Our Goals
The mission of the Education Committee is to promote birding activities of all kinds and with a variety of populations. In particular, our activities aim to introduce and encourage birding with children, seniors, the disabled, and other people that may not have had access to birding. For schools or organizations who wish to request birding programs or funding for specific birding projects, we ask that you complete a simple questionnaire to help us determine if we have the resources to help. The link to the questionnaire: Application for HBC Ed Committee Programs & Funding.
We offer monthly presentations on topics of interest to club members, and we often invite members of other bird clubs to attend. The Education Committee meets via zoom at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month. We invite people interested in the Education Committee to attend our meetings. Contact us at [email protected].
Our Presentations
We offer presentations each month on topics such as bird identification, where to bird locally, the dos and don’ts of bird feeders, and our popular monthly Do-It-Yourself Birding workshops. Currently, all our presentations take place via zoom. Descriptions of the presentations and instructions on registering can be found under Workshops.
New Member Bird Walks
This is a new initiative from the Education Committee. We will offer new member bird walks, open to anyone with any level of experience, once each season. They will be led by members of the Ed Committee. For details and directions, check Events listings.
April 23, 2023 – 7-9 a.m. at Lake Wallace, behind the Belchertown Police Station
The fourth one will be our usual new member bird walk before the June HBC picnic at Arcadia.
Videos of Previous Workshops and Programs
Links to the recorded videos of Education Committee Workshops and Hampshire Bird Club programs are here.
Educational Scholarships
We offer scholarships for young people to attend birding or natural history camps and conferences. Applicants are 12-18 years old. An applicant or a family member is a member of the Hampshire Bird Club. You can download an Education Scholarship Application here.
Education Committee Members 2022
Lesley Farlow and Janice Jorgensen, Co-Chairs
Melissa Aldrich
Laura Beltran
Monique Dumais
Bruce Hart
Julius Tyson
To contact the Education Committee, please email [email protected]. Feel free to email us with ideas for presentations or activities that would interest you.