Mike Mossman, veteran birder and research scientist, will be taking the winning bidder and two others on a spring birding adventure by canoe! Spring is an excellent time to be on the river, floating (bug-free) amid flooded, towering backwater forests, and is also a great time for birding, coinciding with spring migration and elevated water levels that waterbirds love.

This half-day trip (7 am – noon) is redeemable between April 25 and May 15, 2016, during peak songbird or waterfowl migration. Potential species to be seen include waterfowl such as wood duck and hooded merganser, wading birds like green herons, numerous songbirds like warblers (you’ll be in excellent habitat for the rare prothonotary warbler, and red-shouldered hawks. Likely destinations for the trip include the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway or the lower Baraboo River, but the exact location will depend on water conditions, and you.

Mike Mossman has researched Wisconsin birds and their habitats for 40 years, and has a special interest in floodplain birds, especially along the Lower Wisconsin and Baraboo rivers, where he has explored countless hours by canoe and foot since childhood.  An author of many publications and presentations on Wisconsin wildlife and history, he is a popular guide, weaving together natural and human history in some of the southern Wisconsin’s wilder native landscapes. He was featured as  a naturalist in the documentaries  Gather Like The Waters and Rhythm of the River.  Mike lives in central Sauk County with his wife Lisa Hartman and their Turkey Vulture Uncle Butzie.