Saturday, March 15, 2025 – 7:30 am
Leader: Chris Chappell, Take Flight Birding & Nature Adventures
chris.chappell4@gmail.com, 505-310-3205

We will walk a two mile loop trail through the bosque in Peña Blanca between the Rio Grande and a diversion channel. We will also bird at the Cochiti Dam spillway and on the west side of Cochiti Lake, where we may walk an additional mile depending on conditions. Expect to see waterfowl, grebes, gulls, a few raptors and a wide variety of wintering landbirds. Winter bird diversity here is high, with over 50 species for the day expected. Common Loon is possible. We will have a good chance of seeing swallows for the first time this year. Bring a lunch, snacks, water, binoculars, scope if you have one.

We will meet at the Santa Fe County/NM 599 Park and Ride at Rail Runner Station, where NM 599 and I-25 intersect, and carpool from there. We will return to that site sometime between 3 and 5pm depending how the day goes and the weather.

There is a fee of $20 to attend this trip (no one turned away for lack of funds). Trip limit of 9 participants. Register with the trip leader, preferably via email. You can also email him with questions.

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.