Birds of Stanly County and Beyond!
| Start Date | Class | Day(s) | Weeks | Fee |
|---|
Class Description:
This course begins on the second-to-last Friday in April and ends on the second Saturday in May. Lecture will be Fridays 6:00PM-7:30PM at the Stanly County Family YMCA. Practicum will be on Saturdays 9:00AM-11:00AM at the following field sites on the specified dates: SCC's Albemarle Campus (April 22), City Lake Park (April 29), Chuck Morehead Memorial Park (May 6), and from 9:00AM-1:00PM on the final class meeting at Morrow Mountain State Park & Juneberry Ridge (May 13). This course teaches an introduction to basic bird identification, anatomy, behavior, and ecology as applied to species resident in and/or migratory through Stanly County and surrounding areas. The laboratory section of the course will emphasize the importance of taking field notes in order to learn how to identify birds. Lab sessions will take place outside on Stanly Community College's campus, as well as at nearby city and state parks. As such, participants must be prepared to study in "The Great Outdoors" under a wide range of weather conditions. The final course activity will be class participation in the Global Big Day (https://ebird.org/globalbigday) as part of celebrating World Migratory Bird Day (https://www.migratorybirdday.org/) on May 13, 2023. 10 students are needed for the class to run.
Required:
- A field notebook; recommended: Rite in the Rain All-Weather Birder’s Journal No. 195, 4.875" x 7" x 0.375" (https://www.riteintherain.com/no-195-birders-journal). ISBN: 978-1-932149-03-6
Supplies or Other Requirements:
- Driver's License and/or ability to carpool to field sites.
Recommended:
- Sibley's Birding Basics: How to Identify Birds, Using the Clues in Feathers, Habitats, Behaviors, and Sounds, by David Allen Sibley (ISBN-13: 978-0375709661)
- Birds of the Carolinas Field Guide and Audio CD Set (2nd edition preferred), by Stan Tekiela, or some sort of field guide to birds.
- A pair of binoculars; preferably with 7-8x magnification and 35-42mm objective lenses.
Click the button below to register for the course...
Contact Bryan Sharp if you have questions: bsharp7334@stanly.edu or at 704-991-0309
Mr. Sharp has over 25 years of experience as an ornithologist, including academic field research, bird-banding, sequencing DNA, organizing museum collections, leading bird walks for the public, reviewing reports of bird observations to eBird for the state of Durango, Mexico and organizing the Christmas Bird Count for that same state. He is very excited to offer this class here in Stanly County – a relatively undiscovered birding hotspot!