Golf Driving Range.
Turn
left and go in here all the way to the red barns in the back. Park in
front of either one just so you do not block any doors. The marsh/lake of
LCCL or LCCM is just over the ridge behind the barns.
Powder
Valley Nature Center:
The nature
center at Powder valley offers a number of interesting
and informative displays, and great views of a nice
range of feeders.
The 120-acre site contains three trails offering
good views of upland
forest habitat.
Take
I-44 East from I-270
Go 1/2 mile and take Watson road exit
Turn left at first traffic light onto Geyer Rd
Go 1/4 mile then turn left on Craigwold Rd
Follow Craigwold for about 1.5 miles to the Powder
Valley
entrance on the right.
Riverlands
Migratory Bird Sanctuary :
The best
location for viewing seasonal waterfowl, gulls,
terns and
shorebirds in the St. Louis has to be the Riverlands
Environmental
Demonstration area near West Alton Missouri. The
Mississippi River
pools, prairie, and wetlands near the Melvin Price
Dam are managed
by the Army Corps of Engineers. During the coldest
part of winter
when the river freezes over, Bald Eagles line the
banks just below the
dam taking advantage of the open water and upwelling
currents here
at lock and dam # 26R.
Take Hwy 367 north from I-270. Continue on U.S. Hwy 67 across the
Missouri River . Turn right on the last road before the Mississippi
River (at the Fisca gas station) and continue east past the gas station.
Teal Pond is on the right. Take the first right turn, Wise Rd., then
right again into the gravel parking lot of Teal Pond.
Shaw
Nature Reserve:
Shaw
Arboretum is 2400-acres of oak-hickory forests,
fields, prairie,
wetlands, glades, and riparian areas managed by
the Missouri
Botanical Society. The variety of habitats makes
it one of the best
St. Louis locations for birding year around. The
$3 access fee is always
money well spent! Check in at the visitor's center
just inside the gate to see
where the best birds are being seen. The Arboretum
has been a
good location for Henslow's sparrows, sedge wrens,
Crossbills,
Red-shouldered hawk, Blue Grosbeak, Prairie Warbler,
and Lark Sparrow.
Take
I-44 about 23 miles west from St. Louis to the Gray
Summit
exit (Hwy 100) Turn left across the overpass, then
turn right
and travel 1/4 mile to the Arboretum entrance on
the left side of the road
Tower
Grove Park:
One
of the best migrant traps in St. Louis is Tower
Grove Park. During
migration, this location will give you about all
of the warblers, thrushes, and
other passerines you will be able to find anywhere
in the area. The best areas
in the park are from the Northwest end (The Gaddy
Bird Garden) east to the
Horse stables, and near the Cypress circle at the
East end of the park.
I-44
or I-64 to South Kingshighway
Left on Magnolia, then turn East
Park on the road and walk to the brushy area (Gaddy
Bird Garden)
at the Northwest
corner of the park
Two-Rivers
NWR:
Take
Route 100 North from Alton, IL
Go through Grafton, IL
Meet at the parking lot across from the Bussels
Ferry
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