Calendar

	May 2025
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1	2	3 Beginner Birders Program with Wake Audubon, Field Inclusive, and Raleigh Parks. Beginner Birders Program with Wake Audubon, Field Inclusive, and Raleigh Parks. May 3, 2025 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Walnut Creek Wetland Center, 950 Peterson St, Raleigh, NC 27610, USA RSVP shows "closed" but registration is open. Please join us. Beginner Birders Program with Wake Audubon, Field Inclusive, and Raleigh Parks. This is a free workshop that requires registration off Meetup. Register here: Beginner Birders Workshop May 3, 2025. Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon (arrive 8:45 a.m. if borrowing binoculars) Location: Walnut Creek Wetlands Center, 950 Peterson St., Raleigh, NC 27610 Calling everyone curious about birding, but not sure where to begin! Come join our next Beginner Birders workshop. This free public program teaches the basics of bird identification and bird songs; how to use binoculars, guides and apps; types of bird safety and ways to bird safely; and the importance of inclusion and allyship in birding and the outdoors. We’ll spend time outside putting your learning to quick use. No binoculars? No problem! We have plenty of loaners to spare. Our route outside will consist of a flat, paved surface. Hosted by Wake Audubon, Field Inclusive, Inc. and City of Raleigh Parks, our mission is to provide safe, equitable and accessible outdoor experiences for everyone. Note: Participation may be capped due to space restrictions, at which time notice of a wait list will be added to the top of the registration form. Please continue to register to join the waitlist. Should we receive cancellations, we’ll right away invite those on waitlist to confirm in the order registrations were received. Reach Wake Audubon board member and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging co-chair Rick LaRose at [email protected] with any questions. We look forward to you beginning to bird with us on May 3! See more details •
4	5	6 Mulch Day at Prairie Ridge (Volunteer) Mulch Day at Prairie Ridge (Volunteer) May 6, 2025 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Dr, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA Volunteer: Mulch that Bed! at Prairie Ridge Tuesday, May 6, 2025, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh Leaders: Robin and Randy Ruback A hard working dozen volunteers weeded the Wake Audubon planting beds and pruned the trees and shrubs last weekend, but the tractor at Prairie Ridge was broken down and they could not move mulch for us. We need to put down mulch soon to curb the weeds and protect the shrubs and trees from mower damage. A couple of our fellow volunteers offered to provide their trucks on Tuesday, so let’s mulch those beds! What to bring: Please bring a water bottle, pitch fork, rake, or shovel if you have one. Wear gloves, or borrow ours, and close-toed shoes. you might want to wear a face covering in case the mulch is dusty. Restrooms are available. Come and stay as long as you're able; all help is appreciated! Please sign up on Meetup and RSVP to Robin Ruback at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), so we are prepared for the size of the team. See more details •	7	8	9 Williamson Preserve: Reservation-only birdwalk Williamson Preserve: Reservation-only birdwalk May 9, 2025 8:00 am - 10:30 am Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve, 4409 Mial Plantation Rd, Raleigh, NC 27610, USA Birding at Williamson Preserve When: Friday, MAY 9, 2025, 8:00 - 10:30 am Where: Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve, 4409 Mial Plantation Road, Raleigh Leader: Marc Ribaudo Note: After a heavy rain, the preserve may be closed to prevent erosion, so we may have to cancel the outing. You should receive an email from TLC if the event is canceled. Sign up using this link; a waitlist is available if the walk is full! https://triangleland.org/explore/events and scroll to the Wake Audubon event. Join Wake Audubon and Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) for a morning of birding and exploring the Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve near the Wake County / Johnston County line. Our experienced birder, Marc Ribaudo, will guide you through the meadow and Two Ponds Loop covering about 2 miles of soft trails. Please wear good walking shoes and bring a water bottle, and binoculars if you have them. More info available on Meetup. See more details •	10 NC Art Park Birding NC Art Park Birding May 10, 2025 8:00 am - 10:00 am Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park, 1800 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA NCMA Goodnight Park birding is on the second Saturday of each month. Register via Wake Audubon Meetup, limited to 25 participants. Leader is LynnErla Beegle Location is Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park, 1800 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA; meet outside the Park Welcome Center, near the old tall smokestack, west end of the parking lot. The NC Museum of Art opens at 10 am on Saturdays, and admission is free. See more details Wendell Park with Frank Wendell Park with Frank May 10, 2025 8:30 am - 10:00 am Wendell Park, West 3rd Street, Wendell, NC BIRD OUTING: Frank is back and ready to bird on MAY 10, 2025, from 8:30 to 10:00. Location: Wendell Community Park, 601 West 3rd Street, Wendell, NC This birdwalk repeats on the second Saturday of most months. Check Meetup ( https://www.meetup.com/wake-audubon-meetup/ ) and wakeaudubon.org calendars for updates. Wendell Park is one of our easternmost Wake County hotspots. It has a range of habitats. It tends to get plenty of winter birds if conditions are right (not windy). Technically, an RSVP is not required for this birdwalk, but it is helpful.  Park in the grassy field on the left. Look for people with binoculars. Wendell Park ebird hotspot: http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L5460345 Thank you for your interest in birding with others. Our Meetup is FREE to you and supported by Wake Audubon. We hope you will support us by joining Wake Audubon Society ($20 per year) and by donations and by volunteering. See http://wakeaudubon.org/support/ for more informat See more details • •
11	12	13 Wake Audubon Meeting: Birds - but not as you know them Wake Audubon Meeting: Birds - but not as you know them May 13, 2025 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm Wake Audubon Monthly Meeting: Birds - but not as you know them (Meeting is In Person and Zoom) Time: Tuesday, May 13, 2025, 7:30 - 9:00 pm Location: NCMNS - Nature Research Center, 121 W Jones St, Raleigh, Fourth floor meeting room Topic: Birds - but not as you know them. Believe it or not, there are still dinosaurs alive today. We call this extant group of over 11,000 species of dinosaurs birds. The idea that dinosaurs and birds were related is an old one, but the fact birds ARE dinosaurs has really taken off in the late 20thcentury to now. New fossil finds and new technologies show us just how obvious this relationship is. Dr. Jennifer Anné from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will guide us through a dissection of dinosaurs from the bones to the behavior to show that there’s no mistaking those family traits. Speaker: Dr. Jennifer Anné (aka Indy) received her PhD from the University of Manchester, UK where she studied the chemistry of bone remodeling and repair using some very high tech science machines called synchrotrons. Her research focuses on using a variety of chemical analyses to determine what original biological material is preserved in fossils and how organisms become fossilized. Dr. Anné also studies palaeopathology, injuries and diseases in long dead patients, using her chemical background to help in the diagnosis. Not being species-est, she has studied everything from dinosaurs to manatees (and all vertebrates in between). She is currently applying her fossil preparation, histology and chemistry know-how at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where she is the Assistant Lab Manager of the SECU DinoLab. When she’s not zapping fossils with X-ray, she’s traveling the world with a good book and playlist in hand. This meeting will be held In-person + Zoom Park (for free after 6:30 pm) and walk to the main museum entrance on Jones Street, just to the right of the giant globe. Since the NCSM is closed at night, someone will be at the door ONLY from 7 to 7:45 to let you in, so be on time. Take the elevator to the fourth floor meeting room. The east-facing entrance to the "old wing" of the museum will not be used. If you feel unwell, please stay home and enjoy our presentation over Zoom. https://www.zoom.us/join Meeting code: 831 3786 5298 Password: 4Birds = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = We hope you will help us by joining Wake Audubon and National Audubon! Visit https://wakeaudubon.org/get-involved/join/ *Last updated 2025-03-20 by Beegle WATCH for updates See more details •	14 NEW DATE: Invasive Plant Removal at CHJEEP NEW DATE: Invasive Plant Removal at CHJEEP May 14, 2025 9:00 am - 11:00 am Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Park, 301 Wagstaff Rd, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526, USA NEW DATE due to rain on Monday: Volunteers Needed for Invasive Plant Removal at Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park (CHJEEP) on WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025, 9 - 11 am Location is 301 Wagstaff Rd., Fuquay-Varina 27526 Leader: Jim Hunsberger, [email protected] Please join Wake Audubon volunteers and help with invasive plant removal at CHJEEP. This helps the birds and other wildlife. We will meet in the parking lot of CHJEEP. Town staff will be on hand with a debris trailer. They will use targeted herbicide treatments as necessary after we remove the plants (thus, we don't have to struggle to dig out the roots). Volunteers: wear closed toe shoes or boots, bring work gloves, a hat, bug repellent, sun screen, Safety glasses, and water. If you have your own small limb loppers or shears, you may bring those as well, but not necessary. No power tools, please. Thanks for helping to improve the flora of this lovely park! "The focus of this 28-acre park is environmental education. Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park was originally a 20-acre tract of land donated to the Town of Fuquay-Varina in 1992 by the late Mayor Alfred Johnson and his wife Carroll Howard Johnson. Eight acres were donated by Horace Tart in 1998, enlarging the park to its current 28 acres. Get back to nature at the Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park. Explore the 2-mile nature trail and uncover the natural treasures in Fuquay-Varina. Crossing beautiful overlooks and natural bridges, visitors will find a path of wooded splendor, local flora and fauna, and many species of birds that highlight the everyday wonders of Fuquay-Varina’s nature." Thanks for helping out! See more details •	15	16	17 SECU DinoLab and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences SECU DinoLab and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences May 17, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm Title: SECU DinoLab and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Trip Leader(s): Jennifer Anné Date: 5/17/2025 @ 11:00 Location: Nature Research Center, 121 W Jones St, Raleigh, NC 27603 Description: Join us for a museum day out at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) in downtown Raleigh to see paleontology in action. The NCMNS opened the SECU DinoLab in April 2024 with its first project, the Dueling Dinosaurs. This is the only paleontology lab that we know of that allows visitors to come into the lab and ask questions about the science you see. Dr. Anné will lead us through the experience and take any questions. Along with the Dueling Dinosaurs experience, you can explore the rest of the museum (free!) including the Paleontology Research Lab and the Prehistoric North Carolina gallery. RSVP/Registration Process (including leader contact): Meetup but arrangements have been made by Jennifer for up to 30 people to meet by the desk across from Dueling Dinosaurs. For more information, visit https://duelingdinosaurs.org/the-experience/ The exhibit is located on the first floor of the Nature Research Center at 121 West Jones Street. Leader Bio: Dr. Jennifer Anné (aka Indy) received her PhD from the University of Manchester, UK where she studied the chemistry of bone remodeling and repair using some very high tech science machines called synchrotrons. Her research focuses on using a variety of chemical analyses to determine what original biological material is preserved in fossils and how organisms become fossilized. Dr. Anné also studies palaeopathology, injuries and diseases in long dead patients, using her chemical background to help in the diagnosis. Not being species-est, she has studied everything from dinosaurs to manatees (and all vertebrates in between). She is currently applying her fossil preparation, histology and chemistry know-how at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where she is the Assistant Lab Manager of the SECU DinoLab. When she’s not zapping fossils with X-ray, she’s traveling the world with a good book and playlist in hand. See more details •
18	19	20 Book Club - Wake Audubon Crossroads Starbucks Book Club - Wake Audubon Crossroads Starbucks May 20, 2025 6:45 pm - 8:15 pm StarBucks, MacGregor Crossroads, 101 Edinburgh S Dr, Cary, NC 27511, USA Wake Audubon Book Club Tuesday, May 20, 2025, 6:45 pm to 8:15 pm Starbucks, 204 Crossroads Blvd, Cary, NC 27518 NOTE UPDATED LOCATION (we have met here in the past) We will be discussing Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet, by Ben Goldfarb. An eye-opening account of the global ecological transformations wrought by roads, from the award-winning author of Eager. Crossings is the Grand Prize Winner of the 2024 Banff Mountain Book Competition and the Winner of the Rachel Carson Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism (Note: Wake County libraries carry several copies and it is $17 hardcover or less online.) Our next meeting will be Tuesday, July 15, 6:45, and the book will be chosen at the May meeting. Please bring a readily-available book to suggest for our next Book Club meeting. Thanks. See more details •	21	22	23	24 Hilltop-Needmore Park (North) Bird Outing Hilltop-Needmore Park (North) Bird Outing May 24, 2025 8:30 am - 10:30 am Hilltop Needmore Town Park & Preserve, 4621 Shady Greens Dr, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526, USA Free Bird Outing with Wake Audubon at Hilltop-Needmore Park NORTH 4621 Shady Greens Drive, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 Leaders: Larry Zoller and Kyra Thurow Bartow Location: Lower Clubhouse Parking Lot Date: Saturday, MAY 24, 2025, 8:30 to 10:30 AM Come join Wake Audubon for an early spring morning bird walk on the North Trail. The walk is leisurely with frequent stops for birds. There are elevation changes but we often stop to enjoy birds. Please wear shoes for walking on a dew-covered grassy fairway. Anyone 6 years and up are welcome to join us! The path we take includes steep inclines, but no stairs. Note that we have moved this walk to the fourth Saturday of most months. Ebird hotspot site: https://ebird.org/hotspot/L16295752 Let's Go Birding! See more details •
25	26	27	28	29	30	31 LGBTQ+ Beginner Birders Program: Learn to Bird! LGBTQ+ Beginner Birders Program: Learn to Bird! May 31, 2025 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park, 5229 Awls Haven Dr, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA RSVP on Wake Audubon shows "closed" but registration is open. Please join us. LGBTQ+ Beginner Birders Program: Learn to Bird! This is a free workshop that requires registration off Meetup. Register here. Date: Saturday, May 31, 2025 Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon (arrive 8:45 if borrowing binoculars) Location: Annie Louise Wilkerson, MD Nature Preserve Park 5229 Awls Haven Dr, Raleigh, NC 27614 Hosting this event expressly for the LGBTQ+ community are workshop sponsors Wake Audubon and Field Inclusive, Inc. in partnership with City of Raleigh Parks and the LGBT Center of Raleigh. Collectively we’re striving for everyone to feel welcome, safe and included in the natural sciences and outdoors. ‘Birding’ – or, the observation of birds in their natural habitats as a hobby – has become one of the most popular outdoor activities. If you are taking a new interest in birds and looking for help getting started, come develop your skills together with others at our Beginner Birders workshop We’ll discuss terminology, field guides and popular apps (bring your phone!), birding safely, and choosing, using and adjusting binoculars, with loaner binoculars provided (or bring your own if you have them). We’ll spend time outdoors to identify resident birds – and visitors migrating through – using the tools that you’ll now have. Our route outside will consist of a mix of paved, gravel, and grassy surfaces with slight gradients. All-gendered restrooms will be available. Participation may be capped due to space restrictions. Reach Wake Audubon board director and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging co-chair Rick LaRose at [[email protected]] with any questions. We look forward to building your beginner birding skills together with you on May 31!! See more details Trash Trap - Walnut Creek Wetland Cleanup with Sound Rivers Trash Trap - Walnut Creek Wetland Cleanup with Sound Rivers May 31, 2025 10:15 am - 12:30 pm Trash Trap - Walnut Creek Wetland Cleanup with Sound Rivers Where: Walnut Creek Wetland Center, 950 Peterson St, Raleigh, NC 27610 (meet in parking lot) When: Saturday, May 31st from 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM Leader: Emily Fritz with Sound Rivers Want to do something good for your waterways? Clean out a Trash Trap! Cleaning out a trash trap (a floating barrier that catches litter in a stream) gives groups the chance to monitor the amount of trash collected by a trash trap, organize clean-outs and participate in keeping local waterways clean. In coordination with Sound Rivers, Wake Audubon has adopted the Little Rock Creek Trash Trap for the month of May. We are having a cleanout event at the end of the month and we need your help! Registration: Please complete the registration on Activate Good along with the REQUIRED online Liability Waiver and Code of Conduct from Sound Rivers (links are below). Registration: https://volunteer.activategood.org/opportunities/BNa2M3l0H6 Liability Waiver: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftZOyrqlQO4VBglbwho9rvPexUDT66Kt4gVpQwgS3VMrLAxQ/viewform Cleanout Details: Please meet at 10:15 AM at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center. We will go over the trash trap cleanout process and hand out supplies. If you have the following supplies, it is recommended that you bring them: insect repellent, water bottle, sunscreen, personal chest/hip waders, waterproof boots or creek sneakers, and gloves. Sound Rivers will also supply gloves, hand sanitizer, trash bags, trash pickers, chest/hip waders and a first aid kit. Snacks will be provided by Wake Audubon. Your phone, wallet, and car keys need to be securely stowed on your person. We will focus our cleanup within the stream at the trash trap and along the stream banks. FOR ADDITIONAL PROGRAM AND SAFETY INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO: https://soundrivers.org/adopt-a-trash-trap/ Thank you for helping with this effort! Make sure you actually register. Any further communication or weather-related information will be via email. Updated 04/26/2025 See more details • •

Wake Audubon event categories:

Monthly Programs

Wake Audubon meets the second Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at the Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 W. Jones St., downtown Raleigh. Free parking is available one block past the Museum on Jones St. All meetings are free and open to the public. You’ll see these events colored blue in the calendar.

Field Trips

Please join us as we explore the natural areas of North Carolina, both local to Raleigh and farther afield. Please note that some trips may have associated fees. These events are shown in green in the calendar.

Monthly Bird Walks

Each month, a different Wake Audubon member will lead a walk to the location of his or her choice. Usually these trips will begin in the morning around 8:30 a.m. and participants will travel to a birding hot spot somewhere in the Wake County area. Check your newsletter or this site often to see where we will be going next. These events are colored red in the calendar.

General

These are various Wake Audubon Events that don’t fall into the field trip, monthly bird walk, or monthly lecture series. These events are colored purple in the calendar.

Young Naturalist Club

This is a group for junior naturalists ages 12-18. Join us as we explore North Carolina’s natural areas! These events are colored yellow in the calendar.

Learn More ›

You can also keep track of Wake Audubon’s calendar of activities through the Wake Audubon Meetup site. Learn more.

May 2025