Rufous Hummingbirds - Photo: Dow Lambert

Backyard Birding: November—December 2024

November program:

Backyard Birding: "Preparing Bird Habitats for Winter"

Presented by Christie Lassen, Wild Birds Unlimited, Gardiner, WA

Saturday, November 2, 2024

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Dungeness River Nature Center

Suggested donation: $5

On Saturday, November 2, Christie Lassen returns to give her always popular seminar discussing the special winter needs of the Anna’s Hummingbird and other species that make the Pacific Northwest a yearlong home. Christie will demonstrate the latest in feeders and various foods formulated by Wild Birds Unlimited designed to attract specific birds while promoting thriving bird populations and discouraging unwelcome mammals. Moreover, she will stress how these products supplement the ongoing needs for a backyard habitat that provides natural food sources, water sources, and places for cover during winter’s challenges.

December program:

“Identifying your Backyard Birds in Winter”

Presented by Ken Wiersema, Olympic Peninsula Audubon 

Saturday, December 7, 2024, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Rainshadow Hall, Dungeness River Nature Center

Suggested donation: $5

As winter sets in, our December program offers a refresher on the birds that folks can expect to visit in their yards.

This program emphasizes how bird appearance and behavior changes in our local winter, which bird species do not migrate, and how you can assist birds through the winter. We’ll review some basic identification tips and summarize the shorebird and waterbird species that spend their winter along our local shores. We’ll discuss what winter birds need in the colder months and demonstrate roost boxes.

Please bring your bird identification questions, bird behavior observations, and references you use or recommend. We’ll also discuss caring for your birding optics in winter, online and cell phone birding aids, and reference books and field guides. We’ll add in a discussion of our local Christmas Bird Counts dates, encourage you to join in the fun, and provide information on how you can participate.

Admission to each seminar is free. However, we suggest a donation of $5.00 per person to support ongoing OPAS education and conservation programs. Please note that we encourage participants to observe current COVID safety precautions as recommended by Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Clallam County Public Health for the protection of attendees and volunteer staff.