Join the Birding Experts for an Early Bird Walk

Master Naturalist Jack Chiles will lead this Early Bird Walk, weather permitting.  Participants will view birds and wildlife along Harris Creek Trail, walking about two miles, and returning to the Visitor Center in time for the Second Saturday program entitled Obstacles to Environmental Progress with Peter Schulze.

Free and open to the public.  Donations are accepted to support this and other events and programs sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Join us with membership today to receive the monthly Featherless Flyer newsletter with nature articles, program information, updated events and other important refuge information.

Obstacles to Environmental Progress

Why, when so many people understand the severity of environmental problems, is progress so slow and sustainability such a distant goal? What gets in the way? Perhaps you have immediately thought of several barriers. In Obstacles to Environmental Progress, Peter Schulze identifies 18 practical obstacles that routinely and predictably hinder U.S. progress on existing environmental problems. The obstacles apply to problems small and large and, in most cases, regardless of whether an issue is controversial. Though the book focuses on the U.S., most of the obstacles pertain elsewhere as well.

The obstacles fall into three categories: challenges to anticipating, detecting, and understanding problems; political and economic factors that interfere with responding; and obstacles to effective responses. While all the obstacles are predictable and common, they have not been systematically studied as related phenomena, perhaps because they span a wide range of academic disciplines.

Flying Too Close to Heaven Photo by Lisa Walsh

Take a Tour on the Wildlife Explorer!

Come join us for a ride on the Wildlife Explorer! Our new and beautiful tram is available for ninety-minute tours of Hagerman every weekend, weather permitting. Our tours are as varied as our drivers. Each tram driver has her/his approach to the tour: you may learn about wildlife, birds, habitat, refuge history, photography, you name it! To paraphrase, “a Wildlife Explorer tour at Hagerman is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” But you know it’s going to be good! Come see us! Lots of stops for bird-watching and photography.

• Weather permitting, seating is limited. 
• Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  
• Standbys accepted if space permits. 
• Ages 6 and above.
• Meet at the visitor center 15 minutes before departure. 

Free, open to the public, Donations are accepted to support all events and programs sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Join us with membership today to receive the monthly Featherless Flyer newsletter with nature articles, program information, updated events and other important refuge information!

Take a Tour on the Wildlife Explorer!

Come join us for a ride on the Wildlife Explorer! Our new and beautiful tram is available for ninety-minute tours of Hagerman every weekend, weather permitting. Our tours are as varied as our drivers. Each tram driver has her/his approach to the tour: you may learn about wildlife, birds, habitat, refuge history, photography, you name it! To paraphrase, “a Wildlife Explorer tour at Hagerman is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” But you know it’s going to be good! Come see us! Lots of stops for bird-watching and photography.

• Weather permitting, seating is limited. 
• Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  
• Standbys accepted if space permits. 
• Ages 6 and above.
• Meet at the visitor center 15 minutes before departure. 

Free, open to the public, Donations are accepted to support all events and programs sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Join us with membership today to receive the monthly Featherless Flyer newsletter with nature articles, program information, updated events and other important refuge information!

We will meet at the FOH Building* at 7 AM. We will divide into groups and disperse to count all the birds we can detect in a 15 mile circle centered on Cook’s corners. Observers of any skill level can help for a half day or whole day.

*Directions to the FOH Building: From the visitor center parking lot, take the road just past the Butterfly garden up the hill. You may ignore the “authorized personnel only” sign. Pass the house on the right, follow the sign to the FOH AV room. The van is parked along the brick wall.

Dinner will be provided in the Visitor Center at 5:00 PM after the BIrd Count for those who register.

We also need help from anyone who has bird feeders inside the circle (see map below).  Feeder watchers should keep track of the maximum number of each species observed and how much time they spend looking.  For example, if you see three Chickadees in the morning, 5 at noon and four in the afternoon you would report 5 Chickadees so that you don’t count the same birds twice. 

Please email your observations to info@friendsofhagerman.org. 

Include all birds you see and time spent looking, rounded to the nearest half hour.

Join the Work Crew

Do you enjoy working outside, mowing, sprucing up hiking trails, trimming and removing brush and general cleanup? Show your love for nature by joining the Outdoor Crew at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. Outdoor Crew volunteers meet on the First Tuesday and Fourth Saturday of every month. 

With budget cuts and staff shortages due to retirements, the refuge needs you more than ever!

For exact times, dates and other details about joining the volunteer Work Crew, please email us at: 

info@friendsofhagerman.org

Scouts welcome!

Take a Tour on the Wildlife Explorer!

Come join us for a ride on the Wildlife Explorer! Our new and beautiful tram is available for ninety-minute tours of Hagerman every weekend, weather permitting. Our tours are as varied as our drivers. Each tram driver has her/his approach to the tour: you may learn about wildlife, birds, habitat, refuge history, photography, you name it! To paraphrase, “a Wildlife Explorer tour at Hagerman is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” But you know it’s going to be good! Come see us! Lots of stops for bird-watching and photography.

• Weather permitting, seating is limited. 
• Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  
• Standbys accepted if space permits. 
• Ages 6 and above.
• Meet at the visitor center 15 minutes before departure. 

Free, open to the public, Donations are accepted to support all events and programs sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Join us with membership today to receive the monthly Featherless Flyer newsletter with nature articles, program information, updated events and other important refuge information!

Take a Tour on the Wildlife Explorer!

Come join us for a ride on the Wildlife Explorer! Our new and beautiful tram is available for ninety-minute tours of Hagerman every weekend, weather permitting. Our tours are as varied as our drivers. Each tram driver has her/his approach to the tour: you may learn about wildlife, birds, habitat, refuge history, photography, you name it! To paraphrase, “a Wildlife Explorer tour at Hagerman is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” But you know it’s going to be good! Come see us! Lots of stops for bird-watching and photography.

• Weather permitting, seating is limited. 
• Bring binoculars or borrow ours.
  
• Standbys accepted if space permits. 
• Ages 6 and above.
• Meet at the visitor center 15 minutes before departure. 

Free, open to the public, Donations are accepted to support all events and programs sponsored by the Friends of Hagerman NWR.

Join us with membership today to receive the monthly Featherless Flyer newsletter with nature articles, program information, updated events and other important refuge information!

Photo Club Meeting:

Photographing Birds with Tom Judd

Concepts for improving photographs and improving odds of getting good photographs of birds by making use of various camera settings, being aware of lighting, camera position and lens choices.

Tom is a retired Professional Photographer out of Denton, and an avid birder. He visits the refuge to photograph birds when time allows.

Nature’Ology Day Camp June, 2026

For Children 11 or 12 Years Old

A full day of learning all about nature: fossils, prairies, spiders, birds, snakes and water cycles! Make a terrarium, enjoy a nature craft and meet other young nature enthusiasts!

This program has become so popular, that it fills up very quickly. By opting into this mailing list, you will receive an email with a link to apply for a confirmed reservation before reservations open to the general public in the spring of 2026.