2026 Door County Festival of Nature

Plum Island once again hosted field trips for the Ridges Sanctuary 24th Annual Festival of Nature.

This year we added two new programs to their event: 'Bat Heroes' and 'Small Wings, Big Impact'. We continued our well-attended 'Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge Exploration' program where guests learned about the work that we are doing on Plum and Pilot Islands.

The 'Bat Heroes' program focused on the Little Brown Bats who reside in one of our historic buildings. These little creatures can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes per hour and come to Plum Island to have their pups (babies) and leave in the fall to hibernate in caves and mines. We are working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish & Wildlife Service to study them and learn how we can protect these little guys from threats.

The 'Small Wings' program focused on the pollinators found on Plum Island and the work we are doing to assist in the beneficial work that they do. While it was a bit chilly to find bees, we did see a couple of Monarch Butterflies flutter past us. We showed the guests the pollinator plot that is in thanks to a generous donation from the Detroit Harbor Ladies Aid. This is the third year of the initial seeding, so we are anticipating seeing the wildflowers announcing their arrival to the pollinators.

The guests then went on a scavenger hunt to locate wildflowers along the Plum Island Eagle Trail. With the help of the Seek app and some wildflower books, they were able to locate these beauties:

The guests noticed that the Plum Island Trillium were larger than what they have seen on the mainland ... another reason why you need to come to Plum Island!

Check out our FIELD DAYS page and reserve your seat on The Shoreline to learn more about our Bat Heroes and pollinators this season!