The Bobolink is the official 2024 Birdathon #BirdOfTheYear

The Great Wisconsin Birdathon has returned for 2024 and the Chippewa County Land Conservancy’s home team, the Chirp Chasers, are queuing up to venture out and identify as many species as it can.

The local focus period for the Birdathon is the weekend of May 4-5. You can help the team in one of two ways!

• Join the field crew at the Krank Preserve, currently planned for Sunday morning, May 5. The crew will comb the trails at the preserve near Cornell to compile their lists.

• Donating will support the team and bird conservation in general. Your support will remain local in Chippewa County on our preserves and also contribute to projects around the state.

Register on the Chirp Chasers’ page at the Birdathon website, whether you join the field crew or prefer to bird on your own. (We’ll update you on details for the field day.)

If you could help the cause with a donation or pledge, you can do that there as well. It’s important that you sign up on the Chirp Chasers page so that half of your donation can be used locally.

When you sign up as a participant, you are invited to set a goal and given a special link to invite your friends to support us as well.

Our goal this year is to encourage more members and friends to join the team and get outside to see what birds they can see. You may surprise yourself. Even if you only know a few birds, we guarantee you’ll add a few more to your list if you bird with a friend. And if you are a birder, bring a friend along and share your knowledge.

Birds are a key indicator of the health of the environment, and all of our preserves provide key nesting, feeding, and stop-over places for them.

For more information, check out our team webpage. If you’re still confused, call Alison at (715) 579-9160.