Education Resources

Learn about local and area classes and activities that may be of interest to members. In addition, find links here to online classes and other educational resources related to birding.

Local and Area Classes and Activities

The Education Committee maintains a list of local and area classes and activities of special interest to members of our chapter. Links to other organizations are also provided below for information about classes they may offer:

View past  presentations on birds from local Birding Expert and International Tour Guide Alvaro Jamarillo in this series of Webinars presented by the Coastside Land Trust.

Interested in Bird Photography? Join the Fremont Birding Circle on Facebook to learn about monthly walks led by local photographer and birding expert, Jerry Ting, and enjoy bird photography posts by members.

Mono Lake Field Seminars: 38 classes including birds and photography at www.monolake.org

Sterling Wildlife Biology: Gulls, raptors, shorebirds, and more at www.sterlingbirds.com

Golden Gate Audubon: offers classes for all levels of birding skills for members and non-members at https://goldengateaudubon.org/education/classes/.

Ohlone Audubon Society: maintains a list of local classes at http://www.ohloneaudubon.org/index.php/education/bird-watching-classes

The Point Reyes National Seashore Association Field Institute: offers over 140 outdoor education classes per year that foster the enjoyment of the Point Reyes National Seashore, see  http://www.ptreyes.org/camps-classes-programs/prnsa-field-institute.

Daniel Edelstein: teaches classes which can be found on his Merritt College blog and on his website at WarblerWatch.com.

John Muir Laws: illustrator and artist, naturalist and author, offers classes through his website, JohnMuirLaws.com.

Denise Wight: offers birding classes at http://www.denisewightbirds.com/

Online Education

The Education Committee provides links to online classes and educational resources for teachers:

Audubon Adventures offers a variety of programs for teachers at http://www.audubon.org/conservation/audubon-adventures.

Birds of North America is a subscription website maintained by Cornell Lab of Ornithology that has a wealth of information on birds. You can access them at https://birdsna.org/. This is not a set of classes, but detailed information to assist your learning about individual bird species

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has over 200 online courses available. Some require a fee, but many are free. You can explore them at https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/course-list/.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology also has their Bird Sleuth programs for teachers. Find out more at http://www.birdsleuth.org/

Upcoming Events

Sep 30

MDAS Field Trip — Outer Point Reyes

SEPTEMBER 30 @ 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM

Outer Point Reyes is a wonderful place for fall migrants, many of them Eastern passerine vagrants. You never know who’ll turn up…sightings in past years have included Blackburnians and Blackpolls; Chestnut-sided, Connecticut, Black-and-white, Magnolia, Prothonotary, Yellow-throated, and Black-throated Blues…and that’s just the warblers. We’ve also seen Yellow-green, Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos, Orchard Orioles, Ovenbirds, American […]

Oct 07

MDAS Field Trip — Birding by Bike at Clifton Court Forebay

OCTOBER 7 @ 7:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Have a bicycle, e-bike or scooter, and like to bird? Join MDAS at Clifton Court Reservoir in eastern Contra Costa County, where we will do an out-and-back biking/birding trip of approximately 10 miles on a flat, paved levee road, to see a myriad of bird species. Those who are equipped for it can also navigate […]

Oct 21

MDAS Field Trip — Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary/Crab Cove, Alameda

OCTOBER 21 @ 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

The millions of shorebirds that winter on San Francisco Bay make it a state and global Important Bird Area. It is part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network and is also designated as a Wetland of International Importance under UNESCO’s Ramsar Convention. We’ll start at the viewing platform at Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, which […]

Oct 26

MDAS Field Trip — Lodi Lake & Woodbridge Preserve

OCTOBER 26 @ 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM

We’ll bird first at Lodi Lake and its riparian area alongside the Mokelumne River. Plan to see waterfowl and many bird species including Woodpeckers, White-breasted Nuthatch, Cedar Waxwing, Herons, Warblers and Wood Duck. (We’ve had Varied Thrush in the past but cannot guarantee!) From Lodi Lake we’ll move on to Woodbridge Ecological Preserve, where we’ll […]