I spent Saturday over in SW Missouri at "Birdfest 2008", held at the Wildcat Glade Audubon Center. The three day event was a combination of field trips, seminars, interactive programs and family activities.
Wildcat Glade is an outstanding facility and outdoor area, for more information check out the web site; http://www.wildcatglades.audubon.org/

I took a short hike during a break along Shoal Creek. This red flower grew in places where sunlight made its way to the floor of the oak-hickory upland forest. I also found some dogwoods still in bloom.

Dogwoods along Shoal Creek

While I did not get to travel with the groups on a field trip to local birding areas. I did attend some outstanding seminars including one on Neotropical Migrants, around 50% of the birds that are in our area now are on their way to breeding locations. Some will stay close to Kansas and the Midwest, others traveling as far as Canada. Their journeys are amazing. Many are threatened with plummeting numbers due mainly to habitat destruction. Yesterday I shared some of the information with my students, asking them how far they could travel in 80 hours. Some thought they could walk to Joplin or maybe Tulsa. They were floored by the distance the Ruby Throated Hummingbird travels in that same time period non stop; from Maine to Southern Mexico. Here's a pretty good web site for more information about how to help insure they keep flying.
http://www.neotropicalbirds.org/