ACES Aspen Christmas Bird Count, National Audubon Society, 12/14/2025

The Aspen count for the 126th National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) took place on December 14, 2025. Thirty-one participants, including an owling party and a party of Snowmass Ski Patrol staff, volunteered to census the birds within the 15-mile-wide Aspen CBC circle this year, tallying 1,196 individual birds across 41 species. With extensive warm, dry weather this month, bird activity was on the low side compared to our circle’s usual species total average in the mid-40s. Nonetheless, we had a great time, with five daytime parties and one nighttime owling party in the field. Most of us met at Woody Creek Tavern for lunch to compare sightings and gather around coffee and a hot lunch, which is always a social highlight of the CBC experience! Bird highlights on CBC day included a northern shrike spotted on Watson Divide, two Wilson’s snipes observed at Hallam Lake, and a Clark’s nutcracker seen at an Aspen residence. Count week highlights included several white-tailed ptarmigans observed by ski patrol staff above the Cirque on Snowmass ski area and an American goshawk observed at Hallam Lake where it was actively hunting the ducks on the upper lake! Owling was another highlight, conducted at a noted great horned owl site in Woody Creek; however the owls were silent on CBC night, making it into our data as a count week species. A huge thank-you to all who contributed to Aspen’s CBC effort this year! This important citizen science project has been continuous since 1900, and data are used by scientists to reveal critical understanding of bird population dynamics that help inform conservation efforts, climate change studies, and legislation protecting birds. Join us next for Morning Birding at Hallam Lake on January 6th!