Field Trips

To compliment our outstanding monthly educational programs, the Springfield Plateau Chapter periodically offers field trips to members. These trips generally qualify for advanced training.

Our field trip coordinator is Debbie Lewis. To sign up for a trip or to get more details, contact her at at 417-889-8790 or djlewis605@gmail.com.

Hercules Glades – April 2013

Five Master Naturalists participated in a field trip April 14 to Hercules Glades: Allan Keller, Gala Solari, Linda Ellis, Bob Korpella and Michael Baird. They saw lots of lizards and captured at least one on camera.

Wildflower Walk – April 2013

Bob and Barbara Kipfer hosted our annual wildflower walk with Linda Ellis as guide and chief plant IDer. Here’s a photo of some of the group on the bank of the Bull Mill Herp Pond.

Past Trips

Here are images from the Aug. 13 field trip to the Endangered Wolf Sanctuary, The World Bird Sanctuary and Lone Elk Park in the St. Louis area. At the wolf Sanctuary, we viewed African wild dogs, maned wolves, red wolves, Mexican gray wolves and swift foxes in large fenced areas.

At the World Bird Sanctuary, we viewed many raptors, which they specialize in, as well as other birds and domestic fowls. At the end of our visit, a wild immature bald eagle from the nearby Meramec River flew in and settled in a tree above the exhibits.

At Lone Elk Park, we learned about the squeeze shutes and corrals used for the elk and bison in the park. As we were leaving, we were fortunate to see both elk and bison grazing near the road side.

Here are images from the May 2011 wildflower field trip at the Barb and Bob Kipfer property on Bull Creek, followed by a potluck at Dan Crane’s cabin in Mark Twain National Forest. Note that the cropping was done automatically, and we did not intentionally cut Master Naturalists out!