I recently returned from a road trip to Missouri (the St. Louis area, specifically).
Why Missouri, you ask?
Well, my mom and sister, Madeline, go on short road trips during my sister's spring breaks (she's a senior in high school now). This year, Madeline wanted to go somewhere west of the Mississippi. So if they were driving, it had to be somewhere relatively close, and Missouri was farther south than some of the other options (aka slightly warmer). I try to join them when my schedule allows, and this year I am so glad I was able to come along for the adventure!
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| Heading to the arch |
We arrived on a Wednesday and came home Saturday, so it was a quick trip. Still, we managed to do a lot of sight seeing and bird watching! We actually spent way more time outside than I had expected, and I'm grateful my family seemed to be willing to go on various 'wild goose chases' at my direction. Whenever we saw something unusual or beautiful, I felt a bit of relief, like, okay, this is worth it for them too.
Overall, we saw 80 species (listed at the bottom of this page). My best bird of the trip was a Bewick's Wren, a complete surprise and new bird for me, and one of only about 4 reported records of this bird in St. Louis County! In those few days, we visited the following parks (in addition to some other sightseeing):
- Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
- Forest Park in St. Louis (like the St. Louis version of Central Park, only it's way bigger)
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| Forest Park Healing Garden, near where we found the Bewick's Wren |
- Lone Elk Park (loveddd this park!)
- Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary
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LIFER! Eurasian Tree Sparrow (R) seen at the visitor center at Riverlands
This one is next to a White-crowned Sparrow (L). Thanks for all the tips from Missouri birders!
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We also did some non-birdy stuff - visited Gateway Arch, walked parts of downtown St. Louis and through Delmar Loop, walked through the National Blues Museum, saw Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, ate at a few cool restaurants, and drove around in circles quite a bit (🤣). It was a really fun time and I'm so happy we went! And now I will probably always call pigeons "Picciones". Enjoy some of my fav pics from the trip!
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| Piccione Pastry in Delmar Loop |
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Our plates matched our personalities:
Me - Rose
Madeline - Pear
Mom - Wildflowers |
BIRDS!
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| American Kestrel outside the hotel |
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Mourning Dove through the hotel window
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He and his mate
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| American White Pelicans in flight - there were TONS! |
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An American White Pelican at Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary
(kind of like a Pte. Mouillee type of place) |
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Greater White-fronted Geese at Riverlands - thanks to the gentleman who pointed us in the right direction!
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An even better view of a Greater White-fronted Goose,
And probably my fav photo of the trip - taken at Creve Coeur Lake
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| Elk at Lone Elk Park. What a beautiful place! |
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| Mockingbird at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery |
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| And another on the beach at Creve Coeur Lake |
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Pileated Woodpecker feasting on something tasty, on the ground,
just to the side of the trail at Creve Coeur |
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| One of many Red-headed Woodpeckers at Lone Elk |
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| And another |
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| Raptors galore - even in the city! Red-tailed Hawk scoping Delmar alleys |
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| Snowy Egret found by my mom at Forest Park (*bravo!*) |
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My most exciting find of the trip! LIFER and rarity -
Bewick's Wren in Forest Park (image extracted from a video)
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Eastern Phoebe on the beach at Creve Coeur Lake,
Mingling with the Yellow-rumped Warblers
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So cool to see these warblers all over the beach!
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Creve Coeur Lake |
Species List (and where I saw them, if not abundant)
- Greater White-fronted Goose (Riverlands / Creve Coeur)
- Canada Goose
- Blue-winged Teal
- Northern Shoveler
- Gadwall (Columbia Bottom)
- Mallard
- Lesser Scaup (Lone Elk)
- Bufflehead
- Hooded Merganser (Riverlands)
- Red-breasted Merganser
- Ruddy Duck
- Common Loon (Creve Coeur)
- Pied-billed Grebe (Forest Park)
- Horned Grebe (Creve Coeur)
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American White Pelican (sooo many!)
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret (Forest Park - Healing Garden)
- Turkey Vulture
- Northern Harrier (Old Chain of Rocks Bridge / Riverlands Ellis Island)
- Cooper's Hawk (somewhere along a highway...)
- Bald Eagle
- Red-shouldered Hawk
- Red-tailed Hawk
- American Coot
- Killdeer
- Lesser Yellowlegs (in a field somewhere!)
- Bonaparte's Gull
- Ring-billed Gull
- Caspian Tern (Riverlands)
- Rock Pigeon
- Mourning Dove
- Belted Kingfisher (Forest Park - Healing Garden / Creve Coeur)
- Red-headed Woodpecker (Lone Elk)
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Downy Woodpecker
- Hairy Woodpecker (Creve Coeur)
- Pileated Woodpecker (Creve Coeur)
- American Kestrel
- Eastern Phoebe
- Blue Jay
- American Crow
- Purple Martin
- Tree Swallow
- Bank Swallow (Creve Coeur)
- Barn Swallow (Forest Park)
- Cliff Swallow (Creve Coeur)
- Carolina Chickadee (Lone Elk)
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Tufted Titmouse
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Brown Creeper
- Bewick's Wren (LIFER! Forest Park - Healing Garden)
- Carolina Wren
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Eastern Bluebird
- American Robin
- Brown Thrasher (Riverlands Ellis Island)
- Northern Mockingbird
- European Starling
- Cedar Waxwing (Creve Coeur)
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Field Sparrow
- Dark-eyed Junco
- American Tree Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- White-throated Sparrow
- Savannah Sparrow (Riverlands)
- Song Sparrow
- Swamp Sparrow
- Northern Cardinal
- Eastern Meadowlark (Riverlands / Gateway Arch)
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- Common Grackle
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Riverlands / Columbia Bottom [both at feeders])
- House Sparrow
