Evening Programs, Spring 2025
Our evening programs have resumed! Program meetings starting in February 2025 are held at Unitarian Universalist Church, 107 West Barcelona Road, Santa Fe.
Ecological Restoration: Past, Present, and Future at Valles Caldera
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 — 7:00 pm
Unitarian Universalist Church
107 West Barcelona Road, Santa Fe
Valles Caldera National Preserve is one of New Mexico’s natural gems, but it is also a landscape in recovery. A ranger from the National Park Service will speak about the restoration work undertaken since 2015 to improve animal habitat, create healthier and more resilient forests, restore watersheds, and protect endangered species; and will also discuss management plans for Valles Caldera’s future, including exciting developments in the park’s education and interpretation division.
Energy Management in Migrating Hummingbirds
Shayne R. Halter, UNM Department of Biology
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 — 7:00 pm
Unitarian Universalist Church
Hummingbirds use energy at extremely high rates, especially during migrations. To survive these long trips, they must maintain adequate amounts of body fat for fuel. Shayne’s research investigates how four species of hummingbirds balance their energy levels, as they transit the arid landscapes of the American Southwest. He combines measurements from feathers, body fat, and metabolism, to map migration and energy budgets, to determine how hummingbirds adjust for energy shortfalls. His emphasis is on how hummingbirds use nocturnal torpor to conserve fat during migrations. This research will help us assess hummingbird health and develop conservation measures, as climate and land-use change make food resources less predictable in the Southwest.
Shayne Halter was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and moved to Castle Rock, Colorado in his early teens. At Metropolitan State University of Denver he earned a BS in Aerospace Science, and spent over 20 years in the US Air Force as a navigator in C-130 Hercules aircraft. After retirement, he took classes at the University of New Mexico, earning a BS in Anthropology and MS in Biology. Shayne is currently completing a Ph.D. in Biology, with Dr. Blair Wolf. Shayne focuses on animal physiology and how animals cope with extremes in temperature and food supply. His recreational pastimes include skiing, mountain biking, camping, hiking, and birding.
Dragons and Damsels in the Desert Southwest: Odonate Diversity and Ecology in New Mexico
CANCELLED due to illness — will be rescheduled
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 — 7:00 pm
Melrose Woods Migrant Trap
May 3rd and 4th – evening and morning
Leader: Shane Woolbright
mesoinc@hotmail.com
Sangre de Cristo Audubon Society will host a field trip to Melrose Woods on May 3rd and 4th. The woods are about 22 miles east of Fort Sumner. We’ll meet at the parking lot of the Super 8 Motel in Fort Sumner on May 3rd at 4:00 p.m. We’ll then head to the woods and spend the evening birding before returning to Fort Sumner for supper. On May 4th, we’ll leave after breakfast at 7:00 a.m. to go back to the woods for the morning. You may join for either or both days.
Melrose Woods is a rather famous migrant trap and has the distinction of having one of the largest lists of warblers of any site in North America. Many eastern species are found here in the first two weeks of May.
A New Mexico State Land Office access pass is required for birding the area and can be found at the NMSLO website (https://www.nmstatelands.org/outdoorrecreation/).
There are camping options in Fort Sumner, but hotel space is limited. The Billy the Kid Inn is already fully booked, so planning now is encouraged.
Please contact Shane Woolbright via email at mesoinc@hotmail.com if you plan to attend.