Junior Audubon birder Joy Schuller holds a Baltimore oriole banded by Bob Welch of Waupaca. Learn more about banding and these birds at a free program at Schmeeckle Reserve June 1. (Contributed)

Discover Orioles, bird banding during Junior Audubon program

May 21, 2019

For the Metro Wire

Learn about bird banding and Orioles at a Junior Audubon Bird Program, offered for all ages at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Schmeeckle Reserve.

“Discover Orioles” will be offered from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, June 1, featuring bird bander Bob Welch of the Waupaca Biological Research Station and birding experts from the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society. Held at the reserve’s Visitor Center, 2419 North Point Dr., Stevens Point, the program is free and open to the public.

Participants will enjoy activities and crafts, with information on basic birding, identification techniques, feeders, and birdhouses. Binoculars and identification books will be available to borrow during a guided family-friendly birding hike on the reserve’s trails. Free coffee, cocoa, juice, and snacks will be provided.

Registration is not required. Young children must attend with a parent or guardian. Dress for the weather.

Located on the north end of the UW-Stevens Point campus, Schmeeckle Reserve is a 280-acre conservancy area with five miles of trails and boardwalks, a 24-acre lake and a Visitors Center with hands-on exhibits, Browse Shop and the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.

Most programs are in an accessible location. For more information, call 715-346-4992 or go to www.uwsp.edu/cnr/schmeeckle or Facebook @schmeecklereserve.