LGBTQ+ and allies: Let’s Go Birding Together at Shelley Lake Park

LGBTQ+ and allies: Let’s Go Birding Together at Shelley Lake Park
Saturday, January 31, 8:30 - 10:30 a.m. (arrive at 8:15 if borrowing binoculars)
RSVP to this event here on Meetup. Or off-Meetup via this form if you prefer to keep your RSVP private.
Yes - we're hosting outings at Shelley Lake Park on back-to-back weekends. With resident eagles and great blue herons actively nesting this time of year - it's a great place to be!

Sponsors: Wake Audubon and The LGBT Center of Raleigh.

Let’s enjoy winter with another affirming and inclusive bird outing. We welcome the LGBTQ+ community, allies, families, and anyone who wants to enjoy an outdoor experience that is inclusive. Why? Because the outdoors has not always been a welcoming place for persons who identify as LGBTQ+. Wake Audubon and The LGBT Center of Raleigh seek to help change that.

The pace of this outing will be specifically geared towards building our beginner birding skills; birders of all talents are welcome.

What our outing entails: Enter at 1400 West Millbrook Road, Raleigh in the parking lot for Sertoma Arts Center. Meet at the picnic tables to the right of the Center. We will walk down to the lake and enjoy the view from the long bridge, then walk some distance clockwise along the 2-mile loop of paved scenic greenway trails around the lake. We hope to see Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons (both are actively nesting along the trail), as well as woodpeckers, sparrows, cardinals, and early winter waterfowl. While the path is paved, we may step off to the side of it at times, or onto grassy fields.

The paved trail from the Center to the lake declines at a slope of 7 degrees and is then relatively flat around the lake. There’s a serpentine incline at the dam end of the lake (near the end of our path), and a short, 15-degree decline that can be avoided by a taking an alternate trail back to the center. If you use an adaptive mobility device and have any questions, please contact Rick.

More info at https://raleighnc.gov/parks-and-recreation/places/shelley-lake-park

Borrow binoculars from us or bring your own.
If borrowing binoculars, please arrive to the picnic tables meeting point at 8:15 to be provided a pair and receive personalized help to focus them for your eyesight.

There are two gendered restrooms and drinking water accessible from the parking lot. Please bring your own refillable water bottle. We'll bring plenty of snacks to share.

What bird species frequent the Park and Trail? Check out Shelley Lake Park sightings on ebird.org ahead of us adding a checklist of our own.
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L882613

Our leader is Dave Southwick (he/him), with co-leaders along to help with optics and bird sightings. Dave regularly guides outings at Shelley Lake Park, giving us an insiders track to the best sightings.

Your host is Wake Audubon board member and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging co-chair Rick LaRose (he/him), who serves to bring accessible and welcoming ways for everyone to enjoy birds and take part in nature.

Questions ahead? Reach Rick at rlarose.was@gmail.com.
Questions day-of? Text Rick at 919 609-7570.

We’re looking forward to birding together with you on January 31!

Wake Audubon advocates wildlife, nature and environmental conservation with a commitment to providing activities where all can safely access and celebrate nature as their authentic selves.
The LGBT Center of Raleigh envisions an inclusive world where LGBTQ+ people are thriving, equal, and valued members of society.