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October 19 @ 8:00 am - 10:00 am

Field Trip: Botany for Birders – Fruit at Oaks Bottom

Have you ever struggled to describe which tree a bird is in? Have you ever struggled to identify a tree making it difficult to know how to manage it? Join local arborist, ecologist and birder Ryan Gilpin for a series of online and field classes designed to help birders more confidently navigate the plant world. Ryan will focus on observing specific characteristics of trees to gather more information. This information can be used to assign a name to a plant, but the goals of the workshop are more about observing and describing than naming. 

Field Trip:Now that we have all the pieces (conifers, flowers, leaves, fruit), we can practice putting it all together while birding both the upper urban area around the parking lot and the lower natural area. We should be able to describe which tree we are seeing a good bird in to our fellow students and identify most trees to be able to learn more about them. We will scout for fruit, and prepare for the much more intimidating season rapidly approaching, winter tree identification.


Join us for the online portion of this field trip:

 

A Cedar Waxwing is perched on a Cascara tree branch eating on of the tree's fruits.
Cedar Waxwing eating Cascara fruit, photo by Mick Thompson

Join us for the Botany for Birders Series!

Through coupled classroom and field sessions Ryan will help you increase your ability to describe plants and connect to the natural world around you. Field sessions will be dynamic birding sessions in places with interesting trees.

Register!

Accessibility

  • Distance: Up to 2.5 miles
  • Elevation: 100 ft elevation change
  • Trail Tread and Width: Mix of pavement, dirt, and gravel, much of it narrow. Potentially muddy trails. 
  • Pacing: Slow with frequent stops
  • Amenities: No restrooms along route
  • Public Transportation: Bus lines 70, 19
  • Meeting Location: Sellwood Park Parking Lot off 7th Ave.

 

Field Trip Details

    • Class: Saturday, October 19, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
    • Class fee: $45 members / $65 non-member
Meet the Instructor

Ryan Gilpin

Ryan has worked primarily as a consulting arborist for the past 12 years (Nidus Consulting), but consistently finds ways to merge arboriculture, ecology and conservation. Ryan is a founding member and chair of Tree Care for Birds where he has written Best Management Practices and has trained hundreds of arborists in minimizing impacts to nesting birds during their work. In order to train arborists about birds, Ryan started going on walks and taking classes with Golden Gate Bird Alliance. It got out of hand and Ryan now spends much of his free time lugging a scope around the great places that Portland has to offer. Ryan lives in St. Johns and is particularly connected to the Columbia Slough Watershed leading monthly, casual bird and tree walks in some of Portland's best (and probably weirdest, most industrial adjacent) habitats.

Visit Ryan's Website

Details

Date:
October 19
Time:
8:00 am - 10:00 am
Event Categories:
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Organizer

Tara Lemezis
Email:
tlemezis@birdallianceoregon.org

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