08/12/11 jgm

HAYS, Kan. -- Two upcoming birding events have been announced at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, a branch of Fort Hays State University's Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

Birding Basics will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 21 at the Wetlands Center. Mike Rader, renowned birder and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks wildlife education coordinator, will discuss helpful identification tips and information about birds commonly found in Kansas.

The program is free of charge but is limited to 70 people. A guided field trip to Cheyenne Bottoms will be offered to workshop participants immediately following the program.

"To the beginning birder, trying to identify even common species can be extremely frustrating, and many people give up before they ever actually begin," said Eric Giesing, KWEC educator and biologist. "Birding connects you to nature in an educational, fun and cheap way."

The Cheyenne Scoutlands Birding Field Trip will be at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 28. Giesing will lead a guided walking and driving tour of the Scoutlands and will point out birds and other wildlife along the tour.

The tour is free of charge but is limited to 25 people. Participants will meet at the Wetlands Center and caravan to the Scoutlands.

Contact the KWEC at 620-786-7456 or toll free at 877-243-9268 for more details or to register.

The KWEC is at 592 NE K-156 Highway, northeast of Great Bend. 



The Wetlands Center's website is http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu/.