Birding by Habitat: Birding the Burn

Join birding experts Rebecca Weiss and Mark Fuller to explore areas of the burn on Basalt Mountain. We will experience a special suite of birds in various post-fire habitats two years after the 2018 forest fire that burned more than 12,000 acres on and around the mountain.  Within burned areas and adjacent green patches, we hope to see American Three-toed Woodpeckers, Olive-sided Flycatchers, Mountain Bluebirds, Hermit Thrushes, Townsend’s Solitaires, Tree Swallows, Black-chinned and Broad-tailed hummingbirds, Western Tanagers and more.  The burned landscape is likened by forest fire ecologists to a treasure chest that has been opened, providing a bonanza of feeding and nesting opportunities for many bird species in succession over the following decades of regrowth.  (Riotous wildflowers provide amazing side highlights on this hike!)  Join us for one or both of these outings in ACES’ annual Birding the Burn series that will reveal the ongoing changes from year to year in this unique habitat zone as seen through the birdlife and the plant communities they inhabit.  This is a moderately strenuous day hike over uneven terrain and mountain trails.

This class requires advance registration to ensure appropriate planning for the field experience. 

Birders of all experience levels are welcome!  Special attention will be given to orienting beginning birders to local habitats and their associated bird species, and basic field craft skills.

Meeting place will be communicated to registered participants.

Mark Fuller, former Independence Pass Foundation Director, and ACES Birding Guide Rebecca Weiss will be your instructors.  Mark and Rebecca are photographer and author, respectively, of Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.