Field Class Birds of Nisqually NWR

Field Class
Birds of Nisqually

Coming Next Fall 2025!
9:00-12:30 Saturday
(Please Pay & Register Below)

Barbara and Kevin’s classes are a holistic bird identification experience with birding. Our goal is to identify birds but not to focus on “a bird list” or to bird without you understanding what we are seeing, hearing and noticing about bird location, behavior, migration patterns and other identifying shapes and patterns we are seeing. Our classes are bird walks but are set aside in a unique way by our commitment to share with you the educational tools it takes to be a better birder. You will leave with a very different perspective on birding and its vast diversity and enjoyment!

Identification is important to science and knowing how to get the Visual or Song ID right is something we will actively share with you in our class. So if you choose to take that path you can submit your findings to eBird (a large citizen driven bio-diversity science project) with confidence and accuracy.

South Sound Nature School is a very small local PNW Nonprofit!

Kevin O’Malley lead naturalist and birder at South Sound Nature School will be teaching a birding basics class for beginners & intermediate birders wanting to further their knowledge about birding. Class will focus on winter birds identification and behavior. Birding is a fascinating recreational activity and you will learn to talk about what you are hearing & seeing. Nisqually has both forest and wetland habitats which leads to a great bird diversity.

Binoculars are recommended but not required. These small classes with two instructors will be geared towards adults (if you have an interested teen please contact me). You can pay in check or cash but you must register and can email me at omalley23@gmail.com. Maximum 8 participants. Refunds will be given as credit unless I can fill the spot, most people just donate the funds.

Get Hooked on Birding!

Barbara Petersen’s Bio-Barabara is a retired teacher who taught for thirty years in Highline School District's Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, where she enjoyed working with students from preschool through high school as well as their parents. Barbara is an avid birder who regularly leads Field Trips for Rainier Audubon Society, the South Sound's chapter. Always striving to increase her knowledge about birds, she also participates in field trips led by other birders whenever she can, and helps with a monthly bird census for the City of Kent at the Green River Natural Resources Area. After retiring from teaching Barbara worked for eight years as a sales associate at Burien's Wild Birds Unlimited store. She still leads the monthly Bird Walks offered year around by the store. She has birded in several US states and in the Peruvian Amazon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Brazil.

All Classes will be taught by Barbara & Kevin

"Kevin's birding classes are designed not only for beginning birders, but are well suited to all skill levels. You will learn something new!" Barbara Petersen Rainier Audubon Society Board Member

“Our excellent guides, Kevin and Barbara knew enough to wait, and soon we would see that most of the places are teeming with birdlife.   Between the two of them, our guides knew a ton about bird customs, flight, and calls and both were nimble with a scope, locking in unforgettable close-ups that allowed us to see avian colors in detail. This was a great trip, highly recommended for a taste of the exotic, not very far from home.” Joan Larcom