Field trip: Introduction to the Natural World Course
Field Trip 2 - Seattle Naturalists Intro Natural World Course - Center for Urban Horticulture
Afternoon Session: Let's go birding! We will focus on honing your skills in using binoculars and the Merlin app to maximize viewing, identifying and enjoyment of our beautiful area birds. The Yesler swamp and Union Bay Natural Area offer varied ecological regions that attract various woodland, water birds and raptors.
Contacts
- Sat, May 11, 2024
- Seattle Naturalists Committee
- Naturalist
- Adults
- Easy
- Easy
- Mileage: 3.0 mi
- Pace: Slow with many stops
- 6 (6 capacity)
- FULL (2 capacity)
- Cancellation & Refund Policy
Meet at 1:00 pm at the Soest Garden Fountain, 3501 NE 41st St, Seattle WA 98105. The fountain is located just east of the building in the garden area.
The restrooms are in the building. We will stop for a restroom break about about 2:30pm on our walk about.
There are a couple of tasks to complete prior to this field trip.
1 Binoculars
-Please contact me if you need binoculars. I’ll do my best to find you a pair to borrow.
-Set your binoculars to your face and vision. These are simple adjustments that really help improve the viewing. There are a few YouTube videos that can help you set your binoculars. I like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Su5b1cNpU&t=203s
2 Merlin App
-Download the FREE Merlin App to your phone or tablet. Be sure to add the US: West Coast bird pack while you have a good connection to WiFi. These are large files that take a while to download.
Trip
After introductions we will discuss using the bird apps, Merlin & eBird in the field. After our discussion expect to spend approximately 2-3 hours wandering the trails, looking for birds and listening to their calls and song. We will practice looking at key characteristics like shape, size, color patterns, sound and behaviors and use the Merlin app and or bird guidebook to identify species.
We will walk together in a group at a slow pace and stop often to listen and search for birds.
Post Trip
You will receive a list of birds we identified. For those people that have an eBird account, you will also receive a link to upload the list to your account.
Required Equipment
none