[cobirds] Barr Lake Banding and Education, 2020 - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

Hi All,

We are thrilled to running the Barr Lake Banding Station this fall!  We have had to make a number of modifications due to Covid-19, most related to the education portion of the program; I've included info about that at the end of this e-mail.  

Let me start with a report about our first two mornings.  Our quick take-away is that the birds that bred at Barr had a great season - the place is humming with Yellow Warblers, House Wrens, Chickadees, Robins, Goldfinches, etc. We are concerned, however, about the impact of the fires on both the local birds and all the migrants. If the smoke is a problem for us, it is terrible for the birds. 

Saturday, 8/22/20:

At 6:30 when we opened it was warm, humid and smoky. But birds were really active, flying into the nets as quickly as we opened them.  We only opened the front group of nets, and all were closed by 9:30 due to heat.  In those 3 hours we banded 68 new birds and caught 1 Yellow Warbler banded in 2017.  Here's the breakdown:

Warbling Vireo 1

Black-capped Chickadee 3

House Wren 6

Orange-crowned Warbler 3

Yellow Warbler 16 new, 1 return, a female banded by us as an adult on 8/27/17

Townsend's Warbler 4

Common Yellowthroat 6

Wilson's Warbler 19

Chipping Sparrow 1

Song Sparrow 3

American Goldfinch 6

Sunday, 8/23/20:

Another hot, sticky morning.  We were open a bit longer today, as we were able to open some of the "back nets" that are in the shady, cooler area.  Another busy day, with 59 new birds banded:

Willow Flycatcher 1

Blue Jay 1

Black-capped Chickadee 2

House Wren 17

American Robin 1

Gray Catbird 1

Yellow Warbler 20

MacGillivray's Warbler 1

Common Yellowthroat 1

Wilson's Warbler 14

If you would like to visit (and we hope many of you will):

Due to restrictions related to Covid-19, we have had to change our historic practice of encouraging birders and other interested folks to drop in whenever we did not have a formal school group in attendance.  In this year of social distancing, we are requiring visitors to make a reservation, and we will have only 6 visitors at the station at a time.  We will be doing three one-hour time slots, from 8-9, 9-10 and 10-11, on Tuesday and then Thursday through Sunday, starting this week and running through October 11.  There will be a $5 per person fee; scholarships are available to those unable to pay.   All visitors, staff and volunteers will be wearing masks, and people will be expected to socially distance. To register and for more information, go to www.birdconservancy.org/bandingregister.  On Wednesdays, we will run a virtual program from 8 to 9 a.m., similar to what we did at Chatfield in the spring - you can have a little of the banding experience from the comfort (and safety) of your home.  Go to www.birdconservancy.org/event for more information and to register for that. For more information about any of our fall programming, contact Kelsey Mazur at kelsey.mazur@birdconservancy.org.  Or e-mail me.

This will be different - the social distancing will not allow us and the birds to be as close to you.  On the other hand, the small groups should allow for a more intimate experience and provide an opportunity for each visitor to ask questions and focus on what is most important to you.  And we are so happy to be out birding and banding that I expect we will make it fun for everyone every day!

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Banding Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies    

 

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