Welcome to the Virtual
17th Annual Northwoods Birds & Wildlife Festival
All online content will be available for viewing through June 19th. Please watch at your convenience. All questions can be emailed to Annie McDonnell at annie@discoverycenter.net or give us a call at (715) 543-2085
Share your bird and wildlife sightings and experiences with other Festival participants in the comment section at the bottom of the web page, and watch for updates from the field in the side bar.
Welcome to the virtual portion of our Festival! Thank you for your support of the North Lakeland Discovery Center, we hope you enjoy your virtual festival experience.
In celebration of the International Migratory Bird Day, the North Lakeland Discovery Center is pleased to release it's 17th Annual Birds & Wildlife Festival! Thank you for your participation!
The mission of the North Lakeland Discovery Center is to connect people, nature and community and inspire an ethic of care for Wisconsin's Northwoods. We want to thank our Festival presenters and field trip leaders for helping to support this mission and for sharing their knowledge and passion with our community.
*Disclaimer* - The video and audio quality of a few of our presentations is less than perfect. We appreciate your understanding and patience. WiFi in the Northwoods keeps life interesting. Thank you.
Online Programs:
Presenter: John Bates is a local Author and Naturalist. John Bates is the author of nine books on the Northwoods and Upper Midwest, and a contributor to seven others. John has been featured on Wisconsin Public Television several times and has been a frequent guest on Wisconsin Pubic Radio. He has worked as a state forest naturalist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and owns Trails North, a naturalist guide service. He also conducts outdoor classes for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, Nicolet College, the North Lakeland Discovery Center, and many others. For twenty-eight years he has written a biweekly column, "A Northwoods Almanac," for the Lakeland Times in Minocqua, Wisconsin.
Presentation: Aquatic Birds of the Northwoods
Presenter: Emily Stone is the Naturalist and Education Director at Cable Natural History Museum and the author of "Natural Connections, Exploring Northwoods Nature Through Science and Your Senses".
Presentation: The Unsung Heroes of Nature: Spiders, Insects, Bacteria and Fungi! These misunderstood critters play essential roles in our ecosystems and gardens. Not only that, they have surprising adaptations and are sometimes even beautiful. Emily Stone
Presenter: Jenna Malinowski is a Wildlife Biologist and Habitat Manager with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for Iron County and southern Ashland County.
Presentation: The Little Turtle Flowage Habitat Management
Bruce Bacon is a retired Wisconsin DNR wildlife biologist and a Master Bird Bander. Bruce began banding waterfowl in 1976 and then received his songbird banding permit in 1982, he has banded over 120 species of birds throughout his long banding career.
"Bird Banding Demonstration" - A bird in the hand beats two in the bush! In this program Bruce Bacon demonstrates the techniques of bird banding. Watch ten species of common Northwoods birds up close and in detail, and learn how banding is used for research on bird survival, productivity, and distribution. This video was filmed on May 29th, 2020, at the North Lakeland Discovery Center.
Presenter: Carol Warden is a Research Specialist with the Trout Lake Center for Limnology
Presentation: Zooplankton of Wisconsin Lakes
Presenter: Quita Sheehan is a Conservation Specialist with the Vilas County Land and Water Conservation Department
Presentation: Gardening for Bugs & Birds
Presenter: Emily Heald is the Water Program Coordinator with the North Lakeland Discovery Center
Presentation: The Wonderful World of Wild Rice
Presenter: Licia Johnson is the Education Director and Naturalist at the North Lakeland Discovery Center
Presentation: Understanding Black Bears
Presenter: Annie McDonnell is the Naturalist & Volunteer Coordinator for the Discovery Center.
Presentation: The Snowy Owl, The Tundra Ghost
Presentation: Baffling & Breathtaking Bogs, an Intro to Bog Ecology
Thank You Sponsors!
Manitowish Waters Chamber of Commerce
Bird & Wildlife Festival Photos by Mark Westphal
Please support our Sponsors!
Birds and Wildlife Festival got off to a great start Friday morning with a trip to the Presque Isle Ponds with Bird Club members Donna Roche and Amy and Tom Sheldon. 38 bird specie reported including: Canada Goose, Mallards, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ruffed Grouse, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Loon, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Osprey, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern), Alder Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tree Swallow, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Gray Catbird, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Song Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Wonderful day for a pontoon tour of Trout Lake. Many, many loons ( no chicks), lots of eagles including two nests, the chick visible in one, mallards, mergansers, ring billed gulls, grackles, eastern kingbirds and black terns.