Inland Bird Banding Association
2025 Annual Meeting
The 2025 Inland Bird Banding Association Annual Meeting will be held at Carpenter Nature Center in Hastings, Minnesota during the weekend of October 24 – 26. Events will include banding demonstrations, scientific presentations, guest speakers, field trips led by experienced local guides, and much more. Check back here for more updates as we get closer to the date of the meeting.
Registration
Registration Rates:
$100.00 IBBA Member Admission
$120.00 Non-member Admission
$35.00 Add-on: Optional Banquet Dinner on Saturday, Oct 25
Join or renew your IBBA membership while registering, or by visiting the IBBA Membership webpage.
How to Register:
Register Online, or
or Mail-in our printable IBBA Registration Form with cash or check payment.
Questions? Contact Erika Jensen at (651)-437-4359 ext. 101 or erika@carpenternaturecenter.org.
Location & Travel Information
Location:
The conference will be based in and around the historic town of Hastings, which is located just 35 minutes from the airport, along the mighty Mississippi River, near its confluence with the nationally designated Wild and Scenic St. Croix River.
The IBBA Annual Meeting will be taking place at the following locations in the Hastings area and beyond:
Date & Timeframe |
Activities |
Location |
| Friday, Oct 24 – Evening | Reception & IBBA Board Meeting | Carpenter Nature Center Wisconsin Campus – 279 S Cove Rd, Hudson, WI 54016. Google Maps Directions. |
| Saturday, Oct 25 – Morning & Afternoon | Presentations, Demonstrations, & Trainings | Carpenter Nature Center Minnesota Campus – 12805 St. Croix Trl S, Hastings, MN 55033. Google Maps Directions. |
| Saturday, Oct 25 – Evening | Banquet Dinner | Hastings Art Center – 216 4th St E, Hastings, MN 55033. Google Maps Directions. |
| Sunday, Oct 26 – Morning & Afternoon | Field Demos | Multiple Locations – TBD |
Travel Information:
Traveling by Air:
Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) is the nearest major airport, located approximately 30 miles northwest of Carpenter Nature Center. MSP offers extensive domestic and international flights and is about a 35-minute drive from the Hastings area.
Public Transportation, Taxis, and Rideshare
Please note that public transit & rideshare services (Uber, Lyft, etc) in the Hastings area are very limited. For attendees arriving by air, renting a vehicle or coordinating carpools with fellow participants may be the best options to ensure flexibility and ease of travel.
Local taxi and transportation services include:
- Smart Ride: Local taxi-service that offers reliable transportations to/from the Hastings Area.
- Let’s Jet: Airport shuttle services that can bring customers to and from MSP airport.
Driving Miles to Hastings:
Minneapolis, MN ….. 38 mi.
Rochester, MN ….. 63 mi.
Duluth, MN ….. 173 mi.
Des Moines, IA ….. 233 mi.
Madison, WI ….. 267 mi.
Green Bay, WI ….. 274 mi.
Milwaukee, WI ….. 332 mi.
Chicago, IL ….. 404 mi.
Parking During the Weekend
Free parking is available on-site for all visitors at Carpenter Nature Center’s Minnesota and Wisconsin Campuses in the main lots. Parking is available during Carpenter’s business hours (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM daily) or during specific IBBA guided activities. Both Carpenter locations offer electric vehicle charging. Each site is equipped with two J1772 chargers (32 amps) and one Tesla charger. These chargers are free to use, however donations are appreciated to help the Nature Center cover the electricity cost.
For the Saturday evening banquet dinner at the Hastings Art Center, parking is available in the municipal lot across the street from the venue or on Ramsey Street.
Hotel Information
Hotel Information:
Lodging is available in a number of quaint river towns including Hastings, Afton, Prescott and Hudson. We are partnering with the following establishments to offer reduced rates and rental blocks of rooms.
Name & Location |
Room Rate(s) |
Link to IBBA Room Block Reservations |
 Country Inn & Suites – Cottage Grove, MN (5-25 min from meeting sites) |
$129/night | Click here to explore rooms and make a reservation at the Country Inn & Suites. |
The Confluence Hotel – Hastings, MN (10-30 min from meeting sites) |
$169/night | Click here to explore rooms and make a reservation at the Confluence Hotel. |
The Historic Afton House Inn – Afton, MN (15-20 min from meeting sites) |
$175-$239/night | Click here to explore rooms and make a reservation at the Historic Afton House Inn. |
Other options can be found by visiting the Hastings Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau and Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau webpages.
Conference Program
Here is a rough schedule and location of events taking place during the 2025 IBBA Annual Meeting. More details coming soon!
Date & Timeframe |
Activities |
Location |
| Friday, Oct 24 – Evening | Reception & IBBA Board Meeting | Carpenter Nature Center Wisconsin Campus – 279 S Cove Rd, Hudson, WI 54016 |
| Saturday, Oct 25 – Morning & Afternoon | Presentations, Demonstrations, & Trainings | Carpenter Nature Center Minnesota Campus – 12805 St. Croix Trl S, Hastings, MN 55033 |
| Saturday, Oct 25 – Evening | Banquet Dinner | Hastings Art Center – 216 4th St E, Hastings, MN 55033 |
| Sunday, Oct 26 – Morning & Afternoon | Field Demos | Multiple Locations – TBD |
Birding in the Hastings Area
The Midwest is a great birding location and Minnesota has an all-time state list of 452 species, with 313 of these being listed as regular species. In 2024 Carpenter Nature Center held a site Big Year and listed 212 species on the property. The site features a mix of northern and southern species, from nesting Clay-colored Sparrows and Henslow’s Sparrows to the furthest south Common Raven nest in Minnesota. During October, Carpenter Nature Center is a popular destination for apples (CNC boasts a teaching orchard with14+ varieties of apples), fall colors and for bird migration. Volunteer Ben Douglas hosts point counts in the fall from CNC’s Administration Building lawn and in 2024 the counts resulted in high counts of 114 Red-headed Woodpeckers, thousands of Blue Jays and a pleasant number of Golden Eagles.
For those wishing to extend their trip, there are many birding hot spots and bird-centric organizations within 3 hours of Carpenter Nature Center. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth and Sax Zim Bog are two of the best known. Other facilities include the International Owl Center in Houston, MN, the International Crane Center in Baraboo, WI, the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN, The Bell Museum of Natural History and The UMN Raptor Center in St. Paul. Nearby wildlife refuges include the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge, Crex Meadows and Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. There are a number of other Midwest bird banders in the area including sites at Lowry Nature Center, Riverbend Nature Center, St. Olaf, Wood Lake Nature Center, Whitewater State Park and the site formerly known as Warner Nature Center.
About Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center
Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization that serves 55,000 visitors per year through K-12 Environmental Education Programming, public events and 725 acres of wildlife habitat with a robust trail system. The Nature Center is open to the public 361 days a year and operates two campuses, one in Hastings, Minnesota on 425 acres on the bluffs of the St. Croix River and one in Wisconsin on 300 acres, just south of Hudson city limits. The Nature Center’s Minnesota Campus opened to the public in 1981 and has been operating a year-round banding station since that time. The newer Wisconsin Campus has been the location of numerous banding projects through the years. In 2022 the new Al and Laurie Hein Visitors’ Center opened to the public at that location and a MAPS station was started by Rick Schmid.
The Nature Center is host to two MOTUS towers. Carpenter Nature Center’s bird banding research team currently operates two Project Owl-net Stations, a MAPS station at Dakota County Parks, and is part of the range-wide Wood Thrush nano-tagging project under Sarah Kendrick. Through the years Carpenter Nature Center’s field team have hosted and/or collaborated on many projects including a Sedge Wren research project, the Smithsonian Wood Thrush data logger project, National Park Service Bald Eagle research, Osprey and Burrowing Owl work. The early Midwest Peregrine Society banding was performed under CNC’s permit, as was banding by The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota and Betsy Finch of the Raptor Conservation Alliance in Nebraska to name a few of the many sub-permittees through the years.