Birding by Ear: Bird Sounds of San Francisco— Presentations and Field Trips

Registration opens on Wednesday, February 4 at 1pm and closes at 11 pm on Tuesday, March 3. 

Instructors: Rich Chambers (rich.chambers@gmail.com) and Dan Scali (daniel.s.scali@gmail.com)

Description: 

Interested in broadening your birding skills? 

This class provides a four-part “birding by ear” series emphasizing birds seen in the San Francisco region. Since so many birds are only heard, knowing how to tell one bird from another even if you can't see them greatly increases the pleasure of birding. This class helps participants know exactly what to listen for and how to tell one bird from another. Each week, Rich will give a 90 minute presentation by Zoom and Dan and Rich will lead a field trip on the following weekend.

Recordings of the lecture presentations will be available to class participants for a limited period of time.

Field trips: 

There will be four field trips. The first two are on Saturdays and the last two are on Sundays.

The four field trip locations are the San Francisco Botanical Garden March 7, 8 to 11 am), Candlestick State Park (March 14, 8 to 11 am), McLaren Park (March 22, 7 to 11 am), and the Chain of Lakes in Golden Gate Park (March 29, 8 to 11 am) . They vary by geography, microclimates, and habitat, in order to cover a wide range of vocalizing birds. With the exception of Candlestick, each meeting point is very close to public transportation. Carpooling is always encouraged.  All locations have restrooms.

The routes will cover 1 to  2 miles at a leisurely pace on mostly even, paved and unpaved trails with gradual elevation changes.  All routes can be modified to avoid stairs and provide sitting breaks.

The field trip to McLaren Park on Sunday March 22 is scheduled for 7 to 11 am to take advantage of the dawn chorus, but participants have the option to meet the group at 8 am.

Four Wednesday evening classes by Zoom:  March 4, 11, 18, 25: 7:00 to 8:30 pm.

            (Zoom link will be provided when you register.)

Four field trips: Saturday March 7, 8 to 11 am; Saturday March 14. 8 to 11 am; Sunday March 22, 7 to 11 am  (with option to arrive at 8 am); Sunday March 29. 8 to 11 am.

Class Size: Limited to 20 participants.

Price: $290 ($232 for GGBA members, a 20% discount).