Flight, Moon Flight, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, CO



Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge is located in the San Luis Valley, a high mountain basin located in south-central Colorado. It’s one of 3 national wildlife refuges in the Valley that provides crucial feeding, resting, and breeding habitat for over 200 bird species and other wildlife.

The Valley, sitting at 7,800 feet, extends over 100 miles from north to south and 50 miles from east to west. Three mountain ranges surround the Valley – the Sangre de Christo to the east, the San Juan to the west, and the Saguache to the north. At sunset, the highest peaks of the Sangre de Christo range take on a blood red glow which inspired the Spanish explorers to name them after the “Blood of Christ.”

The surrounding mountains feed the arid valley with surface water and replenish an expansive underground reservoir. The mountain snow melt and artesian wells provide water to the agricultural community and to the rivers, creeks, and wetlands that thread across the valley floor.

The Refuge’s wetlands are intensively managed to provide habitat for a variety of waterfowl and other water birds. Water from irrigation canals and wells maintain this important wetland habitat. Mallards, pintails, teal, and Canada geese are common, as are American avocets, killdeer, white-faced ibis, egrets, and herons. Sandhill cranes are the big attraction.