Winter Birding at Toklat

This class requires advanced registration to ensure appropriate planning for the field experience. Participants must register by 5pm on the day prior to the outing.

Join us for a winter birding outing based at ACES’ newly renovated Catto Center at Toklat on Tuesday, March 18th! We will gather at Toklat to review subalpine winter birds over tea before strapping on snowshoes to explore the trail loops around the center. We will adapt our overall plan to the day’s weather and temperatures to make the most of bird activity in the surrounding aspen forest, willow, meadow, and riparian habitats, while keeping ourselves warm and comfortable. Target birds include: flocks of winter finches such as pine grosbeaks, evening grosbeaks and red crossbills, various woodpeckers, dippers, Steller’s jays, pine siskins, nuthatches, birds of prey, and more. We will incorporate all observations, such as tracks, antler rubs, and other signs of wildlife activity for a full winter ecology experience, in addition to our focus on birds. Back indoors, we will gather in the cozy Toklat library to discuss winter coping strategies of local birds and those of the far north, gaining deeper appreciation for the many ways these amazing creatures find food and keep warm in both alpine and arctic environments.

Bring snacks and a water bottle in a day pack. Dress in warm layers and winter outerwear with warm hat, buff, gloves, sunglasses, warm winter snow boots such as Sorels, and anything else you need to be comfortable and happy both indoors and out. Hot tea will be provided. Bring your binoculars (or borrow a pair from ACES) and bird guidebook (optional).

This outing will meet at Toklat at 8:45am and conclude there at 11:30am. Carpooling is encouraged.

*Consider bringing your lunch to eat at Toklat following the outing

Interested in joining ACES Bird Club? Click here to find out more info!

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.