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Sangre de Cristo Audubon Society

Santa Fe & Northern New Mexico

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Public Comment on Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Valles Caldera National Preserve

by | Aug 28, 2025 | Conservation in Focus

Since the original Valles Caldera Trust’s inception, the Sangre de Cristo Chapter has advocated for preservation and public ownership of this land and regards this management plan as an important blueprint for the future of the preserve. After reviewing both the management plan and environmental assessment, we believe that the New Appropriate Facilities Alternative offers the best option for encouraging the public to enjoy Valles Caldera’s beauty and serenity without compromising the preserve’s natural, cultural and historic values.

– see complete comment
– see planning documents
– submit a comment

 

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County in Illinois Rules That Homes Must Prevent Bird Collisions – A National First

by | Jun 2, 2025 | Conservation in Focus

May 21, 2025 · American Bird Conservancy

A local ordinance passed in Lake County, Illinois, is taking aim at one of the most worrying threats to declining birds: collisions with glass windows. More than a billion birds die in the U.S. in such collisions annually, contributing to the loss of 3 billion birds from North American populations since 1970. The ordinance is a national first and follows two years of collaboration between Lake County’s Planning, Building and Development Department and American Bird Conservancy (ABC), which commenced after local bird conservation advocate Donnie Dann asked the county to consider adopting a bird-friendly building policy.

Initial conversations centered on how to address bird collisions at County-owned buildings and about adopting a policy for new County construction and collisions at existing buildings. The next step was tackling something no municipality had done before: passing a bird-friendly building ordinance solely for new residential construction, including single-family homes.

“We’re hoping this groundbreaking homeowner collisions requirement could become trendsetting for other cities, especially since our latest study revealed that over 1 billion birds die from window collisions in the U.S. annually, with over 40 percent happening at homes. Together we can build a future in which glass is no longer a leading threat to birds,” said Bryan Lenz, ABC’s Glass Collisions Program Director.

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Upper Los Alamos Canyon — Field Trip Report

by | Jun 2, 2025 | Past Field Trips

May 24, 2025 — Rene Laubach, Leader

Six registrants, my wife Christyna and myself enjoyed stellar weather conditions, lovely scenery, and fine birding during this field trip. Although detecting birds mostly by sound in the beginning, we were eventually treated to good looks at a variety of colorful and interesting species–43 in all, including Acorn Woodpecker, Warbling and Plumbeous Vireos, a rare-flagged Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Northern House Wren, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Bullock’s Oriole, Western Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, and five species of warblers–Virginia’s, MacGillivray’s, Yellow, Grace’s, and Wilson’s. 

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S242140912

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Pecos Monastery — Field Trip Report

by | May 19, 2025 | Past Field Trips

Leaders: Albert Shultz & Rick Rockman
 
Sixteen chapter members enjoyed a beautiful spring morning on Saturday, May 17, 2025, for a leisurely birding walk around the Monastery grounds. Bird activity was fairly good, and we were rewarded with views and songs of many summer birds and a few lingering migrants. The new leaves of the cottonwoods kept Yellow Warblers and Warbling Vireos mostly hidden, but Bullock’s Orioles made a good appearance. Circling swallows put on a great airshow over the more open parts of the trail — and scope views of perched birds revealed a couple of Northern Rough-winged Swallows among the dozens of Violet-green Swallows. Western Wood-Pewees were numerous, but except for a very obliging Black Phoebe at the riverside, other flycatchers were scarce, perhaps not yet returned from the tropics. Red-winged Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles loudly dominated the cattail pond and marsh, and flyover Great Blue Herons and Pinyon Jays were a pleasant surprise. Near the end of the walk we spotted a pair of Northern House Wrens, busy tidying up a potential knothole nest cavity, unbothered by us onlookers.   — Albert Shultz
 
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Melrose Woods — Field Trip Report

by | May 5, 2025 | Past Field Trips

Shane Woolbright, trip leader

Eleven Sangre de Cristo Audubon members made the trip out to Melrose Woods migrant trap east of Fort Sumner on May 3-4.   Unfortunately, migrant traps depend upon the weather cooperating, and on these days a strong southerly wind took the migrants northward.   We did find a few fallouts such as Olive-Sided Flycatcher, Indigo Bunting and Parula Warbler along with a Brown Thrasher.  Local birds included Cave Swallow, Chihuahuan Raven, Ferruginous Hawk, Lazuli Bunting, Bullock’s Oriole, Green Tailed Towhee.

The May 3 date may have been a little early this year;  however, it was a good day for wildflowers as a recent rain had brought out a surprising amount of color in the area.   

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