[cobirds] Chatfield Station opened 4/26; caught Winter Wren 4/27

Hi COBirders,

Chatfield Banding Station officially opened yesterday, Saturday, 4/26.  We were open briefly on 4/25 while finishing set up, and then we open a few nets this morning until we figured out it was too cold and too windy and not going to improve much.

The rewards for opening on this cold, cloudy day were a Winter Wren, first ever for this banding station, and an Audubon/Myrtle Intergrade.

Otherwise, our captures have been pretty typical for early spring banding at Chatfield - relatively low total numbers but a variety of species.  Here's the breakdown for the 3 days:

Black-capped Chickadee  1 new, 2 returns (caught in same net at same time, 1 banded 4/13, the other 1/12 when we did a special morning of banding at the Nature Center)

House Wren  5

Winter Wren  1

American Robin  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon)  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (intergrade)  1

Green-tailed Towhee  1

Spotted Towhee  3

Song Sparrow  3

Lincoln's Sparrow  1

The station will be open 7 days a week, weather permitting, EXCEPT for this coming Fri and Sat (May 2 & 3).  We have school groups scheduled every weekday morning, usually arriving about 9 a.m.  So if you want to visit when there are more birds and fewer people, come during the 7:30 - 9 a.m. window!

Meredith

Meredith McBurney
Biologist/Bander

Chatfield Station

Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
303-329-8091