Anthony Hewetson, area bird expert extraordinaire, will conduct a birding tour on the walkways of Lubbock Arboretum starting at 9 a.m. Bring binoculars and a field guide if possible.
The Arboretum of course joins Clapp Park where many bird observations are recorded online.
I imagine this will be around a quarter mile with a lot of standing. The fenced-in Arboretum does not cover a big area. If you want more, you can go outside the fence and circle the lake. Clapp area is close to 1/2 square mile and you can spend half a day there just peering at birds.
I advise a floppy hat, that can be used to shade the eyes when looking toward the sun -- especially helpful if you look through glasses and binoculars. Who knows what the weather will be, rain or snow or sun, and anywhere between 15 and 80 degrees if the past is any guide. Bad weather and it will be cancelled.
Since some small birds are attracted to an area where there are bushes next to walkways close to the Garden and Arts Center, I suggest bringing close-focusing binoculars. You'd be surprised what you can see within 30 feet if you take a park bench and sit quietly.
While most of my binoculars will not focus closer than 14-25 feet, I have three pair I would rank as close-focusing. These are my Nikon Monarch ATB 8X36s at <8 feet, Habicht 8X30s at about the same, and some Pentax reverse porro-prism 10X24s at 6 feet. I don't think closer focus than 20 feet is absolutely necessary for birding, but especially for those of us with aging eyes looking at backyard birds it is a nice feature to have.
Where you absolutely need close focus is for looking at butterflies. Many birders are also butterfly watchers as well.
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