REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Sunday, August 30th
The Fall 2026 MOS meeting will be in collaboration with the Jackson Audubon Society. Our main field trip, on Saturday evening, will highlight seasonally abundant wading birds at St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge. Other field trips in the area may target early fall migrant birds, including shorebirds. Our special guest speaker will be wildlife veterinarian Dr. Mark A. Mitchell of Louisiana State University.
Schedule
Friday evening, September 11th
We will send birding tips the week before the meeting, in case you want to head to the area early and get a head start on your weekend of birding.
~5:30 – ~7:30 pm. Informal, optional social at a local restaurant. Location to be announced. Just show up to hang out; come and go any time.
Saturday, September 12th
· 7:00 am. Meet at Hampton Inn & Suites Natchez (627 S Canal St, Natchez, MS 39120; GOOGLE MAPS LINK) for departure on morning field trips. Field trip details to be announced, but will likely focus on St. Catherine Creek NWR.
· 12:00 pm. Main luncheon gathering at Natchez Museum of African American Culture and History(301 Main St., Natchez, MS 39120; https://www.visitnapac.net/).
o Lunch – sandwiches and sides from Natchez Coffee Co. (club sandwich, chicken pesto wrap, grilled vegetable wrap, pasta salad, chips, cookie mix platter, tea and water)
o To be followed by presentation by special guest speaker Dr. Mark A. Mitchell, as well as the MOS business meeting.
· 5:00 pm. Departure from Hampton Inn & Suites for “sundowner” field trip to St. Catherine Creek NWR to watch wading birds flying in to roost. Details below.
Sunday, September 13th
· 7:30 am. Meet at Hampton Inn & Suites for field trips. Field trip details to be announced.
Accommodations
We have a block of 10 rooms at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Natchez at a special rate of $151. To take advantage of the block rate, reservations must be made by August 12. Please use the following link to reserve a room:
Other local lodging options include Natchez State Park, which offers cabins and camping (https://www.mdwfp.com/parks-destinations/park/bob-m-dearing-natchez-state-park).
Meals
The Saturday lunch cost is included in the meeting registration fee (see below). All other meals are “on your own”. If you have special dietary restrictions, please let us know by email at awalkerbigsky@gmail.com
Registration
Registration fees are $25/person for students and any 1st-time attendees of an MOS meeting, $50.00/person for non-student MOS members, and $70 for non-members (but you can join MOS before the meeting to receive the member rate). Meeting registration includes the Saturday lunch and presentation.
To register for the meeting, please use the link below:
The Fall 2026 MOS meeting, held jointly with Jackson Audubon Society, will be held in Natchez, MS, the weekend of September 11-13.
To receive discounted meeting registration, spring and fall newsletters, and new issues of our journal, the Mississippi Kite, join MOS on our website here.
If you have questions about your membership status, please contact Wayne Patterson, Membership Committee Chair, at wrp6@att.net
photo: Egrets and Wood Storks by Benji Dillard
“Sundowner” Field Trip Details (adapted from Jackson Audubon Society)
There are lots of wading birds at St. Catherine Creek NWR this time of year. If the water levels are just right, there will be hundreds of birds feeding in the 900 acres of ponds and shallow impoundments. Before sundown, the spectacle begins, with all the birds lifting off and going to the roost site nearby. Expect lots of Neotropic Cormorants, Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills, and other long-legged waders – Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, a few Tricolored Herons, White and dark ibis, Black-necked Stilts, and potentially both species of night-herons. Other good possibilities include resident Bald Eagles and various migrating shorebirds stopping over to rest. Sunset will be at about 7:15 pm. After the birds go to roost, we will leave the refuge. Jackson Audubon Society does this event annually, and it is one of their most popular field trips.
What to bring: Sun protection, folding chair, water, picnic dinner or snacks, rain protection (just in case), in addition to your birding gear. It will be hot but worth it! For some reason, there seems to always be a breeze at St. Cats.
Location to meet: We will depart for St. Catherine Creek NWR at 5:00 pm from the Hampton Inn & Suites in Natchez. Or if you plan to go on your own, meet us at the NWR headquarters parking lot at 5:30 pm (address: 21 Pintail Lane, Sibley, MS 39165). Someone will be there to direct you to the swamp viewing area. The office will not be open.
Directions to the refuge:
From Natchez, take US Highway 61 south for 10 miles, then turn right at Sibley, MS (at the Dollar General Store) onto York Road and go 2 miles. You will see the large brown St. Cat sign. Then turn left onto Pintail Lane. Meet at the headquarters office, which is the first building on your left. You will then be directed to “The Swamp,” which is marked on the refuge map. We strongly recommend you do not rely on an electronic navigation device to find your way around the refuge. Also, there is very limited phone service after you leave the headquarters. Visitor maps are available at the kiosk at the entrance of the refuge. Be sure to grab a map!
Digital refuge map:https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-07/tr-complex-regs-r2-2025_508_v2.pdf
More information about special guest Dr. Mark Mitchell:
Mark A. Mitchell received his DVM in 1992 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MS in clinical epidemiology (wildlife medicine) from the University of Illinois in 1997. He completed his PhD in clinical epidemiology (Salmonella spp. in reptiles) at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2001. From 1996–2007, Dr. Mitchell served as a member of the zoological medicine service at LSU, and from 2007–2016 served as a founding member of the zoological medicine service at the University of Illinois. From 2016–2020 he served as the Hospital Director of the LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. He has now returned full-time to his professorship and is the Director of the Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana. His clinical interests include all species from invertebrates to vertebrates, and he has had the opportunity to work with a diversity of species from giant spiders to bottlenose dolphins and many things in between. Dr. Mitchell’s research focuses on conservation of wildlife and improving the quality of life for species maintained ex situ. He lectures to veterinary and graduate students on a number of topics, including clinical medicine for zoological/wildlife species, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Dr. Mitchell is a past-president (2000–2001) of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians, and the first recipient of the ARAV Excellence Award (2016). He has served as the Co-Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine (2005-2019) and Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery (2009–2021) and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery (2021–present). His daily goal is to be true to his 14-year-old self and explore all this world has to offer.