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Two non-credit courses offered through the Johns Hopkins Odyssey Program will give novice bird watchers the tools and techniques needed to enjoy this pastime. In the one-day course, "Birdwatching: An Introduction," students will learn the tools, techniques, and terminology necessary to become a knowledgeable bird watcher.

"Spring Birdwatching" is a seven-session lecture series that examines the spring migration in the mid-Atlantic region and teaches participants the techniques of bird identification. Half-day field trips are scheduled to areas in Central Maryland to search for migrant birds returning from Central and South America. An all-day visit to Bombay Hook offers the opportunity to see returning shore-birds and herons.

The instructor for both courses is David Holmes, who has more than 25 years of experience at a migration banding station on the Isles of Shoals off the New Hampshire coast. He has also done extensive field work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Birdwatching: An Introduction" will be held on Saturday, April 12 from 9 a.m. to noon on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, 3400 North Charles Street. The cost is $42. The seven-session "Spring Birdwatching" course runs Thursday evenings 7-9 p.m. from April 24 to May 15 and includes two all-day field studies on May 3 and 10. Lectures will be held on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus, 3400 North Charles Street. The cost is $284. For more information or to register for the courses, please call 410-516-4842 or visit www.odyssey.jhu.edu.