Learn how to invite birds into your yard

The next in the 2019-2020 Backyard Birding series is set for 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 4, at the Dungeness River Audubon Center, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.

Carolyn Wilcox, owner and guide for Experience Olympic Tours, presents “Birdscaping: Inviting Birds to Your Yard,” the fourth

In this, the fourth of the series, Wilcox shares her expertise from living on a small urban-forest edge lot in Port Angeles near Valley Creek. More than 20 species of birds have accepted her invitation to winter over in her yard. She will explain how to create varied bird habitat with dead wood (snags, nurse logs, brush piles), hedges, native plants, feeders, nest boxes and water features — all while promoting the safe movement of birds throughout the surroundings.

She will also cover ways to avoid rats, mice and other interlopers.

Hosted by members of the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society (OPAS), Backyard Birding can be taken either as individual classes or in a series. Cost of each session is $5; admission is free for anyone younger than 18.

For participants completing five sessions in the series, OPAS offers a one-year membership.