Upcoming KOS Meetings

KOS 2024 Spring Meeting

The KOS 2024 spring meeting will be held at Mammoth Cave National Park.

• Dates: April 26-28, 2024
• Location: Mammoth Cave National Park
• Address: 27 Entrance Road, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259
• Phone: 844-760-2283
• KOS Reservations Code: KOS24

We have 10 historic cottages (1 queen bed) and 20 rooms (2 queen beds) at Sunset Terrace, for a total of 30 rooms. Rates for the cottages are approximately $93/night before tax and the Sunset Terrace rooms are approximately $136/night.

Registration: $10.00 ($3.00 for Students)

Schedule of Events: (All times are Central Daylight Time):

Friday, April 26

• 1:00 p.m. Field Trips - Departing from front of the Park Lodge
  • Nancy Braun & Donna Stricklin – Echo River Springs Trail
  • David Bailey & Asher Higgins – Dennison Ferry Day Use area/Flint Ridge Rd

• 6:00 p.m. Meeting Registration (Rotunda Meeting Room)

• 7:00 p.m. Evening Meeting (Rotunda Meeting Room)
  • Jeremy Teague & Donna Stricklin – Welcome & Introduction
  • Steve Kistler – Bird Quiz
  • Kimi Birrer – former Kingsolver scholarship recipient
  • Brice Leech – Mammoth Cave Park ecology and the MAPS banding program
  • Saturday field trip details will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting

Saturday, April 27

• 8:00 a.m. Field Trips - Departing from front of the Park Lodge
  • Jeremy Teague & Bridget Butler – Echo River Springs Trail
  • Steve & Janet Kistler – Diamond Caverns area
  • Ronan O'Carra & Asher Higgins – Joppa Ridge Rd/Turnhole Bend
  • David Bailey – McElroy Transient Lake (Warren County)
  • Kyle Bixler & Michael Patton – Visitors Center/Heritage Trail to Sunset Point

• 1:00 p.m. Field Trips - Departing from front of the Park Lodge
  • Steve & Janet Kistler - Wildflower Walk
  • Kevin Burt – TBD, maybe Echo River Springs or Diamond Caverns
  • Asher Higgins – Bike Trail

• 6:30 p.m. Meeting Registration (Rotunda Meeting Room)

• 7:00 p.m. Evening Meeting (Park Lodge)
  • Jeremy Teague – Welcome & Field Trip Bird Tally
  • Keynote Speaker Bridget Butler – "Slow Birding"
  • Sunday field trip details will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting

Sunday, April 28

• 8:00 a.m. Field Trips - Departure area will be announced at conclusion of Saturday meeting
  • Jeff Sole & Steve Kistler – Jeff's farm in Hart County
  • TBD - Possibly McElroy Lake
  • TBD - Possibly Echo River Springs Trail

Keynote Speaker Bridget Butler

Bridget Butler, aka The Bird Diva, will share her path to creating Slow Birding, a mindful practice focused on deep observation beyond identification, connecting with the landscape, and connecting with self. Her practice came together over many years of feeling that traditional list-driven, even conservation-driven, birding was unfulfilling and did not reflect the way she was birding on her own. Now Bridget facilitates online courses and workshops that celebrate finding joy and awe in whatever bird is present, creating a more inclusive opportunity for anyone to see themselves as a birder.

Bridget has been working in conservation and environmental education for more than 25 years throughout New England. Through her business Bird Diva Consulting, she delivers presentations, leads bird outings, and brings her signature program Slow Birding to a broader audience. Bridget has worked for the Audubon Society in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and helped create Audubon Vermont's Forest Bird Initiative. Bridget has been a guest on a number of podcasts talking about Slow Birding, including the American Birding Podcast, Talkin' Birds with Ray Brown, and the South African podcast This Birding Life. Currently, she serves on the Green Mountain Audubon Society Board and is a member of the Vermont Rare Bird Records Committee. She feels it's important that the birding community continues to strive to diversify what it means to be a birder and that this variety of perspectives will bring a richer set of strategies to bird conservation. Bridget lives in St. Albans with her husband and three kids.