Mountain Elementary School 6th graders traveled Friday to Alamo Boundary Trail for bird banding training. Educators from the Pajarito Environmental Education Center and Bandelier showed students how to spot and identify birds as well as how to safely catch, study, band and release them. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Denise Matthews, PEEC Play-based Education Specialist greeted students and led a bird watching hike. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Students shared binoculars and learned to spot birds. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Mountain Elementary School 6th grader Lance Metcalf spots a bird. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Students used photo books to identify birds they spotted through binoculars. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Keegan Tranquillo, a bird specialist with Bandelier demonstrates safe methods for gathering data about birds after they are caught. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Shortly after catching the bird and gathering data, Tranquillo gently relaxes the bird as he prepares to release it. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

PEEC Education Program Director Elizabeth Watts, left, and Mountain Elementary IA Gretchen Graves on the field trip. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com

Students practiced being bird banders by gathering length and weight data and then banding with toy stuffed birds. Photo by KayLinda Crawford/ladailypost.com