Kansas
Birding
Trails
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
This popular park consists of 1,655 acres and features a pond and a 150-acre lake. This is one of the premier parks for birding at any season. A variety of habitats ranging from the lake to prairies, marshes and forests leads to a wide variety of birds seen in the park. More than 250 species have been seen here, including most of the nesting species seen in Johnson County. The John Barkley Visitor Center is located at the park’s east entrance. Stop in here for a site map and brochures for Shawnee Mission Park or any other Johnson County park.
Some of the best places to bird are the Walnut Grove and nature trail, the lake, the small pond area, along the boardwalk at the upper end of the lake, South Shore Trail, North Shore Trail, Sertoma Woodland Trail, and below the dam along Fire Road and the Mill Creek Streamway Trail. You can access Fire Road and the Mill Creek Trail near Shelter 8 and north end of dam. This meandering trail on the west boundary takes you along the stream and through riparian and hillside oak-hickory forests and upland prairies. (Note: This pathway is treated as a separate destination along this KC Parklands Birding Trail.)
You can expect to see common woodland residents such as Wild Turkeys, Northern Cardinals, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers along the trails. The area below the dam is a reliable location for displaying woodcocks in early spring. In late spring and early summer listen for the call of Chuck-wills-widows. Warblers, vireos, thrushes, sparrows and other migrants join these residents in spring and fall.
In the spring and fall check the lake for a good variety of ducks and grebes. Pied-billed, Horned, Eared Grebes are regular and Red-necked and Western Grebes have been seen on occasion. LeConte’s Sparrows can be looked for in fall in the grassy meadows below the lake. Snipe, Spotted Sandpipers and Solitary Sandpipers feed along the shoreline. The marshy ponds below the dam attract Red-winged Blackbirds, Belted Kingfishers, and Great Blue Herons. In winter you will likely see Bald Eagles perched on a shoreline tree.
Rarities seen at Shawnee Mission Park include Cinnamon Teal, Barrow’s Goldeneye, all three scoters, Red-throated Loon, Neotropic Cormorant, Laughing Gull, Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gull, Violet-green Swallow, Townsend’s Solitaire, Cerulean Warbler, Henslow’s Sparrow, Black-headed Grosbeak and Red Crossbills.
The park is open from 7:30 to 8:00pm November thru February and 6:00am to 11:00pm March thru October.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Located at 7900 Renner Road, Shawnee, KS. From 1-35 take westbound 1-435 to 87th Street Parkway. Then either travel west to Renner Road, then north to the park’s east entrance at 79th Street or travel further west to Ridgeview Road to enter the part’s south entrance.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
The 300-acre Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens has a visitor’s center, a café, nearly six miles of trails, a small pond, and a botanical garden where native flowers, trees and shrubs can be viewed. The trails along Wolf Creek lead through some of the best riparian habitat in the county. Pileated Woodpeckers nest here in the mature forest along with all the other Kansas woodpeckers. Red-shouldered Hawks, Northern Parulas and Kentucky Warblers nest along Wolf Creek, but the main attraction to birding the arboretum is the number of migrating warblers, vireos, flycatchers, and other migrants that visit the area. Winter Wrens, Brown Creepers and both species of kinglets are found along the trails in winter. Well-maintained birdfeeders near the visitor’s center and a birdfeeder station with an observation blind are worth checking year-round. During winter Purple Finches are often seen at the feeders and on one occasion an Evening Grosbeak frequented the feeder. The Arboretum opens at 8 am and $3.00 entrance fee is charged.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Located at the intersection of W 179th St. and Antioch Rd. in Overland Park. Go south from Overland Park on US 69 and exit on 179th St. Go west about one mile and the entrance will be on your left.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
As with other Corps of Engineers Reservoirs, Hillsdale Reservoir offers several locations from which you can scan the lake and search for woodland birds. For this reason, you might want to stop at the visitor center on the northeast end of the dam to pick up maps of the lake. Check the bird feeders at the visitor center and you might want to walk the trails near the visitor center that lead into hardwood forests where in summer you can find Prothonotary Warblers and Chuck-wills-widows. The State Park is a popular birding location (daily fee or annual pass required). Multiple walking trails and campgrounds offer ample opportunity to get out of the car and bird on foot. Thrushes and warblers can be common. Scoping for waterfowl, terns, and loons is a good option in fall through spring from either Shelter 1 just inside the state park or from Quail Run Campground. Interesting birds seen on the lake include Pacific Loons, Long-tailed Ducks and all three species of scoters. Sometimes thousands of gulls are present. Lesser Black-backed and California Gulls have been seen here. When water levels are low during migration, head to the northwest end of the lake and scan for shorebirds at Antioch Marsh or to the upper end of the northeast arm to Brown Wetlands. At Antioch Marsh hiking along a service road headed north offers wetland, grassland, and forest species. Walking to the point to the south offers scoping possibilities of dead trees and potential mudflats. At Brown Wetlands walking along the trail directly east and through the trees to the edge of the lake when water levels are low will get you to some of the best morning viewing of shorebird habitat in northeast Kansas. At times warblers can be plentiful in the woody vegetation at the Brown Wetlands area. These trails can be muddy in wet conditions and are not mowed regularly in the summer; boots and pants sprayed for ticks and chiggers are recommended for these locations.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Located between Spring Hill and Paola, about 3 miles east of US-169/K-7and 255th St interchange.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
This 55-acre park, sometimes called the Gardner Wetlands, was developed by the Kansas City Power and Light Company (now Evergy). It provides the only reliable shorebird habitat in Johnson County as the water is managed for mudflat habitat in the spring and fall. There is a viewing blind, three water impoundments, and walking trails along the dikes. A loop trail which is just under a mile in length leads from the Waverly parking lot to an area of good shorebird habitat. Often the best birding is from the east-west levee between the two main pools. In addition to shorebirds, this site is home to wading birds such as herons, egrets, and White-faced Ibis. Marsh and Sedge Wrens can be found here too. Sparrows, including LeConte’s, frequent the areas surrounding the pond in fall. A good mix of sparrows winter in high numbers on the east side of the adjoining cemetery. Large concentrations of waterfowl can be found here when deeper water is available in the late fall and early spring. Interesting birds seen here include American Bittern, Virginia Rail, Least Tern, Marbled and Hudsonian Godwit, Short-billed Dowitcher, Black-necked Stilt, Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked Phalarope, Sprague’s Pipit, and Yellow-headed Blackbird. Nesting boxes have been provided for Tree Swallows that line the ponds. The wetlands area is open dawn to dusk. The trail can be muddy in wet conditions and isn’t mowed regularly in the summer; boots and pants sprayed for ticks and chiggers are recommended for this location.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
To reach the wetlands from the east take I-35 to the Highway 56 Gardner exit. Continue west all the way through town. Just after the speed limit increases you will turn left on Waverly. The wetland is on the left after the first railroad crossing.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
Kill Creek Park is an 897-acre park with 17 miles of trails and a 28-acre lake. It also has an observation tower that offers magnificent views of the surrounding landscape. In fall it provides a good vantage point to look for migrating raptors. Kill Creek Park is one of the quieter parks in the area as it is in a remote area of Olathe. The varied habitat in the park ranges from prairie, riparian and deciduous forest, wetlands, and the lake. Most of the nesting songbirds in Johnson County can be found here as well as a good assortment of migrants in the spring and fall. It is a nice place to study Eastern and Western Meadowlarks side by side in the winter. Both Least and American Bitterns have been found in the wetlands at the upper end of the lake. A walk along Kill Creek is recommended as the trail has riparian habitat on one side and grassland on the other. You can find nesting Barred Owls, numerous warblers, vireos, and flycatchers in the spring. On a fall walk you will encounter many of the expected wintering species such as sparrows, Brown Creeper, nuthatches and kinglets. There is one fall record of a Mountain Bluebird. For a longer walk with others, you can leave a vehicle at the end of the trail at the 143rd St access and walk the entire paved trail through diverse habitat.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Located near 116th and Homestead in Olathe. To reach Kill Creek Park take the Kill Creek Road exit off Highway 10. Travel south to 115th St, turn right to Homestead, turn left, and the park entrance is at the top of the first hill.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks manages The Prairie Center; a 300-acre area of tallgrass prairie and riparian habitat. Access is restricted to the trails cut through the prairie and several gathering places. On evenings in early spring, you can witness Woodcocks doing their mating display. In late summer Sedge Wrens can be heard singing. Henslow’s Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrows, American Kestrels, Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, Acadian Flycatchers, Yellow-billed Cuckoos and White-eyed Vireos have also nested here. There are winter records of Short-eared Owls hunting over the prairie. The preserve is open daily dawn to dusk.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Located at 26235 W 135th St, Olathe. Go west 3.5 miles from the intersection of K-7 and Santa Fe St. (135th St) in Olathe. The Prairie Center is on the southwest corner of the intersection of 135th and Cedar Niles Rd.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
The Millcreek Streamway Trail is a 17-mile trail that follows Mill Creek as it meanders from Olathe north to the Kansas River at Nelson Island. Shawnee Mission Park (treated separately on the KC Parklands Trail) is the most popular and productive hotspot along this Millcreek Streamway Trail. However, seven access points are found along the length of the trail. Two of the best access points for birding are the Midland Drive access and the Wilder Drive access from which you can walk north to Nelson Island and the Kansas River. The trail passes through grasslands, riparian habit, ponds, marshes, and bottomland forests along the Kansas River. Because of the diverse habitats, a wide variety of birds can be found during any season including ducks, herons, owls, flycatchers, vireos, warblers, sparrows, and finches. Interesting warblers seen along the trail include Connecticut, Worm-eating, and both Blue-winged and Golden-winged. In fall LeConte’s Sparrows can be found in weedy areas. In winter, flocks of gulls along the Kansas River can be viewed from the Nelson Island loop at the north end of the trail. Scan the flocks for Lesser Black-backed, Glaucous, and Iceland Gulls.
Note: Be alert! This is a popular bicycle trail. Some riders travel fast along sections of the trail.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
Two Popular Access Points:
• 19425 Wilder Drive, Shawnee. Go west from I-435 on Holiday Drive for about 1.4 miles. Holiday Drive becomes Wilder Drive. From the parking lot walk the asphalt trail north toward the Kansas River to access Nelson Island or walk the asphalt trail south along the creek.
• 19405 Midland Drive (just west of I-435), at Shawnee Mission Parkway & Midland Drive, Shawnee. From the parking lot walk west on the asphalt trail along Little Mill Creek and then south over the footbridge to find an asphalt paved loop that heads into the upland forest and loops back around along the main trail just north of Shawn Mission Park.
KC PARKLANDS BIRDING TRAIL
About The Area
Wyandotte County Lake and Park is a gem of a birding location at the northwest edge of Kansas City, Kansas. It consists of 1,500 acres of oak-hickory woodlands and a 407-acre lake lined with tall sycamores. A road circles the lake and as you drive around the scenic lake you might think you were in the Ozarks with the hills and mature forests sloping down to the shoreline.
As you drive the loop road around the lake you will find many pullouts for viewing birds. Often birders just drive slowly listening for bird calls and stop when they encounter a “birdy” area. The best viewing sites for water birds are the south side, Boathouse Cove, an overlook point just south of Eagle Cove, the turnaround near the lake (often requiring walking past a closed gate) at the end of the Boy Scout Area, Wilson Cove, and by parking at the end of the dam and walking out to scan from there. This also provides a nice view of the Missouri River valley just to the north of the park. You might also want to bird from the nearly 10-mile-long Bridle Tail that can be accessed from several points around the lake or from the cluster of smaller trails on the east side of the lake surrounding Shelter 9. A good variety of both nesting and migrating warblers, vireos and thrushes can be seen on these trails. During summer this park is one of the most reliable spots in the Kansas City area to find nesting Scarlet Tanagers and Broad-winged Hawks. Louisiana Waterthrushes, Northern Parulas, Prothonotory Warblers, and Yellow-throated Warblers also nest around the lake. In the evenings, listen for the calls of Eastern Screech-owls, Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls and possibly Whip-poor-wills or Chuck-will’s-widow.
Be sure to visit the Mr. & Mrs. F. L. Schlagle Library and Environmental Learning Center midway up the west side of the lake. There you will see a white board listing recently seen birds. You can pick up a bird list, trail maps and brochures. But the main reason why you should visit this facility are the feeders. During times when the library is open you might find as many as 16 feeders around the library deck! These feeders include hummingbird feeders, oriole feeders, suet feeders and several types of seed feeders. (Note: Some of these feeders are brought inside when the library is not open.) This is a great place to relax and let the birds come to you. It is also a wonderful location for photographing birds. The adjacent Stotler Nature Trail offers a pleasant walk where in summer you’ll likely see orioles and Summer Tanagers. In migration creepers and kinglets can be especially conspicuous around the library.
During spring and fall migrations, search the lake for an excellent variety of ducks, including Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Green-winged Teal, Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and all three merganser species. Migrating Ospreys are commonly seen fishing the lake. In fall and winter, this is one of the best spots in Kansas to see Trumpeter Swans. Swans regularly occur in flocks of 50 to 75 birds, with counts over 100 reported annually during cold spells. Bald Eagles and huge numbers of geese are common in winter. More than 10,000 Snow Geese and in excess of 50 eagles can be seen on one visit in most winters. This lake has produced rare bird records such as Red-necked Grebe, Barrow’s Goldeneye and Long-tailed Duck. In 2001 Kansas’s only Harlequin Duck sighting occurred here. The close proximity of the lake to the Missouri River may account for the large numbers of waterfowl found at this lake and once here they tend to linger as this is one of the last lakes in the area to freeze over.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS:
From I-70 take I-435 north to Leavenworth Road (Exit 15). Travel east 1.7 miles to 91st Street, then 0.6 miles north to the Park Ranger Headquarters at the south end of the lake. Or from I-70 take I-435 north to Exit 18 and take N 93rd St east. Travel east 1.5 miles along N 93rd St (staying north at the intersection with Nelson Lane) to the Schlage Library along the west side of the lake.
