Introduction to birding class offered

Published 5:00 pm Monday, April 29, 2013

ASTORIA? The popularity of birding or bird watching continues to grow. Clatsop County is a premier birding site with flocks of migrating birds as well as local species. It has coastal lowlands, large and small river valleys, wooded hills and steep, rocky mountains. The North Coast is on the Pacific Flyway, which is squeezed into the narrow space between the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean. All of those things add up to an abundance of birds and a lot of species to see.

Discover the great variety of spring birds at the Birding Introduction to Bird Watching class. The class begins with a lecture at 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, May 6 at Clatsop Community College in Towler Hall, Room 206. The class includes two subsequent Saturday field trips, one in Astoria and one at the Fort to Sea Trail, at 7 a.m. on May 11 and 18. Be prepared to hike.

The class is taught by one of the top birders in Oregon, Mike Patterson, who lives in Astoria. Patterson has a Bachelor of Science in zoology and general science and has studied wildlife and birds for 40 years. He works as an ecological contractor with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the National Park Service and the North Coast Land Conservancy.

Register now at www.clatsopcc.edu/register (course number PER046501) or call 503-338-2402 or 503-338-2408. Cost is $35 for all three sessions.

Please direct inquiries to Mary Kemhus-Fryling by calling 503-338-2408 or emailing mfryling@clatsopcc.edu