Missouri Birding Society

09/04/2026

World Shorebirds Day (September 6) & Global Shorebird Counts
(Source: The Birding Community E-Bulletin, August 2026)
World Shorebirds Day is a global initiative dedicated to appreciation of shorebirds, migration, conservation, education, and citizen science participation worldwide. Birders are invited to observe and record shorebirds through coordinated bird monitoring
Global Shorebird Counts are scheduled to take place between 1-7 September, including the individual World Shorebirds Day held on Sunday, 6 September. The counts offer an introduction to citizen science and the opportunity to help people become more familiar with local birdlife, migration patterns, and wetland ecosystems. (The initiative strongly encourages the use of eBird for submitting observations and checklists.)
For more information about the Global Shorebird Counts program, see: https://www.worldshorebirdsday.org/global-shorebird-counts and: https://www.worldshorebirdsday.org/get-involved/

09/04/2026

Attention Young Birders:

Missouri can boast two ABA Young Birder of the Year Awardees: Marky Mutchler and Zita Robertson. Next?

Note there is little time to register.

To learn about the program and register, see below.

American Birding Association (ABA )Young Birder of the Year Registration Closes September 15.

The program is open to young birders between the ages of 10 and 18, and provides opportunities for birding, connecting with other young birders, and learning from experienced mentors in the fields of conservation, art, photography, and beyond.

https://www.aba.org/young-birder-of-the-year-registration/

First Year Participant—$75*
Returning Participant—$55*
*Registration Fees include a welcome packet with tools to assist with your module work. Upon completion, participants will receive a certificate and assorted prizes.

Questions? Please contact ABA at [email protected]

Financial Aid is available; contact ABA at [email protected]

The American Birding Association (ABA) makes birding better by providing knowledge, sharing experiences, and building community.

09/02/2026

CACHE/SPARKS Program
Earnings from this program are used to support partnership projects in conservation-related activities and education. Among MBS Board recently approved allocations of CACHE/SPARKS earned funds are support of the Missouri Young Birders Club, the Missouri River Bird Observatory’s 2026 Young Explorers’ Camps and Prothonotary Warbler programs, and student attendance at the 2026 MoBCI conference.
Your birding reports support this program! To participate, just bird the site and submit an eBird checklist—that’s all it takes!
The weeks indicated below have had no eBird checklists submitted. Please consider birding one or more of these sites to help us complete a full year’s cycle on eBird bar charts. Weeks, for eBird purposes, are computed as week 1 is composed of days 1-7; week 2, days 8-14; week 3, 15-21; and week 4, days 22 through the end of the month.
Shoemaker CA, Adair Co., Sep weeks 3,4; Oct weeks 1,2,3
Morris Prairie CA, Putnam Co., Sep week 3, October all weeks
Big Sugar Creek SP, McDonald Co., Sep weeks 1,3
Taum Sauk Mountain SP, Iron Co., Sep week 1
Grandfather Prairie, Pettis Co., Sep week 3
Grand Gulf SP, Oregon Co., Sep weeks 1,3
Meramec CA, Franklin Co., Sep week 1,2,3,4
Echo Bluff SP, Shannon Co., Sep Week 1
Shelton Mem. Prairie, Dade Co., Sep week 1
Mastodon SHS, Jefferson Co. Sep week 2 (the only blank week!)
Huzzah CA, Crawford Co., Sep weeks 2,3, Oct week 2

08/28/2026

The Peace of Wild Things
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

The Peace of Wild Things from The Peace of Wild Things And Other Poems, 2012, Wendell Berry, American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.

08/24/2026

Missouri Young Birders Club
Young birders across the state come together to meet one another and to share their interest in birds. Monthly Zoom meetings include presentations about birds with topics requested by the members. The map shows counties with MYBC members (color indicates range from yellow = 1 to red = 105 members). See https://moyoungbirders.org/ for more information and how to join.

08/21/2026

Brown-headed Nuthatch Restoration Project
In 2020, the first Brown-headed Nuthatches from Arkansas’s Ouachita National Forest were translocated to Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest as the first stage of a multi-year project to restore the species to the pinelands of the Missouri Ozarks. The final translocations will be this August. Monitoring will continue to determine the success of the project.

08/19/2026

Mark your September Calendar
Rolla Fall Nature Festival & Native Plant Sale Saturday, September 12, 8 a.m.12 p.m.
Look for the MBS booth at the Ozark Rivers Audubon Society’s Audubon Trails Nature Center, S550 Meriweather Ct., Rolla. Event activities include hummingbird banding, guided nature walks, kids’ activities, free shuttle from commuter lot, food trucks.

Cooper’s Landing (Katy Trail on the Missouri River, south of Columbia) Conservation Expo 2026 Saturday September 12, 9 a.m.-4: p.m. & Sunday, September 13, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.
Look for the MBS booth during this weekend dedicated to showcasing organizations and initiatives with the mission to advance conservation education and stewardship of Missouri’s land & water resources. Event activities include food trucks, live music on the main stage, pony rides, and art activities for children.

Missouri Birding Society Fall Meeting, Columbia, details will be on the MBS website, https://mobirds.org/ Friday, September 25-Sunday, September 26
The fall meeting will feature guided field trips, speakers, Saturday banquet (birding attire, not formal wear), as well as the business meeting.

08/17/2026

Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative (MoBCI) YHEP Grants
MoBCI is a voluntary partnership of diverse groups with an interest in the conservation of all wild bird species, working together to conserve and restore bird populations and their habitats. MBS was a founding member. Currently, 73 organizations, including conservation groups and public land management agencies, have signed the Memorandum of Agreement to participate. See the MoBCI website at https://mobci.net/.

MoBCI offers grants to promote bird habitat conservation projects that provide an educational component for youth. These grants may be awarded to private or public organizations, or to individuals who partner with organizations. Eligible activities include projects that protect, enhance, or restore bird habitats on any lands in Missouri. All projects should be habitat-based and include a specific educational component for youth.
For more information or to apply for a Youth Habitat and Education Program grant, see: https://mobci.net/yhep/.

08/15/2026

Registration is open for the 2026 MBS Annual Fall Meeting
Registration and attendance at MBS meetings is open to all Missouri birders.
To Register:
On the MBS website home page (mobirds.org), click on the blue box. The page that comes up, “NEXT MEETING OF THE MISSOURI BIRDING SOCIETY” has a blue box, “REGISTER”.
BEFORE clicking on that “Register” button, read the series of informational paragraphs with details of the meeting activities.
AND...
On the right side of the page is a row of blue boxes. Click on each to see details, including specific information about each field trip to help you make your field trip selections.
If you have questions, please email Edge Wade: [email protected]
We are looking forward to seeing you in Columbia to share some bodacious birding!

08/14/2026

L-A-D Foundation Grant Applications Open through August 27, 2026
The L-A-D Foundation, in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks as a grantmaking service provider, invites applications from nonprofit and public interest organizations whose work benefits the natural and cultural resources of the Missouri Ozarks in its 12-county service area (Carter, Crawford, Dent, Madison, Maries, Oregon, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Ste. Genevieve, Shannon, and Texas) and aligns with the mission of the L-A-D Foundation. Projects may include environmental and conservation education, grassroots organizing, new program start-up costs, capital support, seed money, and workshops.
For more information and to apply: https://www.grantinterface.com/Opportunity/Catalog?urlkey=cfozarksgrants. If you have any questions about the process, please contact Ashley Walden at [email protected] or (417) 864-6199.