Permit required: Register for a hangtag at https://mobirds.org/CMPermit/
Obey the 15 m.p.h. speed limit.

Bradford Farm is especially good for fall, winter, and early spring birding. The 162 species checklist shows a good range possible. In most winters it is a reliable site for Short-eared Owl, usually spotted flying low, ‘like a floppy wet dish rag,’ around dusk in the west half of the area, sometimes even appearing to drive the competing harriers from the field. 

From the intersection of US 63 and Rt. AC (a.k.a. Grindstone Parkway to the west and New Haven Rd. to the east) go east 6.1 miles to Rangeline Rd. and turn south for 1.2 miles to the main entrance on the east/west road that bisects Bradford Farm. The west gate on Ben Williams Rd. is no longer open for access. From the US 63 and Broadway exit, go east on Broadway (becomes Rt. W) to a right (south) turn onto Rangeline Rd. and continue to the signed main entrance on the right. 

Officially known as the Bradford Research and Extension Center (BREC), this agricultural
research farm was established via a warranty deed for 524 acres granted in 1959. The forty acres
in the southwest corner were previously granted to the state as part of the “deal-sweetener” in
1839 to entice the legislature to place the state university in Boone County. These acres were
sold to Mary Robnett in 1912. She, as Mary Robnett Bradford, was one of the two grantors in
1959. These 40 acres have been especially appreciated by birders who’ve seen them as a favored
area for several species, among them, Short-eared Owls and even a Northern Shrike,