Benicians and others can learn about birdwatching during a special workshop and birding walk at American Canyon Wetlands, said Cheryl Harris, spokesperson for Napa Solano Audubon, which is organizing the workshop.
“Participants will start small. This workshop is focusing on hummingbirds as part of Audubon’s ‘Hummingbirds at Home Project,’” Harris said.
That project is one of Audubon’s newest citizen science projects, she said, in which participants gather information about humming birds as well as the habitat on which they rely.
According to information provided by Audubon, flowers are blooming earlier because of warming temperatures, and this may be having an impact on hummingbirds because they rely on nectar.
Hummingbirds at Home will help gather information to help scientists learn how climate change, flowering patterns and feeding by people are affecting the birds.
Unlike some of Audubon’s citizen science projects, such as the Christmas Bird Count, Hummingbirds at Home will receive participants’ reports throughout the year.
Those who join the effort can make those reports at http://birds.audubon.org/hummingbirds-home or via Audubon’s free mobile application. They can report a single sighting or document hummingbird activity in their neighborhoods during the length of the project.
The workshop in the American Canyon Wetlands will help prospective participants learn more about the little birds that are the focus of the project.
Those attending will receive a Hummingbirds at Home kit that includes native California wildflower seeds, materials for making a hummingbird feeder from recycled materials and other items.
The workshop is appropriate for all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult, Harris said.
“The walks are on flat ground,” she said. “Bring binoculars if you have them and water.”
Those who want to attend will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, at the trailhead near the Wetlands parking lot at the corner of Eucalyptus Drive and Wetlands Edge Road, American Canyon.
Those interested may visit www.napasolanoaudubon.com.
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