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Learn how to band birds this summer in the Cascade Mountains! Our Cascades Banding Camp for teens is a partnership between Puget Sound Bird Observatory and Seattle Audubon and is in its sixth summer.
From a base camp set in Wenatchee National Forest, this five-day camping trip will feature riparian and mountain birding and banding at several locations with opportunities to see and possibly handle great Northwest birds like Williamson's Sapsucker, Townsend's Warbler, and American Three-toed Woodpecker.
Cascades Banding Camp for Teens
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Cascades Banding Camp occurs in early August. Camp trains high school students from around the country in bird-banding techniques while documenting how birds use moist high-elevation meadows in the Cascade Mountains to replace their feathers and prepare for southward migration. The camp will focus on the basics of net placement, extraction and handling, aging, and sexing, with special emphasis on the use of molt to age birds. Banding will occur on four mornings, with four nights of camping at primitive campgrounds.
Class will start and end in Seattle. For attendees from out-of-town, we are able to help arrange local accommodations through Seattle Audubon BirdWatch members who volunteer to be hosts.
No birding or banding experience is necessary to participate. To be eligible, campers must be 15-18 years old. There is a eight-person limit for participation. BirdWatch members are given priority during the first two weeks of registration, after which all participation is determined on a first-come-first-served basis.
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Banding Camp Blog - Check here for updates!
Information on last year's camp experience,
with a species list and data chart:
Camp Report 2009 (pdf)
Instructors
Master Bander Dan Froehlich is a PhD candidate at the University of Washington's Burke Museum. He was the banding trainer for the Institute for Bird Populations in California and has worked at numerous other banding stations in the US and Germany. Along with Don Norman, he has been the primary trainer in the Seattle area since 2002. Dan is an excellent teacher and an expert on aging birds using molt patterns.
Don Norman is a Wildlife Toxicologist and Master Bander who has been banding birds for many years. He manages a MAPS station in the Fort Lewis/McChord AFB area and trains many banders throughout Puget Sound. He is a native plant expert and a mean outdoor cook specializing in Cajun vegan cuisine.