Birding for Fledglings (a beginning birding class)

Instructors: Yvette MacDonald, Dawn Lemoine (dlemoine@goldengatebirds.org)
Teaching Assistant: Jameson Wolf

Fall is a great time to begin your birding journey in the Bay Area. A major stop on the Pacific
Flyway, the San Francisco Bay is rich with ducks, shorebirds and passerines in the winter. In the
fall, we witness their arrival.

No experience is necessary, but even advanced beginners will find plenty of challenge in this
class.  The class will focus on families of birds; keys to bird identification; and finding and IDing
the Bay Area's Fall/Winter birds. You will be introduced to eBird and Merlin, the tools used
today to enhance the birding experience. We will connect you to the birding community and
provide resources to enhance your birding in the future.

We focus on Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda counties for our field trips. Field trip locations
are TBD, but in the past have included: Las Gallinas, Arrowhead Marsh, Valle Vista, Hayward
Shoreline, Palo Alto Baylands, Charleston Slough, Coyote Hills. Field trip walking distances are 2
miles or less. In general, terrains are flat and trails are well-graded. While they may be small
inclines, we will traverse them slowly. We will share details about each field trip, including
restroom and bench locations, on the Wednesday night before each trip.

Requirement: You must want to have fun; we will have lots of it!

Class dates and times:

• Six Wednesday evening classes via Zoom, 7 to 9 pm. : October 22, 29; November 5, 12, 19; December 3. (Zoom link will be provided when you register.)
• Six three-hour Saturday field trips, 8 to 11 am. : October 25; November 1, 8, 15, 22; December 6. 
• Make-up field trip date if needed: December 13.

We take Thanksgiving week off, so no lecture on November 26 and no field trip on November 29.

Field trip locations will be announced in class and by email.

Note: We will visit, at most, one East Bay Regional Park that requires a $5 entrance fee (or EBRPD membership).  Depending on where you live, bridge tolls may be involved.

Class Size: Limited to 20 participants

Price: $430 ($344 for GGBA members, a 20% discount).

Registration opens at 1 pm on Wednesday August 6 and closes at 11pm on Monday, October 20.