Local birding experts are again offering Whidbey Audubon’s popular course on the Birds of Whidbey Island.

The organizers and instructors are volunteers, so if you have ever thought about taking the course, do it while the volunteers are still willing to instruct. Among others, instructors include Steve and Martha Ellis, Frances Wood, and Joe Sheldon.

Each class is taught around the season when there is a good chance of seeing the birds being studied. One Saturday each month may have a field trip to find that month’s birds.

The course is each first and third Thursday of each month, from Sept. 2, 2010 through May 2011, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland. The course includes 18 classes and 10 or 11 field trips.

The cost is $150 for Whidbey Audubon members and may be paid in two installments. Non-members pay $160 and receive the Shorelines newsletter for the 2010-2011 Whidbey Audubon year. A limited number of scholarships are available.

Contact Miriam Nack at 360-321-3968, or nack@whidbey.com, and send your check payable to Whidbey Audubon Society to her at 2760 Salal Lane, Langley, WA 98260. Space is limited to 24 and you will be enrolled when the check is received.