Learning to Bird

 

May 20 - 24, 2024

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Spend a week birding the forests, wetlands, and grasslands of Norfolk County's internationally renowned Important Bird Areas. Ecopa's Learning to Bird workshop will help develop your identification skills by sight and sound and will cover the basic methods in field ornithology (optics, field guides, sound recording, digital photography, and standard survey protocols).

 

Timed to coincide with the spring migration, participants will be able to practice a sampling of field ornithology skills through direct observation and discussion with the instructors and other students.  Participants will visit many birding “hotspots” that the area has to offer and will spend hours daily working on their ID skills in the field with birding experts.

 

Field activities are balanced by afternoon and evening sessions on bird identification. Bird observations made during the course are submitted to the eBird database as an example citizen science platform for field studies. 

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This course is geared towards those learning to hone their bird ID skills either as a hobby or for those who conduct bird surveys. All are welcome to take this introductory to intermediate-level course.

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The Course at a Glance

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Monday

Morning

• Travel, registration. Birding the Carolinian forests around the Delta Centre.

Afternoon

• Birding in the field  – using tools of the trade (field guides, binoculars, scopes, ears, and apps)

Evening

•  Bird songs and sounds

 

Tuesday

Morning

• Early morning birding in Backus Woods

Afternoon

• Passerine ID, and birding the Turkey Point forests

 

Wednesday

Morning

• Birding the Big Creek Marsh. Visit the Long Point Bird Observatory. 

Afternoon

• Non-passerine ID and birding at Turkey Point

Evening

• Chimney Swift Monitoring

 

Thursday

Morning

• Grassland and open country birding

Afternoon

• Bird ID workshop at Delta Centre

Evening

• Night bird survey field trip 

 

Friday

Morning

• Migration birding at Long Point Provincial Park. Visit Birds Canada headquarters.

Afternoon

• Some final birding at Turkey Point  

 

Location and Accommodations

The course is based at the Delta Waterfowl Centre in Turkey Point Ontario. The Centre is located within a provincially significant Carolinian forest and is only a short distance from Long Point and other birding hotspots.

 

Course Fee $850 +HST