Class Gives Beginners Flying Start At Birding

It’s not too early to sign up for the “Birds of Eastern Washington” class offered through the Community Colleges Institute for Extended Learning.

This popular class, taught by veteran bird watcher Maurice Vial, is offered in the spring and the fall. Designed for beginners, participants learn to identify and classify birds in the local area during two evening sessions. A day-long Saturday field trip to local birding hot spots follows.

The class is 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 17 and 19 at Shadle Park High School, room 230; the field trip is Oct. 21. Cost is $32. To register or for details, call the Institute for Extended Learning Continuing Education department, 533-3770.

* Speaking of birds: Phil Duval wrote us about a family of very sociable kingbirds at his Espanola, Wash., home. The birds nested in his pear tree, he says, “and perch very close to me while I’m watering the trees.” The two young kingbirds are almost ready to leave the nest.

* Guess who’s coming to dinner: Just when the gardens of those living outside the city explode with produce, the deer show up. Tawny does and their spotted fawns have begun nibbling with abandon on raspberries, spinach, kale and just about everything else within browsing range.

They don’t confine their dining to the vegetable patch. Hostas, day lilies and azaleas are deer favorites. Short of a very high fence, or wrapping every plant, tree and shrub in chicken wire, there’s little to do.

Some gardeners plant the flowers and shrubs deer like least — marigolds, mountain laurels, yews and daffodils, for example. But even these are not strictly off-limits. Wildlife experts note deer seem particularly attracted to Japanese maples, preferring those with green foliage more than red leaves.

Wrapping the garden in chicken wire seems aesthetically self-defeating. Another option is to sit quietly on the deck and just enjoy watching the dinner guests.

* Backyard journal: The population of paper wasps seemed to explode as temperatures reached the 90s. The wasps were probably there all along, flying across the yard with their long legs hanging down. But suddenly they began congregating by the dozens at the birdbaths, frantic for the only water in a very dry landscape.