Feb. 8: Birding trip along the Shenandoah River in Jefferson County will last about three hours and mostly involve driving from place to place by car, with little walking. The event will focus on ducks, grebes, gull, terns and any other birds encountered. Participants will meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lot in front of the Martin’s Supermarket in the Jefferson Crossroads Shopping Center off Route 340 in Charles Town. The event is free and open to the public. Children will be welcome. No pre-registration required. For more information, contact trip leader Sandy Sagalkin at monsansagalkin@myactv.net or 240-291-6465.

Also on Feb. 8, there will be a PVAS program at the National Conservation Training Center beginning at 7 p.m. in Room 151 of the Instructional West Building. Horticulturalist and landscape designer James Dillion will give a presentation on the design and construction of rain gardens and discuss their benefits. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Peter Smith at pvsmith@frontiernet.net or 304-876-1139.

A birding trip to the Eastern Shore, led by David Myles is on tap for Feb. 18-19. Areas to be visited include the Bombay Hook, Prime Hook and Blackwater national wildlife refuges; Indian River Inlet; and Assateague Island National Seashore. This is a good opportunity to see waterfowl as they begin staging for their migration north. Participants will meet at 8 a.m. on the Feb. 18 at the visitor’s center of the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Smyrna, Del. Open to the public, there is no fee but participants are responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses. For more information (including information about carpooling) contact David by email at dkmyles@comcast.net.

Feb. 22 offers a birding trip along the Shenandoah River in Jefferson County. The trip will last about three hours and mostly involve driving from place to place by car, with little walking. The trip will focus on ducks, grebes, gull, terns and any other birds encountered. Meet at 8 a.m. in the parking lot in front of the Martin’s Supermarket in the Jefferson Crossroads Shopping Center off Route 340 in Charles Town. The walk is free and open to the public and children will be welcome. No pre-registration is required. For more information, contact trip leader Sandy Sagalkin at monsansagalkin@myactv.net or 240-291-6465.

Rounding out the month on Feb. 29, a C&O Canal Bird Walk will be held in Harpers Ferry. The event will involve about four miles of level walking along the towpath. Species likely to be sighted include Bald Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, vultures, migrating waterfowl, woodpeckers, kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Winter Wrens and Brown Creepers. Interested individuals should meet at 8 a.m. outside John Brown’s Fort, where Potomac and Shenandoah streets meet in Harpers Ferry National Park. For more information, contact trip leader Deb Hale at debhale72@gmail.com or 304-535-1528.

On tap for Mar. 14 is a Potomac Valley Audubon Society program at the National Conservation Training Center. beginning at 7 p.m. in Room 151 of the Instructional West Building. Author Wil Stolzenburg will discuss his new book, Rat Island, which chronicles a controversial effort to restore the indigenous habitat of an Aleutian island by exterminating introduced predators. The gathering is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Peter Smith at pvsmith@frontiernet.net or 304-876-1139.