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Birdng off I-70 (Kansas, Missouri) (1 Viewer)

fugl

Well-known member
My wife & I will be driving to Michigan from Reno the last week of May/Early June & hope to do some birding along the way. As far as birds are concerned, terra incognita starts for us at the western edge of Kansas & the plan is to concentrate our efforts in that state & in Missouri. We'll be motel hopping along I-70 & will have about a week in the 2 states before having to push-on to our final destination.

Any suggestions regarding good birding spots in Kansas/Missouri within reasonable reach (don't want to spend more time driving than we have to) of the I-70 corridor would be gratefully received. Target species includes just about anything not easy to find W of the Utah line. Passerine migration hotspots (though I guess spring passerine migration will be drawing to a close in late May?)?. Shorebirds--Buff-breasted, Upland, White-rumped, Stilt, Baird's sandpipers, Hudsonian Godwit? Red-headed Woodpecker? Prairie Chickens? Grasshopper Sparrow? Anything I've forgotten?

TIA for any help.
 
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A great place to stop would be Cheyenne Bottoms Refuge which is just north of Great Bend, Kansas. Shorebirds, waders, nesting Snowy Plovers, Least Terns, rails, possibly some migrating birds. From I-70 (near Russell, KS) this refuge is about 35 miles south on Highway 281. You could find accommadations in Great Bend, KS which is just a few miles from the refuge. I believe you could get "boat loads" of birds here. And in the month of May there is prime birding!

Then, just a few miles south of Great Bend is Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. This may be even better than Cheyenne Bottoms. You might want to make this a second day trip!
 
A great place to stop would be Cheyenne Bottoms Refuge which is just north of Great Bend, Kansas. Shorebirds, waders, nesting Snowy Plovers, Least Terns, rails, possibly some migrating birds. From I-70 (near Russell, KS) this refuge is about 35 miles south on Highway 281. You could find accommadations in Great Bend, KS which is just a few miles from the refuge. I believe you could get "boat loads" of birds here. And in the month of May there is prime birding!

Then, just a few miles south of Great Bend is Quivira National Wildlife Refuge. This may be even better than Cheyenne Bottoms. You might want to make this a second day trip!

Many thanks, Larry. Both places you mention sound like real possibilities, I'll see what further details I can get about them I can get on the internet.
 
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