This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. This morning trip is especially for beginning birders looking to grow their skills! Come to have your bird questions answered and get help identifying all of those small, streaky brown birds and distant ducks! We'll also be keeping our eyes out for any exciting spring migrants! The walk will be on even trails at a leisurely pace so bring the whole family! We will have binoculars for loan.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Are you curious about birds but not sure how to get started? Geared specifically towards people who newer to birding or venturing out for one of the first times, we’ll identify birds together at Nine Springs.

Photo via Pixabay

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. This field trip is designed for folks new to birding, and is family-friendly! We will explore the wonderful Cherokee Marsh North Unit, enjoying the sights and sounds of winter. We will share bird ID and talk about how to tell that bird species apart from others. This is a low-key, slow paced, no-pressure outing for beginners.

Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Enjoy the nighttime woods on this evening Owl Prowl at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Great Horned and Barred Owls are regularly seen in this area, and we may get lucky and find Screech Owls as well!

Cover photo by Phil Brown

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Enjoy the nighttime woods on this evening Owl Prowl at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Great Horned and Barred Owls are regularly seen in this area, and we may get lucky and find Screech Owls as well!

Cover photo by Arlene Koziol

Celebrate World Bird Migration Day on Oct. 11 with an educational, hands-on crafting event! You will learn about incredible birds making epic journeys and what we can all do to reduce the threat of birds flying into our windows. 

Each attendee will receive at least one blank fabric bird body, which you can decorate to look like a species vulnerable to window collisions, or create your own make-believe bird. All completed birds will be sent to the artist Holly Greenberg, who is creating an educational art exhibit representing the 10,000 dead birds found by Chicago Bird Collision Monitors in 2023 after the birds hit windows.

Photo by Holly Greenberg/Birds Collisions in the Anthropocene

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

The event for tonight (9/10) is cancelled. In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

This event is cancelled. Swift Night Out returns this September, and we are collaborating with fellow bird-loving organizations to celebrate the incredible natural phenomenon of Chimney Swifts coming in to roost during migration! In addition to Swift Night Out, our organizations will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Hosted by BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance.

Photo by Steve Benoit

Grab the kids and join us for a fun morning outdoors learning about nature in our Field Trips for Kids series this summer! On Saturday, August 9, we’ll be doing a Bird Hike for Kids! Enjoy the sights and sounds of birds in summer with a guided hike. Learn how to use binoculars and basic bird identification skills.

Photo by Carolyn Byers/SoWBA

Join us for a summer evening to watch Barn Swallows feeding and coming into the barn to roost for the evening, and counting bats coming out for their nightly foraging! This exciting, marvelous event is part of the Wisconsin Bat Program surveys coordinated by the Wisconsin DNR.

Photo by Jared Kelly FCC

Together, these properties provide beautiful and high quality habitats for wetland, grassland, and savanna wildlife. We'll walk though Erstad Prairie on mowed trails and then shift over to Schoeneberg Marsh which has a parking lot a half mile away. The WPA has accessible hiking (paved path and boardwalk) which terminates at an overlook with a great view of the marsh.

Grab the kids and join us for a fun morning outdoors learning about nature in our Field Trips for Kids series this summer! On Tuesday, July 15, we’re focusing on being Insect Detectives! Check out our bug collection (non-living), search for bugs using magnifying glasses, and discuss why insects are amazing and not always scary.

Photo by Carolyn Byers/SoWBA

Grab the kids and join us for a fun morning outdoors learning about nature in our Field Trips for Kids series this summer! On Tuesday, June 24, we’re focusing on Pond Life! Read a great pond-related children’s book, learn about what lives in a pond, learn how to and try dipping for pond critters, use magnifying glasses to see the critters close-up.

Photo by Carolyn Byers/SoWBA

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Join us for a summer evening to watch Barn Swallows feeding and coming into the barn to roost for the evening, and counting bats coming out for their nightly foraging! This exciting, marvelous event is part of the Wisconsin Bat Program surveys coordinated by the Wisconsin DNR; Fair Meadows has been a site for surveys for X years.

Photo by Jared Kelly FCC

Join us for Black Birders Week 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin with the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, and Henry Vilas Zoo! This special event is a great way for you to explore the Zoo before it opens to the public, looking and listening for wild birds that visit the property as well as captive birds that are on exhibit.

Photo by Eric Kilby FCC

Spring migration is here and birds are on the move! Help celebrate the return of our amazing migratory birds like Baltimore Orioles, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, warblers, and more at this celebration. Activities for children and adults alike, including hummingbird mask-making, sewn bird decorating, information on native plants and a local native plant sale, how to make your home and windows safer for birds, and more!

Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. This morning trip is especially for backyard birders looking to grow their skills! Come to have your bird questions answered and get help identifying all of those small, streaky brown birds and distant ducks! We'll also be keeping our eyes out for any exciting spring migrants! The walk will be on even trails at a leisurely pace so bring the whole family! We will have binoculars for loan.

Photo by Arlene Koziol

This field trip is now full. Join the waiting list. Are you curious about birds but not sure how to get started? Geared specifically towards people who newer to birding or venturing out for one of the first times, we’ll identify birds together at Nine Springs.

Photo via Pixabay

This field trip is now full. Join the waiting list. This field trip is designed for folks new to birding, and is family-friendly! We will explore the wonderful Cherokee Marsh North Unit, enjoying the sights and sounds of winter. We will share bird ID and talk about how to tell that bird species apart from others. This is a low-key, slow paced, no-pressure outing for beginners.

Photo by Courtney Celley/USFWS

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Enjoy the nighttime woods on this evening Owl Prowl at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Great Horned and Barred Owls are regularly seen in this area, and we may get lucky and find Screech Owls as well!

Cover photo by Phil Brown

This field trip is full. Join the waiting list. Enjoy the nighttime woods on this evening Owl Prowl at Pheasant Branch Conservancy. Great Horned and Barred Owls are regularly seen in this area, and we may get lucky and find Screech Owls as well!

Cover photo by Arlene Koziol

New this year: In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA

New this year: In addition to Swift Night Out, the BIPOC Birding Club of Wisconsin, the Feminist Bird Club - Madison Chapter, and Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance will also be hosting informal get togethers each evening to watch the swifts. We’re calling it Swift Week!

Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA