College offering Spring Birding Class
McCOOK, Nebraska -- Bird watchers, hunters, photographers and just plain nature lovers are invited to attend the spring birding class at McCook Community College
This class is being offered during the Spring semester on Fridays from noon-2 p.m. from January 18 through May 3.
"This class is really for anyone with an interest in birds," said MCC Biology Instructor Rob Bogardus. "It's not necessarily for biology students and not necessarily for traditional students."
"Birds of Nebraska" (BIOS 1060) is being offered at MCC's Barnett Hall, Room 112. It is open to traditional students interested in obtaining credits, and for non-traditional students just interested in learning more about birds and auditing the class without receiving college credits.
The class is designed to introduce students to the basic biology, behavior, natural history and identification of birds -- focusing on the species that are common to Nebraska. Bogardus said half of the class period is devoted to biology and half devoted to bird identification. In addition, the class will go on several field trips to area birding hot spots.
The required text will be "Sibley's Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America" and those taking a class will need a pair of binoculars (typically at least 8-to-10 power), although some loaners may be available.
Bogardus said that anyone who is interested in registering but knows they will have to miss several classes should audit the class rather than take it for credit.
For anyone considering the class and would like more information, contact Bogardus at 345-8150 or email (bogardusr@mpcc.edu
Students can explore all of the Spring 2013 course offerings by using MPCC's CampusWeb (http://campus. mpcc.edu) Course Search. Advisors are available to help students decide which courses best fit their program requirements and interests.
It is strongly recommended that students wishing to register make an advising appointment by calling (308) 535-3774 in North Platte or (308) 345-8102 in McCook.