Hey COBirders,
Banding at Clear Spring Ranch was pretty productive despite North wind gusts, drizzle at times, and continuing lack of numbers. Diversity was pretty impressive. Two stories to follow.
21 birds banded of 14 species, mostly local breeders-to-be. Including:
FOY Black-throated Gray Warbler, adult female, only my second BTYW at CSR in 10 years
FOY Orchard Orioles. Flock of 5 seen, 2 banded, imm male and imm female
FOY Bullock's Oriole, ad m
FOY Green-tailed Towhee, ad f
FOY N Parula male perched on a branch close-by, briefly
FOY Lark Sparrow, ad
A dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers, staying very high in the trees
3 banded Yellow Warblers, 1 Com Yellowthroat, a male Yellow-breasted Chat return, a Yellow-headed Blackbird imm m, and several Red-winged Blackbirds.
CSR is often anything but peaceful and quiet, with I-25 1/2 mile away, coal trains passing by on two sides, Ft Carson artillery, machine guns, and helicopters, jets on approach to COS, and the international raceway a mile away on weekends. But today with northeast winds pushing the sound west, for about 30 minutes at 930, under thick, dark clouds.... it was silent. Almost immediately a GH Owl called nearby, then a higher voice answered, then a third, a fourth, and fifth, along about 200 yards of creekside cottonwoods. This went on for the 30 minutes, taking turns calling out, interrupted by a northbound train horn over and over, and a jet on approach, when the owls went quiet. Then when it got silent again, they re-started. I've heard three calling a couple of times from roofs in my neighborhood, but never five. Too cool. It was memorable.
#2... I recaptured my record-holder for appearances at CSR, a Yellow Warbler male banded 5/6/16, back right on schedule. Unlike the female I mentioned that I'd caught several consecutive springs, this guy breeds here, hatched in 2015, and recaptured May and August 2017, May and August 2018, May and August 2019, 5/20/2020, and 5/9/2021. So he has made 12 successful migrations, and has returned to my two-acre patch each time. Pretty incredible. With the 50% annual survival theory, he would be part of less than 2% of his age class to survive so far. A 7 gram warbler traveling that many thousands of miles, and surviving and navigating his way back here. Sometimes the simple data we gather can tell quite a story.
Have a good week,
Steve Brown
Colo Spgs
Sent from my iPad
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