Birding by Habitat: Spring Birding on Sopris Creek

Sopris Creek is home to a wide variety of native birds as it descends the lower slopes of Mount Sopris through richly varied habitats. From the Emma Schoolhouse to the top of Prince Creek Road and sites in between, we will observe birds in cottonwood galleries, aspen forest, mixed shrublands, sagebrush, spruce-fir forest, lush riparian willows, and open meadows. Birds we may see include wild turkey, Bullock’s oriole, Lewis’s woodpecker, dusky flycatcher, western tanager, Cassin’s finch, downy woodpecker, plumbeous vireo, black-throated gray warbler, various raptors, black-chinned and broad-tailed hummingbirds, various swallows, mountain bluebird, blue-gray gnatcatcher, and more… the possibilities are unlimited… even Rocky Mountain canaries have been seen in the vicinity. Birders of all experience levels are welcome!

This outing meets at the Emma School House parking lot.

About the instructor: Rebecca Weiss is a Naturalist specializing in birding, botany, and interpretive program development. She first came to ACES as a Summer Naturalist in 1993, later directed the Naturalist Field School and worked with ACES’ Naturalist Programs. She currently guides for ACES’ Birding Program outings and is involved with the center’s interpretive and custom programs. Rebecca is also a professional writer, developing trailside natural history interpretive signs in the Roaring Fork Valley and elsewhere in Colorado, as well as other writing projects. Rebecca is the author of Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. She holds a BS in Biology and an MA in Environmental Education, and loves exploring the natural world with her husband, Austin, and their children Anders and Elsie.