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CLASS DATES:
1 JUNE 18 (INTRODUCTION) MEET ON ENTRY ROAD TO THE BODEGA DUNES CAMPGROUIND
2 JUNE 19 LOCATION TBA
3. JUNE 25 TBA
4. JUNE 26 TBA
5. JULY 3 TBA
6. JULY 17 TBA
7. JULY 23 TBA
8. JULY 24 TB (LAST CLASS )
Animal Tracking and Bird Language is an 8 session hands-on immersion into the art, science, and spiritual practice of animal tracking and bird language with internationally certified local tracker Jim Sullivan, presented by the SRJC Community Education program. This is the deep portal to experiencing nature the way our hunter/gatherer/tracker ancestors did.
Eight times over two months we will meet at some of the most beautiful and best tracking sites in the North Bay. You will learn the basics by tracking our local animals and by practicing making meaning out of bird calls the way trackers do.
Best link to enroll: communityed.santarosa.edu
Tracking goes way back to before we were even human beings, to a time when we lived outside in nature dependent on these skills for survival. We are still hardwired for that high level of presence, and we apply many of those skills every day. But most of have been separated from our root connection to the earth and to the range of skills necessary to make full meaning out of what we are seeing. Tracking is one good way to reconnect.
This course consists of 8 half-day classes in the field where we learn to track local Sonoma county wild animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and anything else that leaves tracks or sign, including other human beings. First day, we meet in the field for an hour long over view of tracking and bird language and spend the rest of the session out on the dirt practicing our techniques.
The next 7 classes are field trips. We meet on several different landscapes, ranging from the Bodega Dunes to Pt. Reyes National Seashore and also local inland sites. The class circles up for a short presentation about tracking themes for the day. Then we go on a tracking wander, accepting what nature decides to give to us, exploring how trackers experience these particular tracks, signs and sightings. Initially we focus on classic systematic tracking, which involves learning how to identify analyze what we find. But I will be encouraging everyone to access their more advanced, unconscious "gestalt" tracking capacity like the native trackers did, so that you learn to effortlesslly recognize tracks just like you recognize the faces of your friends. It doesn't take long.
Bird language is an essential part of tracking. In addition to tracking birds, we will learn how to make meaning out of their vocalizations and their body language. The birds up in the trees can see much that we can't see and they will be talking about it. As we learn how to listen, we will be extending our senses beyond our immediate visual horizons. Even advanced birders can learn much from tracking.
The course is designed to give you take home skills that can support a lifetime of deepening tracking practice. Tracking is about getting inside the minds of animals, or as Mark Elbroch says: "real relationships with real animals in real time.' You learn to look at dimples in the sand and begin to understand certain things about that animal's state of mind. In the course of this study you also learn to look into your own mind using the ancient techniques of meaning making. Tracking as a "spiritual practice" involves using the metaphors of the tracking techniques to better know yourself, to track yourself. The baseline emotion in tracking is gratitude and we explore what that means and how to achieve it.
For more information, call Jim Sullivan 707 874 9927
NOTE ON COVID: THIS PLAUGE DOES NOT TRANSMIT EASILY OUTDOORS. NEVERTHELESS, PLEASE BRING A MASK (ALTHOUGH WE HAVE NOT TYPICALLY BEEN WEARING MASKS) AND RESPECT SOCIAL DISTANCE. I'VE BEEN HOLDING MY PRIVATE CLASSES 8 TIMES A WEEK THROUGHOUT THE COVID PANDEMIC AND NONE OF MY STUDENTS HAS COME DOWN WITH COVID. OMICRON AND OTHER NEW VARIANTS SEEM TO BE MORE INFECTIVE AND I HAVEN'T FOUND MUCH INFORMATION SPECIFICALLY ABOUT OUTDOOR TRANSMISSION FROM IT. I GET A DAILY ON-LINE BRIEFING ( EPIDEMIOLOGIST KAYTELYN JETELINA) AND FOLLOW THE SCIENCE FAIRLY CLOSELY. IF ANY INFORMATION IS DEVELOPED WE CAN DISCUSS IT AT THE CLASSES.
Students comments:
The course was outstanding. I would recommend it to everyone. Cynthia Syiek.
I absolutely loved this class. Great course and amazing instructor (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
...It is so much more than being able to say that is a coyote track. It brings the essence of nature to the soul & heart...for me it compliments and completes the great circle: Astronomy, i.e., where we came from, to where we are right down in the dirt in the hear and now.... Dickson Yaeger
What a great class on Saturday! Thanks, Jim! ...Mary Luddy
Hi Jim, Your Tracking Study group is the best deal I have heard of in a long time. .I can’t imagine why the whole world doesn’t pound your door in...Durs Koenig
...We enjoyed having you here at Bel Aire. You definitely had an impact on many of the children. For the rest of the week no one in our course walked past some scat or tracks without taking a moment to observe and/or make a comment. I even noticed more tracks and bird language this weekend when I was out in the field duck and quail hunting. Thank you for sharing your knowledge....Nathan Jacobson, Teacher at Bell Air Charter School in Tiburon.
I had a really good time tracking with your group yesterday. You are such a wealth of technical knowledge. Thank you for inviting me to join!...biologist and certified tracker Natasha Dvorak
...really enjoyed working with you. I feel we work together well and compliment each other nicely....Senior tracker, Matt Nelson (co-teaching a workshop)
I want to thank you for having Vincent (his son) and me in your Tracking class. It truly was a life changing class, we will never take a hike the same way for the rest of our lives. I can already see Vince (and myself) connecting th dots in many ways related to nature, animals and the outdoors. I appreciate your kindness and the words of wisdom. ...Joel Kriner
'I absolutely loved this class. Great course and amazing instructor (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
Amazing class. Instructor is a real gem! I absolutely loved this class. Great course and amazing instructor (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
Jim is able to articulate the Ancientness of tracking of our ancestry and join that with the real time of right now...(.from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
Simply said, Jim Sullivan is master teacher--one of the best, and perhaps the best class I've ever taken. (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
Jim Sullivan is a master teacher. I really cannot imagine a finer experience than being able to study with him...he does a fine job of creating community in his classes. I also really value his discussions of the spiritual, cultural, philosophical, and cognitive aspects of tracking. (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
This was a life changing class. Jim is a community treasure, I have and will recommend this class to all. This is important stuff. (from anonymous SRJC evaluation form)
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