Join us at ACES’ newly renovated Catto Center at Toklat, a retreat in the Castle Creek Valley, where prime bird habitat and the legacy of this special place come together. Jody and Rebecca will guide a birding walk in the subalpine woods and meadows surrounding Toklat where likely species include red-naped sapsucker, dusky grouse, yellow-rumped and Wilson’s warblers, Lincoln’s and fox sparrows, western flycatcher, western tanager, red-breasted nuthatch, tree and violet-green swallows, and broad-tailed hummingbird. Other possibilities include American goshawk, red crossbill, and olive-sided flycatcher. After birding in the field, we will gather at Toklat for an informal presentation and conversation about the Mace family legacy and Toklat history, integrating the concept of “slow birding,” a mindful approach to observing birds and the natural world, much like Stuart Mace’s philosophy and practice. Join us to see birds and nature through a different lens.
This class requires advance registration to ensure appropriate planning for the field experience.
Interested in joining ACES Bird Club? Click here for more information!
About the instructors:
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.
Jody Cardamone is an Aspen native, environmental education mentor, and life-long student of the natural world. She was the first director of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and together with her husband Tom, she nurtured ACES’ naturalist field school programs and the Hallam Lake preserve for nearly four decades. She met Stewart and Isabel Mace, founders of Toklat and stewards of the upper Castle Creek Valley, in 19XX, forging a bond and a shared mission that would inspire the Aspen community and its visitors in meaningful and lasting ways.
Birding and Conversation Field Trip Series
In this special series we explore compelling topics pertaining to birds, from local history, to ecology and conservation. These field trips involve a combination of birding and presentations in the field with guests whose deep expertise provide unique insights into birds and the world we share with them. Join us for these opportunities for first-hand experience and discussions that will enhance your birding and broaden your understanding of the feathered wonders and the natural world around us!
2025 guests/locations in this series include Jody Cardamone at Toklat (Toklat/Mace legacy and approach to nature study, birds), Paul Andersen at Seven Castles (history of the Seven Castles area and its special birdlife), Adam McCurdy at Basalt Mountain (fire ecology, climate change and birds), Ted Floyd in the Frying Pan River Valley (a deep dive into field craft, from the author of National Geographic bird guides and editor of Birding magazine), and Bill Schmoker (tune in – birding by ear, learning bird sounds and their meanings)