When

Friday, January 18, 2019 at 5:00 PM EST
-to-
Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 3:00 PM EST
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Where

Tall Timbers and Birdsong Nature Center 
13093 Henry Beadel Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32312  

 
Driving Directions 

Contact

Brian Wiebler 
Tall Timbers 
8503631079 
bwiebler@talltimbers.org 

Winter Field Ornithology Course

Tall Timbers and Birdsong Nature Center are hosting a new Winter Field Ornithology Course on January 18-20, 2019 from 5:00 PM on Friday to 3:00 PM on Sunday.  This fun introductory level field course is limited to 16 participants and the $350 registration includes lodging, meals, and transportation. Expect a weekend of in-the-field experiences including sparrow mist netting and banding in open fields and pineland-wetland ecotones, capturing and banding red-cockaded woodpeckers, and monitoring owls.  Join us for this unique Red Hills natural history experience. 

Course Information

This introductory level mini-course is designed for citizen scientists, individuals involved in natural history inventory work, and all birders with an interest in “LBJs” (little brown jobs). Participants will have a weekend of sparrow identification/counting, mist netting, and banding in open fields at Tall Timbers, Birdsong, and possibly some nearby plantations (transportation included). We will consider the larger question of how a field can be managed to create and maintain good sparrow habitat. We also plan to look for Henslow’s sparrows in pineland-wetland ecotones and capture and band red-cockaded woodpeckers.

Dorm style lodge is provided at Tall Timbers with double occupancy rooms, kitchen space, and a gracious living room for socializing.  Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinners are all provided for an immersive experience.  The habitats of Tall Timbers and Birdsong range from open fields, old-field mixed pinelands, and beech-magnolia hammocks.  Wetland habitats in Lake Iamonia and the Ochlockonee River are nearby, and mature longleaf pine woodlands in the Red Hills may be accessed for special studies.  These habitats are rich in animal and plant diversity.   

Instructors
Jim Cox is the Director of the Stoddard Bird Lab at Tall Timbers with special interest in red-cockaded woodpecker, brown-headed nuthatch, and Bachman’s sparrow.  

Rob Meyer is the red-cockaded woodpecker biologist at Tall Timbers. Rob received his masters at Mississippi State Univ. where he conducted research on the interaction between RCWs and flying squirrels.  

Todd Engstrom is a Research Associate at Tall Timbers with interest in old-growth longleaf pine forest ecology and citizen science projects.

About the Red Hills Natural History Alliance
Tall Timbers and Birdsong share roots in the study and appreciation of the natural history of the organisms and habitats of North Florida and South Georgia. The Red Hills Natural History Alliance is a collaboration between these two organizations to provide participants with a better understanding of the wildlife, plants, and ecosystems of the region through immersive field short courses.  These courses are scholarly and educational in design and bring top professionals from throughout the natural science professions together for sessions of exploration and learning. 
Future course topics may include: Myrmecology (ants), Lepidopterology (butterflies and moths), Herpetology (reptiles, amphibians), Ichthyology (fish), Fire Ecology, Field Botany, Lichenology (Lichens), Archaeology, and Nature Photography.