Native Plant Garden at UW-Madison Arboretum
By Lynn Barber, WSO Vice President
Announcing the first WSO UNCONVENTION: PEOPLE IN WISCONSIN TALKING ABOUT BIRD STUFF!
When and where is this birdy event?
Saturday, November 11th, 9 am to 4:30 pm, at the UW-Madison Arboretum Visitor Center in Madison (1207 Seminole Hwy). Lunch is included. The program schedule can be found here.
What “Bird Stuff” will the speakers be talking about? There will be a wide variety of talks and poster sessions, all related in some way to Wisconsin birds, including talks on Dane County birds, the joy of birding, Cat Island, bird parasites, grassland management for birds, eBird for beginners (see details below) and more advanced eBird for current eBird users, woodland songbirds, Purple Martins, American Kestrels, Kirtland’s Warblers, wetlands, and birding with a purpose.
There will be open mike sessions for YOU to tell others about your favorite bird-related books and your favorite Wisconsin birding places. And there will be time to chat with others, about birds, of course.
Have you been seeing and hearing things about eBird and want to know more? Join local birder, Melissa Kesling, to learn how to use this amazing tool as a novice We will be covering what eBird is, how to make a checklist, and basic etiquette. This session will be geared towards people who do not have much eBird experience.
Before the Un-convention, if you don’t already have one, please create a free Cornell Lab account at 
eBird.org and download the eBird app on your phone. In a concurrent session, Tim Hahn will be guiding a discussion among those with more experience on eBird.
If you would like to bird a bit in the Arboretum area the day before the Unconvention, Chuck Henrikson has agreed to lead a bird hike. Meet him to go birding at the Arboretum Visitor Center on Friday afternoon, November 10th at 1:30 pm.
To register for the WSO UNCONVENTION, sign up online here.
To register by mail, please send a check in the amount of $30 per person and your preference for a vegetarian lunch or one with meat to:
WSO, PO Box 217, North Lake, WI 53064.
Registration closes on October 27.
See you there!
