Get ready for the fall when hundreds of shorebirds migrate through Whidbey Island. Shorebirds include the sandpipers, plovers, oystercatchers, snipes and stilts, among others. They rely on coastal wetlands, the Arctic tundra, saline lakes in arid regions and highly specified food resources during migration, they are extremely vulnerable to environmental changes occurring, such as loss of habitat due to rising tides. They often have long legs in order feed in the mud. They differ from seabirds in that they feed along shorelines rather than open water.

Whidbey Audubon Society is offering a three-session class in August with naturalist David Droppers. The classes are online on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, 19 and 26, followed by an in-person field trip on Saturday, Sept. 6. The fee is $100. Register on the Whidbey Audubon website, whidbeyaudubonsociety.org/class-and-presentation-store/p/shorebirds. Those wishing to only attend the field trip Sept. 6 may do so for $25. Visit whidbeyaudubonsociety.org/class-and-presentation-store/p/shorebirds-trip.

Droppers will focus on identification and teach tricks that will make tackling shorebirds less intimidating. He has been teaching courses on topics from birds to butterflies to trees to microorganisms for a variety of groups, including college biology courses and nonprofit environmental groups. He has put his expertise to work for the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, University of Washington and Woodland Park Zoo, among many others.