Seattle Audubon is offering a great selection of classes through
August. To register, call the Nature Shop Monday through Saturday, 10
am to 5 pm, at 206 523-4483.

Birding by Ear
with Bob Sundstrom, Professional Birding Tour Leader
This popular and practical class is back, again in a format
emphasizing intensive field experience. The class is designed to help
you get a handle on bird songs and calls. The field trips will cover a
wide variety of habitats within about 100 miles of Seattle. Intended
for first time birding-by-ear students as well as those who would like
an intensive refresher. One evening introductory session plus two
different full-day field trips. Sign up for one or both field trips.
Travel is by carpool and meeting plan will be given in class. Come
tune up your ears!

Class: Wednesday, May 10, 6:30 - 9:30 PM
Location: CUH Douglas Classroom
Field Trips: #1: Monday, May 15 - Scatter Creek/Capitol Forest
#2: Saturday, May 20 - East of the Cascades
Cost: $60 members, $75 nonmembers for one field trip. $120 members,
$150 nonmembers for both field trips. The evening class is for all
registrants and there is no separate charge for this session.
Limit: 18 per field trip


Taking a bird's eye view of bird migration
with Marilyn Ramenofsky, Lecturer, Biology Department, University of Washington
Migration is the annual movement of birds between breeding and
nonbreeding localities. Living in the Pacific Northwest, we are well
positioned to appreciate these annual movements as many species use
the Pacific Coast and mountain ranges to orient as well as stage their
travels north in Spring and south in the Autumn. In this course, we'll
discuss theories surrounding the evolution of migration and how
environmental conditions influence migration in terms of behavior,
ecology and physiology, as well as identify birds that are common
migrants through the Northwest.
Class: Wednesdays, May 10 and May 17, 7 ? 9 PM
Location: CUH*, Isaacson Boardroom
Cost: $40 members, $55 nonmembers
Limit: 35

The Gizz of Birding
with David Drummond, Research Wildlife Biologist
What do birders mean by the "gizz" of birding? Gizz is our American
take on the European "Giss" that stands for the general impression of
size and shape of an unidentified bird. It plays an important role in
how we look at birds and our ability to correctly identify them in the
field. We will study the gizz of local birds and use behavior, voice,
habitat, and distribution to determine their identification. Use this
holistic approach to help refine your identification techniques in the
field and better learn who is looking at you from the bushes. Please
bring binoculars and lunch and plan to carpool.
Class and Field Trip: Sunday, May 14, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: CUH*, Douglas Classroom
Cost: $35 members, $50 nonmembers
Limit: 25

Butterflies of the Puget Sound Region ? Butterflying with Binoculars
With Idie Ulsh, Founding President of the Washington Butterfly
Association, Past President of Seattle Audubon

This relaxed and informative class is designed for people who wish to
learn about the beautiful butterflies of this area and includes natural
history, gardening, and photography. Classes are slide-based with
superb photographs of all species.
Classes: Thursdays, May 18, 25, and June 1, 7 ? 9 PM
Location: First night, CUH Auditorium, Second and Third Nights,
Douglas Classroom
Field Trip: Saturday, May 20, Puget Sound Region, location to be
announced in class
Cost: Lectures and field trip, members, $60, nonmembers, $75; Lectures
only, members, $40; nonmembers, $55
Limit: Lectures only, 35; lectures and field trip, 20

Hummingbirds of Washington
with Alan Knue
These glittering fragments of a rainbow inspired 19th century
scientists to give new species of hummingbird such poetic names as
star-frontlet, sunangel, brilliant, rubytopaz, and sapphirewing.
Although the hummingbirds found in Washington State may not possess
such splashy names, they are truly wonderful birds nonetheless.
This class will explore the general biology of hummingbirds, including
diversity, evolution, breeding biology and physiology. We will also
learn how to attract hummingbirds to yards and gardens, both through
plantings and alternative food sources. Lastly, we will take an
in-depth look at the 4 regular hummingbird species of Washington,
including favorite food plants, general haunts, and identification.
During a day-long field trip to eastern Washington's Robinson Canyon
we should encounter one or two species and glimpse their daily lives.
Lectures: Tuesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 29, 7-9 PM
Location: Douglas Classroom, CUH
Field Trip: Saturday, July 1
Cost for lectures and field trip: $55 members, $65 non-members.
Cost for lectures only: $35 members, $40 non-members.
Limit for lectures and field trip: 15
Limit for lectures only: 10

Pelagic Birding
with Mike Donahue
The west coast of North America offers some of the best seabirding
anywhere in the world! The rich waters 20-40 miles offshore support a
diversity of species?albatrosses, storm petrels, shearwaters and
jaegers?that spend much of the year in the waters far offshore at the
edge of the continental shelf. If you've heard about pelagic birding
but wasn't sure what was involved, this class is for you!
This popular class will cover the diversity of seabirds that are found
offshore, focusing on natural history and identification, as well as
how to prepare for a pelagic trip.
Lectures: Tuesdays, July 25 and August 1, 7-9 PM
Location: Douglas Classroom, CUH
Cost for lectures: $50 members, $65 nonmembers. $25 youth (24 and under).
Limit for lectures: 40
Optional field trip: Sunday, August 6. Limit for field trip: 10
We will be joining an already scheduled pelagic trip with Westport
Seabirds. The boat departs from Westport at 6 a.m., and participants
should be at the dock no later than 5:45 a.m. The boat will return
between 3 and 4 p.m.
Cost for field trip: $110, payable to Westport Seabirds. To register
for the field trip, contact Mike Donahue directly at 206-323-9889.
Note: This course does not provide lodging or transportation to
Westport for the field trip. Participants will need to arrange these
on their own. Participants who sign up for the field trip portion of
the class will receive information on lodging in advance of the first
class.

Vicki King, Seattle
vkbirder at gmail.com