There are a lot of opportunities for good birding in and around the town of Los Alamos. The geography of mesas and canyons makes for an interesting combination of easy, flat, short walks as well as physically demanding hikes down into steep canyons, and everything in between–all within town.
The Easiest Option
Typically the Los Alamos CBC will have a team tailored to people who are not interested in long hikes or steep terrain and this team typically restricts its birding to easy-to-reach places within town featuring only short hikes either on paved trails or very short, flat dirt trails. Because this team visits a large number of locations for only a short time each, it is also an excellent option for people who would like to participate in the CBC but who have limited time or who are new to CBCs and don’t want to commit to a full day without knowing whether they’ll enjoy it. Click here to see details on the sorts of places this team will visit.
Canyons and Longer Hikes
The remaining birding options in the Los Alamos Region require either significant hiking or negotiation of steep terrain (sometimes having to deal with snow and ice on steep trails). This extra effort pays off, however, as the best birding location in the entire counter circle can be found at the bottom of one of the canyons right in the center of town. There are generally more options for physically strenuous birding in this region than can be completed in one day by one team, so there are usually several teams that split up the various canyons and longer hikes within the town of Los Alamos. How the available options are split up depends on the number of teams and who wants to do what, and thus varies from year to year. Click here to see details on the sorts of places these teams will visit.