Mark your calendars and plan to attend the 11th ANNUAL Green Lake Bird Festival, with activities planned for ALL levels of bird enthusiasts. The Bird Festival kicks off on Friday evening, April 26th from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm with the ever-popular birdwatcher’s social called “Birds and Brews” taking place in the Town Square BALLROOM (second floor). Grab your non-birding friends and socialize with fellow birders catching last-minute details about Saturday’s festivities. Enjoy a variety of “brews” (soda included) and snacks. Peruse the fine selection of raffle items. Attendees can participate in “JEOP-BIRD-DY”, a fun mixer. On display in the lobby will be several paintings by professional bird illustrator Tom Schultz. The entire event is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Saturday’s festivities begin EARLY at 6am with a Green Team Bird Hike at the SUNNYSIDE Conservancy. The hike will go until approximately 8:00 AM. To reach Sunnyside Conservancy, take South Street east out of Green Lake, and after crossing Hwy A it will become Sunnyside Road. Follow it east about 1/2 mile to Lakeview Drive and turn right (south). Go to the bottom of the hill, and turn left into the parking lot. There is NO CHARGE for the bird hike, and extra binoculars will be available. Plan for the weather, it could be slightly muddy.

Following the bird hike, the festival activities move back to Town Square in Downtown Green Lake. Coffee, juice and Renard’s FRESH cinnamon rolls will be available starting at 8:15 AM. Tom Schultz will provide a recap of the birds seen at Sunnyside that morning.

An official Welcome and Bird City presentation begins at 9:00 AM. The City of Green Lake is a recipient of this prestigious award, which honors Wisconsin communities who follow criteria that demonstrate they are bird-friendly. Mayor Ray Radis will be present to read the proclamation and Green Lake Bird and Nature Club president Tom Schultz will say a few words about Bird City.

Beginning at 9:30 AM, Thomas Schultz, professional wildlife artist and bird expert will give an OVERVIEW about the highly acclaimed smartphone app called MERLIN. This is a free application you can easily install on your smart phone to help identify bird sounds around you. Birds often remain hidden in trees or shrubs, and their songs and calls can be the best way to find and identify them. Using the MERLIN app is a great way for people to learn these sounds. Besides providing Sound ID help, MERLIN can also help identify birds visually with the Explore Birds feature – making it a “pocket field guide” chock full of bird photos and information. Many people were newly introduced to this app during Tom’s presentation last year—his review of information could prove even more helpful as he will demonstrate how easy and effective it works. If you have a smartphone, download the MERLIN app and come to the festival ready to learn.

At 10:15 AM, keynote speaker Steve Betchkal of Eau Claire will delight the audience with his program entitled “All of This & Robins Too: Wisconsin’s Richness of Birds.” Birds add to the quality of our lives in so many ways: they're colorful, they're fascinating, they eat bugs, and they add music to our world. Wisconsin supports more than 400 species of wild birds, but how well do you know them, and what are you doing to help them? Ornithologist and ecologist Steve Betchkal (BETCH-cull) explores the wonder of birds – from migration, anatomy, and song, to how you can incorporate bird conservation into your community. Betchkal is the Eau Claire Bird City liaison, the founder of Welcome Back Bird Day, and the co-editor of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology’s Wisconsin’s Favorite Bird Haunts. In his 35 years as a professional journalist, he has produced 11,000 TV stories, the only person in Chippewa Valley history to win 6 Emmys, an Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in journalism, and to be inducted into the Upper Midwest Regional Emmy’s Silver Circle. He is the author of 8 books, including Make Birds Not War, Wisconsin Birding Trails, Cat Tales, Walk the Walk, Camp the Camp, Bird the Bird, & his latest and best, 101 Apologus (uh-POLL-a -gus) Nights.

At 11:30 AM Tom Schultz, will say a few parting words about his favorite subject (BIRDS) as he wraps up the morning session of the Bird Festival. The RAFFLE DRAWING takes place at the close of the festival.

ALL Green Lake Bird Festival events are FREE OF CHARGE, with no pre-registration required. This festival is a celebration of the birds that live all around us, fulfilling one of the many requirements necessary for Green Lake to be officially recognized as a Wisconsin Bird City. If you have any questions about this event, you can call Tom Schultz at 920-960-1796