BIOBLITZ-Bugs, Birds and Botany on the Sugar River...and Bats and Stars!

Location: N1997 County T, Brodhead, WI. Please watch for marked long driveway to parking and gathering location. (Please note the previous location info identified Applied Ecological Services, 17921 Smith Road, Brodhead, WI 53520, as the gathering location. This has changed, and participants are asked to travel directly to the event location).
NOTE: Please dress for wild outdoor activities, including proper footwear for both wet and dry conditions, and bring hat, insect repellent, water and sack lunch and snacks if you plan to spend the day, camera, binoculars, and field notebook. Port-a-potties will be provided. Rolls and coffee will be provided for birders. We will break for lunch and dinner for those wishing to leave the site for meals. There is shelter at the site for getting indoors out of the elements, but please feel free to bring pop-up shade or tent for this purpose, and camp chairs.
FREE Registration at the Site: Registration will be required at no cost; however, donations will be accepted to cover the cost of the event. Participants will be asked to complete a liability form.
This event, co-sponsored by LSRWA, the Green Rock Audubon Society (GRAS), and the Wisconsin Entomological Society (WES) will bring together botanists, birders, entomologists, nature enthusiasts, and students for an all-day event to explore private lands bisected by the wild forested bottomlands and oxbow lakes of the Sugar River.  The day will start with a bird outing at 6:30 a.m., and continue throughout the day and into the evening with botanical forays, fish and aquatic insect surveys, terrestrial insect trapping, bat monitoring, and stargazing. 
<strong>Event Schedule</strong>
The following schedule is provided for those wishing to attend at specific times of day. Each event will kick-off with a brief presentation by leaders before heading to the field, gathering in the onsite shelter (open garage on south side of house). Informational handouts will be provided as needed. Informational displays will also be set-up in the garage, including field keys. We encourage use of cameras for collecting visual “specimens” for identification by experts. All data collected during the day will be posted to the LSRWA website, with photos and other documentation.
6:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.: Birds—Lead by Quentin Yoerger, with Tom Klubertanz and Aaron Haycraft. Learn the birds of the Sugar River and Avon Bottoms. Leaders will talk about the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Survey that is currently underway, and how you can get involved. Binoculars and bird keys are useful.
10:00 a.m. – Noon: Botany/Ecology—Lead by Susan Lehnhardt. Learn about the natural and cultural plant and animal communities on the property, and the dominant and characteristic plants that are found in each community. We will discuss invasive species and impacts to ecosystem health. A checklist of plants will be provided, and we will learn how to use phone apps useful for identifying and documenting invasive plants.
Noon: Break for Lunch (BYO sack lunch, or offsite as desired).
2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: Fish & Aquatic Macroinvertebrates—Lead by Steve Apfelbaum. Learn about the aquatic insects and fish that occupy the Sugar River and backwater oxbow lakes on the property. Although not required, participants may want to be prepared to enter the water for this activity. Specimens will be collected with simple nets briefly for identification and immediate return to water. Handouts will include a macroinvertebrate identification sheet. A camera is useful for documenting collected specimens.
4:00 p.m.– After Dark: Moths & Other Terrestrial Insects—Lead by Steve Bransky. Learn about the multitude of terrestrial insect fauna that occupy the Sugar River corridor.
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Break for Supper (BYO sack supper, or offsite as desired).
7:00 p.m.– Midnight: Bats—Lead by Pat Daniels. Learn about this extraordinary group of flying mammals that are important in many ways to the Sugar River ecosystem. The presentation will be followed by training and monitoring activities until Midnight. This is a great opportunity to participate in a technical monitoring activity.
8:30 p.m. – After Dark: Stars & Planets—Co-lead by Pat Daniels & Bill Eylers. If cloud cover does not foil us, you will enjoy gazing through powerful telescopes at familiar and not-so-familiar constellations that are visible in our spring night skies. You will learn the exact time of the end of astronomical twilight, when stars really come out!
Contact for details:  Susan Lehnhardt, (608) 897-8641 x20 or susan@appliedeco.com; Judy Douglas, (608) 897-2627 or dugansfarm3@gmail.com; Neil Deupree (608) 752-8342 or deupreen@charter.net.