09/12/2026
Before fall, there’s fall migration
🍂🐦💡
Northern New Mexico is on the move. Some birds are headed south for winter. Others are just dropping down from the high country as temps shift and food moves with them.
🌙 The Real Nighttime Highway
Most migration happens after dark, when artificial light pulls birds off course on a collision path with buildings and windows. Last night alone, an estimated 15.8 million birds were forecast to move over New Mexico (Audubon Southwest)
🚨 Why This Matters for TSV and You!
Millions of birds pass directly over our valley every fall. Their survival depends on what happens down here — dark skies, open corridors, undisturbed refueling spots.
🐦 Fall Migration Snapshot
Ruby-crowned Kinglet — leaving mountain forest for lower elevations
Wilson’s Warbler — just passing through, Latin America-bound
Canada Jay — staying put! one of our favorite cheeky year-round locals
🌲 Follow the Corridors
Even as the forest darkens earlier, birds still need willows, rivers, and forest edges to refuel along the way. Look after those resource-rich spots where the action is.
The bright idea is Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Lights Out initiative Aug 15–Nov 30. From 11pm–6am:
→ Turn off non-essential lights, especially upward-facing ones
→ Close blinds and curtains
→ Point outdoor lighting downward
Whether you’re a ski resort or business in town, here in a vacation rental for fall colors or a resident for good — small changes add up. Every dark window means safer passage for birds on the move! Thank you! 🪽
📷: Jackie Sayet (1-4 Kachina Basin, 9.11.26)
1. Canada Jay — perches in Engelmann spruce, old man’s beard lichen drapes from the branch
2. Wilson’s Warbler — foraging in a spruce bough, full sun
3. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (male, red crown patch visible), perches inside lichen-covered conifer
4. Lake Fork River corridor — mountain stream headwaters cutting through subalpine forest, near Williams Lake Trail
5. Milky Way over Taos Ski Valley Strawberry Hill and Rueggli top terminal, fall night sky
6. Ski mountain frontside through timber snags, Al’s Run under Lift 1 visible beyond
