LGBTQ+ and allies: Let’s Go Birding Together at Shelley Lake Park 2026.11.15

LGBTQ+ and allies: Let’s Go Birding Together at Shelley Lake Park
Sunday, November 15 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.

Sponsors: Wake Audubon and The LGBT Center of Raleigh.

Let’s enjoy fall 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.

Note: the Arts Center is closed, under renovation and surrounded by fencing. But the trail and restrooms and fully available.

From our meeting point (see Location) 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 our resident Great Blue Herons, woodpeckers, sparrows, cardinals, and others, and migrating birds dropping in for the day, or coming home for the winter. 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, if we take the full route), and a short, 15-degree decline that can be avoided by 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 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 Erla Beegle (she/her), with co-leaders along to help with optics and bird sightings. Erla is super highly knowledgeable about birds and bird songs and calls, and delights in sharing her knowledge with others.

Your host is Wake Audubon board director and Inclusion & 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 November 15!

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.