April 29th began Week 2 of spring banding at Chico Basin Ranch. We started off with a respectable 49 birds of 16 species banded on Monday and ended with a paltry 17 birds on Saturday. On Monday we banded the first and only Empidonax species of the season thus far, a Gray Flycatcher. Also on Monday we caught FOS Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Towhee, and Clay-colored, Chipping, and Lincoln's Sparrows.
We banded 26 birds on Tuesday, including 2 Long-eared Owls and a feisty male Red-naped Sapsucker that remained in the grove at least through Saturday. The Swainson's Thrushes arrived on Thursday (station closed Wed. due to inclement weather) though we captured only two that day, then another four on Friday. Also on Friday we banded FOS Townsend's Solitaire, Virginia's Warbler, and Green-tailed Towhee, for a total of 31 birds.
We closed the week on Saturday with 17 birds that included another Long-eared Owl, a diminutive male Sharp-shinned Hawk, and seven more Swainson's Thrushes. John Drummond & Company found a lovely Lewis's Woodpecker in the grove that stayed high up in the tall cottonwoods (i.e., we didn't band it).
Total banded for the first half of the season is 224 birds of 30 species. We hope things will pick up during the next two weeks. Conditions remain very dry with leaf-out later than usual. The station closes Saturday, May 18th.
Nancy Gobris and Steve Brown
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
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