Spring migration is on! Summer workshops are on the way

For birders, May is a month of magic. Shorebird flocks grace the edges of ponds, sparrows flit around below weedy brush, while mixed flocks of warblers and vireos fill the trees.

For new birders, May is a great time to get out and start learning your local migrant and breeding birds. Songbirds are in their bright breeding plumage and easier to identify than in their drab fall plumage. Singing males are loud and visible. Skies, wetlands, woods, and fields are full of bird life. Get out while the birding is wild.

After a vibrant May and June, July is a mid-summer lull, when parents are raising their young in secret. Birds are nearly absent during the hot afternoon "siesta time."

So it's an opportune time to put yout binoculars down and join a July birding workshop seres to hone your birding skills. I'm holding the four-session Introduction to Birding workshop series on Saturdays in July, from 1 pm to 3:15 pm Pacific. Topics include bird identification principles, bird structure, bird behaviour, songs and calls, habitat, migration and helpful birding resources. More information is on the workshops page here.

In the meantime, happy spring birding!