SEQUIM — Guest speaker and birding veteran Denny Van Horn will talk about “Becoming a Birder” at the next Backyard Birding meeting, set from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Dungeness River Audubon Center.
Presented by the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, the gathering is a venue for Van Horn to explain the steps from bird-watchers to become birders, including how to look at birds and how to note key field marks, how to describe a bird and how to take birding notes. Participants will be shown the “tools of the trade,” including field guides, online resources and optics.
Van Horn, an expert and experienced birder, also will talk about birding ethics and outline how to record one’s own “Birding Year.”
A variety of binoculars, scopes and field guides will be available to try.
The series of classes is hosted by members of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society and is intended for residents of the area who are interested in knowing more about birds and in learning how to develop good habitats for wild birds.
Backyard Birding can be taken either as individual classes or in a series. The cost of each session is $5, or free for anyone younger than 18.
After the completion of five sessions, participants are offered a free one-year OPAS membership.
