ACES City of Aspen Open Space Birding at Meadows Open Space 06/19/26

This outing incorporated some history of the Aspen Institute campus and a bit about other historic relics on the Meadows Open Space in addition to the array of birds we saw in the patchwork of habitats in this special area. From the reception center, we walked up Meadows Road through a corridor of trees where we saw pygmy nuthatches, black-capped chickadees, and house wrens in busy activity with nestlings and fledglings. A red-tailed hawk flew from a nearby perch. Crossing the historic race track where a remnant of sagebrush shrublands covers this flat area, we found green-tailed towhees, chipping sparrows, and yellow-rumped warblers, while violet-green swallows swooped overhead. Circling back through campus, we paused to watch a couple of mountain chickadees and discovered their active nesting cavity in an aspen tree; we watched the magic of this bird family from a discreet distance before moving on to the gorge of Castle Creek. In the riparian forest, we found another chickadee nest in an electrical fixture and heard abundant yellow warblers and warbling vireos. At the bridge over the Roaring Fork River, we saw a belted kingfisher and looked for dippers. Returning via the river trail, a pair of Swainson’s thrushes was active in their nesting territory and hummingbirds perched on tops of trees as we made our way back up to campus. It was a wonderful morning in this vibrant area with many habitat nooks and a network of lovely footpaths. Join us next Tuesday for Morning Birding at Rock Bottom Ranch!