Calling All Eastside Birding Experts: Lead the Flock!
Dear Eastside Audubon Members,
Do you know your Black-capped Chickadee call from a Chestnut-backed? Can you spot a Red-breasted Sapsucker from a distance? We're revamping our bird walk program and need your expertise!
As the new Birding Chair, I'm looking for passionate, experienced birders to help us expand our offerings by leading walks in our fantastic local patches. We want to get more people out enjoying birds, and who better to guide them than the seasoned experts among us?
What is the process?
To start this program, we’re looking for experienced birders to lead walks at their patch (e.g. a local park or natural area they visit regularly and are familiar with the birds). You should be familiar with identifying birds, bird calls, and comfortable leading a group of people in a birding area. While we want to launch a training program in the future, at the moment we are looking for experienced birders during this first wave of recruiting new walk leaders. Keep an eye out for future opportunities for learning birders!
Time commitments range from person to person, but we’re likely looking for a 2-4 hour commitment for the bird walk and an additional 2-4 hours for training and logistics. The walk leader can choose if they would like their walks to be a one-off, semi-regular (quarterly), or regular (monthly) so the commitment can be flexibility depending on your availability!
By tapping into your deep knowledge, we can get new walks up and running quickly. If you're an experienced birder and interested in sharing your skills by leading occasional walks, please hit reply and let me know!
More details will follow, but right now, we're eager to identify our potential leaders.
Thanks for considering!
Ryan Watson
Birding Chair, Eastside Audubon Society