Hi chrispie and a warm welcome to WPF.
I don't know how much optical zoom you have on that camera, but if it is less than 10x, you might be hard pressed to get a decent shot of the bird. You never want to use "digital zoom" as it really deterioriates the shot and of course, you never want to get too close to the bird as it will only scare them off.
Before spending money on a photography class, why don't you try hanging around here for awhile and reading some suggestions and of course asking questions.
