The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is now accepting applications for its 2012 “Birding 101” course for beginning birders, which will be held in April.

This will be the 29th year the Society has offered this course, and it continues to be very popular.

Space will be limited so those who are interested are encouraged to sign up soon.

The course will be taught by leading local bird experts, including Bob Dean and Wil Hershberger.

It will utilize both evening classroom sessions and daytime field trips. Participants will learn everything from bird identification to birding techniques and resources to field etiquette.

It will focus on bird species that are found in the Eastern Panhandle area.

The evening classroom sessions will start on Thursday, April 3 and be held each of the following three Thursdays (April 10, 17, and 24). All of these sessions will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center just north of Shepherdstown.

The field trips will be held at various locations around the Panhandle from roughly 7 a.m. to 12 noon on the Saturdays following the Thursday evening sessions (April 5, 12, and 19 and 27).

Tuition for the full course package of four classroom sessions and four field trips (a total of 28 hours of instruction) is $95.

Registration is required. To register, go to the PVAS website at www.potomacaudubon.org and look for “Birding 101” under “Birding” or “Events Calendar.” Or contact Krista Hawley at 304-876-8471 or adultprograms@potomacaudubon.org.