A bat swarm just before sunrise. Photo courtesy of WDNR Conservation Biologist, Heather Kaarakka 

Birds and bats might not seem like a natural combination but there is a special hour around sunrise when the two different creatures overlap. Before sunrise, bats need to decide on a roost for the day so they display a magical flurry of activity as they fly in and out of their bat house. In the dim just before the sunrise, the bats disappear into their roost and the birds take over insect-eating duty for the day.

Pack up a folding chair and bins and join us early on July 29, 2023 at UW-Madison Lakeshore Nature Preserve for a pre-dawn bat swarm watch and a morning birding walk!

You can park in lot 130 across from the entrance to Picnic Point, where we will meet .

We’ll meet about an hour before sunrise, sit and quietly watch the bats during their swarm, and then take a birding walk in the Preserve.

WDNR Conservation Biologist, Heather Kaarakka will join us and can answer your burning bat questions.  

Stay tuned for an Eventbrite in early April!