Birding for Fledglings (a beginning birding class)

Date: February 18, 7 pm to March 28, 11 am
 
Instructors: Dawn Lemoine, dlemoine@goldengatebirds.org and Yvette MacDonald

Description: Winter 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.

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, and Coyote Hills. 

Field trip walking distances are 2 miles or less.  In general, terrains are flat and trails are well-graded.  Where there 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 (and by email).

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

Class Dates and Times:          
 
●    Six Wednesday evening classes, 7 to 9 pm, by Zoom:  February 18, 25; March 4, 11, 18, 25.
 (Zoom link will be provided when you  register.)

●    Six 3-hour Saturday field trips, 8 to 11am:  February 21, 28; March 7, 14, 21, 28.

●    Makeup Field Trip Date (if needed):  April 4

Lectures are via Zoom; 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 on Wednesday, December 3, for all Winter classes, and closes on Tuesday, February 17.