Take Wing Event: Black Friday Birding

Take wing with PEEC at one of our special Take Wing events.  These special events are offered as thank you gifts for donations to PEEC's capital campaign of $150 or more per person registering. To register, make a donation either online or by check to PEEC's capital campaign.  Once your donation is received, you will be emailed a link to the registration page for all the Take Wing events.  The hardest part?  Choosing just one event!  Please call us at 662-0460 if you experience any trouble registering.

Join us for a weekend of birding starting on a day when many folks are indoors shopping.  The trip will focus on looking for loons, other rarer waterbirds, and early winter raptors in northeastern New Mexico.  We leave Los Alamos at 10:00 a.m. on Friday (November 28, 2014), and drive directly to Springer Lake.  We will bird Springer Lake, then drive to Clayton watching for Rough-legged and other hawks with the sun at our backs.  On Saturday, we will bird Clayton Lake State Park (permit required for each vehicle) and the grasslands around the Rabbit Ears.  On Sunday, we will drive the long way back to Los Alamos via Ute and Las Conchas Reservoirs, again looking for loons and other rarer waterbirds.

Things to plan and to bring:

1) The eastern plains can be cold and windy in late November, so warm clothing is a must for the trip.  Sometimes, however, we are treated to warm calm days.

2) Bring a spotting scope if you have one.  If you don’t have one, consider giving your spouse an early holiday present, or consider borrowing one from a friend.  Given the scanning of the lakes that we plan to do on this trip, it’s our hope that we have at least four scopes between the 10 people (participants and leaders).

3) Bring walking or hiking shoes.  On Saturday, we plan to walk a section of grassland if the weather permits.  Such a walk will likely last 2-4 hours over mostly level, but uneven ground without a trail.  When conditions are windy, we will not walk, but do more roadside birding.

4) Bring snacks, food, and drinks for a minimum of lunch on Friday and lunch on Sunday.  For all other meals, we plan to eat at restaurants; Friday and Saturday dinners in Clayton, probably at the Eklund; Saturday and Sunday breakfasts at a diner in Clayton.  Depending on the weather, the quality of birding, and the speed of our progress, folks will have an option of having Sunday dinner at the renovated historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

5) You are responsible for your own food and hotel on this trip.  The Hotel Eklund is offering a 20% discount on lodging for participants on this trip--just mention that you are with PEEC when making your reservation.