Weminuche Audubon Society

Audubon Rockies Naturalist Chat
2026-04-16 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | Online Presentation
Last call for bird questions! Naturalist Chat, A Bird Q&A wraps up this month. Join Zach Hutchinson on April 16 to get your bird questions answered—whether they’re about migration, bird ID, feeding birds, or something else. No questions right now? No problem! Join to sit in and learn from topics submitted by fellow bird lovers.
Register here

Audubon After Dark Bird Trivia/Welcome Back Warblers
2026-04-16 19:00 - 20:00 | Online Presentation
Enjoy a lively mix of trivia inspired by warblers, with plenty of chances to learn something new along the way. Whether you’re a seasoned birder or just getting started, this event is a great way to welcome spring migration. Plus, top teams receive exclusive swag!
This will be our final Audubon After Dark event for the 2025-2026 season. Don’t miss out!

Register Today!

Earth Day 2026
2026-04-26 10:00 - 15:00 | Riverwalk
The Earth Day Planning Committee is looking forward to community participation in this year’s event at Centennial Park. Due to rainy weather, the event has been moved to the PLPOA Clubhouse at 230 Port Ave. With the theme “A World in a Teacup,” there will be more music this year, starting at 11 a.m., with a new sound system; a tea ceremony; food trucks; a Dust2 bike race; and more. The solar cars are returning after a break, Look for more exciting announcements in the next few weeks.

Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival
2026-05-06 - 2026-05-10 | CO
The Annual Ute Mountain Mesa Verde Birding Festival provides a popular venue for visiting southwestern Colorado during the second weekend in May. Nestled between alpine and mesa forests and scenic desert canyons, the Four Corner’s intriguingly diverse landscapes, and mild climate, have drawn people to the region for generations. Ancestral Pueblo farmers dwelled in places now known as Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, and Canyon of the Ancients. Today’s meadows, pastures, cultivated fields, historic orchards, stock ponds and reservoirs establish habitat for a wide spectrum of migratory and resident birds.
Hosted by the Cortez Cultural Center, the UMMV Birding Festival draws upon the expertise of regional wildlife specialists who volunteer as tour guides and guest lecturers. Each year, new tours and repeat favorites, explore an array of birding hotspots that attract avian species from hawks and grebes to sparrows, grosbeaks, and finches. Overnight tours offer different environs and the prospect of encountering species not found within the Cortez area.
Visit their website for information and tour registrations. Events fill quickly!
https://utemountainmesaverdebirdingfestival.com/

Migratory Bird Day/Global Big Day
2026-05-09 | CO
Two spring events that celebrate birds occur this week on Saturday, May 9, and you can participate. Global Big Day brings together people who care about birds and contribute to the effort to understand how bird populations are faring worldwide. Every year the number of participants increases. You can be a part of birding’s biggest team when you report the birds you observe on this day. In this time of turmoil, the love of birds can unite people worldwide.
Adding to this important dataset is easy. Simply list the bird species and numbers of each that you see in any location and enter your data on ebird.org. You may count for as little as ten minutes anytime between midnight and midnight on the 9th to participate. Count birds at your home or submit a list from your favorite location to watch birds. If you are new to ebird, visit ebird.org to learn how to set up an account.
Also occurring on Saturday the 9th is World Migratory Bird Day. The goal of this global effort is to raise the awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. Migratory birds rely on good habitat at their winter homes, along the paths of their spring and fall journeys, and in their summer breeding areas to survive. They may travel through several countries each year.
Aligning with Global Big Day, this year’s Migratory Bird Day theme is “Every Bird Counts-Your Observations Matter”. This focus highlights the important role that citizen science observations play in identifying conservation priorities and informing strategies and actions to aid migratory bird populations.

Birding At Chimney Rock National Monument
2026-05-16 08:00 - 10:00, 2026-05-29 08:00 - 10:00, 2026-06-13 08:00 - 10:00, 2026-06-26 08:00 - 10:00 | Chimney Rock National Monument, 3179 CO 151, Chimney Rock, CO, 81121
This fun and casual 2-hour bird walk is led by a knowledgeable birding guide from the Weminuche Audubon Society. These outings will introduce you to the diverse community of birds that spend their summer at Chimney Rock National Monument. Your guide will help you identify various species and explain the unique adaptations that allow these birds to survive here. Birders of all skill levels are welcome to participate. Not recommended for young children.
This is a Chimney Rock event and a fee and advance reservation are required. For information and to reserve a space visit, https://www.chimneyrockco.org/birding/

Birding By Ear
2026-05-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Community United Methodist Church, 434 Lewis St, Pagosa Springs, CO
Learning to identify birds by their songs and calls will be the topic of the next Weminuche Audubon Chapter meeting, on Wednesday, May 20, at 6:30 PM. Keith Bruno, Audubon Rockies Community Naturalist and Weminuche Board Member, will lead us in this exercise of seeing with our ears. With mating season getting in full swing and the arrival of our summer birds, the air is filled with birdsong. Some birds we haven’t heard for several months.
Distinguishing a bird by its unique sound is a fun challenge. Bruno will provide tips for picking apart the song we hear and aligning it with the bird singing it. Learn about the technology available to teach yourself this skill.
Birding by ear to identify bird species is an important skill used by volunteers in our Forest Bird Monitoring Project, set to start soon. Identifying birds by their songs is used to count birds that are difficult to see hidden in the canopy or the brush in the forest. Learning their songs will also add to your enjoyment of the birds at your home.
The public is invited to join us for our meeting at the Community United Methodist Church on Lewis St. We will gather at 6 PM for socializing and the meeting will start at 6:30. Please enter through the side door off the parking lot or let us know to open the main door for handicap entry. In appreciation for our meeting space, we welcome donations of non-perishable food or cash for the church food bank.
If you are unable to join us in person, use the following link to join by Zoom
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89179057921?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting chat link
https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/89179057921
Meeting ID: 891 7905 7921
Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile
+17193594580,,89179057921#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US
+16699006833,,89179057921#,,,,*[REDACTED]# US (San Jose)

Native Plant Walk with Lake McCullough
2026-06-08 09:00 - 12:00 | CO
This is the first of three plant walks that focus on the uses of native plants as food and medicine. These popular, free walks are led by certified herbalist, Lake McCullough. In June, we will meet at San Jose Ct. and hike into Martinez Canyon. This slow paced walk is about 3 miles roundtrip and may involve some moderately steep and rocky terrain. We will be looking for herbs, wildflowers and edible plants in the ponderosa pine ecotone
Additional walks will be offered on July 13 and August 3. Those walks will take us into higher elevation areas near Wolf Creek Pass. In order to allow more people to experience these fun, educational walks, we are requesting that you sign up for only one walk this summer. To provide a good experience, space is limited on each walk. No dogs please.
To sign up for the June walk, please call Lake at 970-398-0923 or see her at Earthsense Herbals, 144 Pagosa St. Spaces fill quickly for these walks. We are thankful for Lake who volunteers her time to educate people about the plants that grow in our area. And she’s a lot of fun too!!!

San Juan Mountains Assn (SJMA) Birdwalk
2026-06-11 09:00 - 12:00 | CO
Audubon and our friends at SJMA team up to go birding in the West Fork area during nesting season. For event information and to register go to https://sjma.org/event/audubon-bird-walk-062026/
Check out their calendar for other free spring and summer events.

Archuleta County Bioblitz
2026-06-20 08:00 - 22:00 | Riverwalk
Weminuche Audubon and Audubon Rockies are partnering with representatives of CSU Extension, Archuleta County and the Town of Pagosa Springs to organize a fun day of discovery for adults and youth. With the guidance of experts in their fields, participants will be identifying and recording as many different species as we find within the event boundaries on Reservoir Hill and the Town Riverwalk areas. We’ll be discovering plants, lichens, invertebrates (think insects on land and in water and spiders), amphibians,birds, bats, other mammals-anything alive makes the list!!
To insure a quality experience for participants, space will be limited and we expect the event to sell out quickly. Adult tickets are only $25 which includes a t-shirt and dinner. Youth over the age of nine ($10) and accompanied by an adult are encouraged to participate. You will earn future bragging rights for attending the inaugural event in what is planned to be an annual tradition.
Registration is through the Town of Pagosa Springs website. You will be required to create a simple account with the Recreation Dept. Use the following link to create an account and purchase tickets.
https://secure.rec1.com/CO/pagosa-springs-co/catalog?filter=c2VhcmNoPTQyNjMyMzY=
