Field Class: Patching Together: Smallscale Birding for Fun!
All levels of birders, especially beginners, are welcome to join this series of three one-hour online meetings and two three-hour field trips to discover and explore our own patches and the birds that live there.
What is patch birding anyway?
It is simply regularly observing birds in a small area that is close to you. Before we have our first class meeting, please choose your patch. Preferably your patch is within walking distance of your home or your place of work. Your patch can be as big or small as you’d like as long as you can cover the whole patch in an hour or so. This could be a local park, a cemetery, your backyard, or anywhere with habitat. Really the possibilities are endless.
During our interactive group Zoom meetings, we will share with each other our experience in our patch that week, and I will give an overview of the seasonal changes that are happening. These classes take place during the peak of spring migration and are spaced so that we are likely to notice big changes in the bird population between weeks. It will be fun to compare our observations with each other!
Once you start walking your patch routinely (using the same route each time), you will become quickly familiar with the bird species there and may even get to know individual birds! You may discover a particular branch on a particular tree where Anna’s Hummingbird likes to perch or a certain bush that tends to have a group of sparrows skulking under it.
Who knows? You may decide you’d like to build a daily or weekly practice to continue birding your patch after this class and for long into the future.
*This field class series offers three one-hour long Zoom meetings and your choice of two of the three field trips offered. This will be time in the field birding together to develop community, discuss seasonal changes, and develop your bird identification skills.
Field Trip Options (You choose two to attend.)
Fernhill Wetlands: May 6, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Kelley Point Park: May 28, 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Powell Butte Nature Park: June 1, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Zoom Class Meeting Times (Please attend all three.)
May 2, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
May 24, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
May 30, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
