Agenda: Enjoying off-season

North Star Birding, ‘The Songs of Breeding Birds,’ Friday, 7-10 a.m.

ACES will offer this program in partnership with Pitkin County Open Space & Trails.

This outing will focus on birding by ear during prime breeding season when singing is at its peak. Highlight species at this location: great blue heron, spotted sandpiper, various waterfowl, yellow warbler, Lincoln’s and song sparrows, tree and violet-green swallows, woodpeckers, and more.

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

This class meets at the South Gate parking lot, 2.1 miles from the intersection of Main/Hwy 82 and Original Street (paraglider’s parking lot). There are no restroom facilities at this location.

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About the instructor:

Rebecca Weiss is a naturalist specializing in birding, botany, and interpretive program development. She came to ACES as a summer naturalist in 1993 and later directed the Naturalist Field School and worked with ACES’ naturalist programs. She guides for ACES’ birding program outings and is a professional writer and consultant. She is the author of “Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley.” She holds a BS in biology and a MA in environmental education and loves exploring the natural world with her husband, Austin, and their children, Anders and Elsie.

More information: aspennature.org/activity/north-star-birding-songs-of-breeding-birds

Ride for the Pass, Saturday, 10:30-11:45 a.m.

The annual Ride for the Pass start is at the winter gate five miles east of Aspen on Highway 82. If you enter Aspen from the west and stay on Highway 82, you can’t miss it.

There will be two finish lines: The first at Weller Lake turnout, just over two miles from the starting line for families and recreational riders and the second at the traditional Independence ghost town site 10 miles from the start (climbing 2,300 feet, ending at an elevation of 10,800 feet).

This “car free” ride supports the Independence Pass Foundation and offers an chance to ride this iconic Colorado road before it opens to vehicle traffic for the season.

More information and registration: independencepass.org/2023-ride-registration

Motors at Willits, TACAW, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Motors at Willits (“Motors on Midland”) is a classic car show organized annually as a fundraiser for the Basalt Education Foundation. The event takes place in Willits (due to construction on Midland Avenue this year) and attracts car enthusiasts from all over the valley.

The car show will feature a wide variety of classic and vintage cars, ranging from hot rods and muscle cars to antique automobiles and rare exotics from the 1920s to the 1970s, as well as more modern performance cars.

In addition to the 50+ cars, the event also features food and drink vendors, live music, and activities for children. Attendees can vote for their favorite cars in the Best in Show award.

The Basalt Education Foundation, which benefits from the proceeds of the event, is a non-profit organization that supports public education in the Basalt area. Funds raised from the Motors at Willits event will go toward educational programs, scholarships and other initiatives that benefit local students.

‘Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed Exhibition,’ 11 a.m.-5 p.m. weekly on Saturdays through April 1, 2024

The Wheeler/Stallard house is a Queen Anne-style Victorian built in 1888. The first floor of the museum is interpreted as a Victorian Aspen home and the second-floor gallery features rotating exhibitions to explore area history.

The new exhibition “Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed” explores the stories that shaped the community’s distinct identity: From mining boom to dilapidated ranching town to today’s international recreational and cultural resort, Aspen forged an unique path. Featuring photographs and artifacts that represent Aspen’s connection to national events and trends, the exhibition reflects on the community’s place within the larger historical landscape of the nation — sometimes congruent, sometimes divergent. 

Aspen Film presents ‘Eric Clapton: Across 24 Nights,’ Isis Theatre, Sunday, 4-6 p.m.

In 1990 and again in 1991, Eric Clapton played 24 nights at the Royal Albert Hall performing with different lineups and sets featuring blues, rock, and a full orchestra. Over 30 years, later this film, edited from the original footage and completely remixed in Dolby Atmos surround sound, captures for the first time the definitive performances across all the sets over both years. The film features 17 hits from across his repertoire showing Clapton at his most exhilarating, collaborating with musicians of the highest caliber.

‘Birding by Habitat: Spring Birding on Sopris Creek,’ Monday May 22, 7 a.m.-noon

Sopris Creek is home to a wide variety of native birds as it descends the lower slopes of Mount Sopris through varied habitats. From the Emma Schoolhouse to the top of Prince Creek Road and sites in between, attendees will observe birds in cottonwood galleries, aspen forest, mixed shrublands, sagebrush, spruce-fir forest, lush riparian willows, and open meadows. Some of the birds may include wild turkey, Bullock’s oriole, Lewis’s woodpecker, American goldfinch, downy woodpecker, plumbeous and warbling vireos, yellow and Virginia’s warblers, red-tailed hawk, black-chinned and broad-tailed hummingbirds, tree and violet-green swallows, green-tailed and spotted towhees, mountain bluebird, blue-gray gnatcatcher, northern flicker, common raven, and American kestrel — 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.

Karaoke at Limelight Aspen, Monday, May 22, 6-9 p.m.

This is the last of The Limelight Hotel Aspen’s karaoke in the lounge on Mondays.