Come join fellow Whidbey Audubon Society (WAS) members at Deer Lagoon for weed removal training. We will receive instruction from the Island County Noxious Weed Control Board and learn how we can help protect and enhance the environment of this very special place. If you are interested and available to help, contact Linda Griesbach and she will send you specific details once they are finalized. Deer Lagoon is a designated Important Bird Area, and this is a great opportunity for WAS members to show it some love!

Deer Lagoon, the most extensive estuarine marsh on Whidbey Island, is located near the island's south end, on the north shore of Useless Bay.

This is the second of two sessions that are exploring how to develop expert birder skills. The first session is on Tuesday, March 9th, 7:00-8:30 PM. Donation for the three hour course is $40.

Skills that make an Expert Birder

If you have ever had a bird flash past you, and wished you were like the person next to you who instantly identified it, you can be! It's a skill that you can develop, too. Experts use more than just the detailed field marks found in a bird book's precise illustrations. They focus on clues like size and shape, color patterns, behavior, habitat, and sounds to make those quick decisions.

This course will help you develop those same skills. Focusing on local common birds as examples, we will work through the five characteristics that expert birders use, so these concepts are at the ready for you to use them.

This 3-hour course, presented in two 90 minute evening sessions, will include ways of capturing size and shape, color patterns, behaviors for I.D. clues and expand knowledge about distributions from useful resources. We will incorporate hands-on work using the Merlin smartphone and tablet app (or a bird book, if you don't have a smartphone). The Merlin app is produced by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and is a handy tool to have in the field, especially as you become familiar and proficient with its features. (Merlin can work all over the world, except for south of the Sahara, so it is also a great tool to have if you travel).

In the second session, we will expand on some of the skills gained and practiced from the first session, explore songs, understand tunes and calls, and enhance your capacity to learn them incrementally without feeling overwhelmed .

This course will help you develop skills that will enhance your birding experiences and increase your enjoyment of this rewarding hobby, sport, endeavor.

Bring either a smartphone or tablet with the Merlin App or a favorite bird book.

Instructor: Thomas Bancroft
Birds have been a big part of Thomas Bancroft’s life since childhood, both recreationally and professionally. Their identification, ecology, behavior, and systematics were central parts of his undergraduate and graduate schooling and remain a fundamental interest. He earned his Ph.D. in Ornithology, and incorporated working at the bird laboratory at Carnegie Museum, and studying Florida Scrub-Jays, Blue Jays, and Boat-tailed Grackles in graduate school. His fieldwork for National Audubon aided the conservation plan and later as Chief Scientist, Thomas helped National Audubon integrate their work with Birdlife International's work all across the Americas.

Thomas has birded in 48 states, several Canadian provinces, and on six continents, and has identified more than 560 species in the United States and slightly over 2,000 worldwide. His professional career has focused on protecting birds, restoration of habitat and populations, and the integration of science into policy.

Tom is a Scientific Advisor to BirdNote, served 6-years on Washington Audubon's board, volunteers for the Washington Ornithological Society and is the chair of the Naturalist Group at the Mountaineers.

Online Education Class via Zoom

Join Whidbey Audubon Society member Dyanne Sheldon to discuss the variety of Habitats of Whidbey Island and how their features influence which birds use each through the year.

This one-hour Zoom class will explore the characteristics of forests, open lands, fresh water and saltwater/shore habitats from the perspective of bird utilization. Advance your birding skills by learning how habitat characteristics influence what you’re likely to see. Locations for accessing public lands with particular habitat types will be discussed as well as what birds are often found in these locations. Additional time will be provided to ask questions and engage directly during the session.

Dyanne Sheldon is a retired restoration ecologist and wetland biologist who worked in Washington State for 25 years. Her professional focus was on wetland science and management, but as a birder and natural historian she is well acquainted with the various habitats of the Pacific Northwest. Dyanne is a long-time resident of Whidbey Island, Whidbey Audubon Member and instructor for the Birds of Whidbey course.

This class is open to all (WAS members and non-members) for a donation of $12, which will include access to a recording of the class after the event. (If you are interested in the class but unavailable at the time, you may register and access the recorded version later.)

Registration will close at 8:00 PM, Wednesday, February 17th [Registration is closed]. Later that evening we will send you an email with the Zoom link. If you do not see this email in your inbox by the next morning, check your spam folder. If you still can’t find it, contact membership@whidbeyaudubonsociety.org.

Registration is closed.