I closed the CSR banding station for the season Saturday, after a very slow morning. I had entertained the idea of reopening after the freeze this week, but it seems most of passerine migration has fizzled out here. Only two Hermit Thrush were banded Saturday.
As I said earlier, I was having an exceptionally busy fall. From August 1, to October 24, 2020 I netted 4504 birds from 69 species, only about 2200 more than any any previous fall! Keep in mind that CSR is part of the continuous Fountain Creek corridor - and not a migrant trap. I don't know what feature compels them to stop here, but I am glad they do!
Why was this fall so much busier? One reason would have to be that for the second time in five years the farmer's oat crop, right across the road from several of my nets, wasn't harvested until very late. This year his combine broke down for about 3 weeks - so I had sparrows in the oats for two months! Consequently, their numbers were through the roof.
But almost all other families of birds were caught in record numbers as well, not just seed-eaters. I do wonder why.
If you are interested, here are some of the numbers by species: All of these are record or near-record numbers at CSR since 2012.
WiIson's Warbler - 313 (no surprise, but highest ever here)
Orange-crowned Warbler - 105 (record)
Yellow Warbler - 92
Common Yellowthroat - 52
Northern Waterthrush - 17
MacGillivary's Warbler - 16 (record)
Townsend's Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1
Nashville Warbler - 2
Tennessee Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - only 2. They stayed high in the trees this year.
House Wren - 75 (record)
Marsh Wren - 4
Rock Wren - 1
Warbling Vireo - 5
Cassin's Vireo - 4
Plumbeous Vireo - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
Pygmy Nuthatch - 1
Brown Creeper - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 54 (record)
Black-capped Chickadee - 23 (record)
Mountain Chickadee - 5 (record)
Flycatchers were all about normal numbers, except for Cordilleran - 3, where I had only had 1 before.
Black-headed Grosbeak - only 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
Blue Grosbeak - 44 (record)
Lazuli Bunting - 88 (record)
Indigo Bunting - 1
Hybrid Bunting - 1
Dickcissel - 2 (very cool!)
Hermit Thrush - 19 (record)
Chipping Sparrow - 1925 (not all banded - just too many would arrive at the same time! But only 10 banded birds were recaptured, 9 from this season, 1 from 2016)
Clay-colored Sparrow - 64
Brewer's Sparrow - 66 (record)
Field Sparrow - 2 (also one this spring, my first ones ever)
Savannah Sparrow - 112 (record)
Vesper Sparrow - 131 (record)
Lark Sparrow - 136 (record)
Lark Bunting - 3 (first evers)
Lincolns Sparrow - 252 (double previous record)
Song Sparrow - 84 (record)
Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow - 95 (not a record, but several returning banded birds incl from 2015, 2016. They will winter here - interesting site fidelity.)
Mountain White-crowned Sparrow - 18
and several each of orioles, goldfinches, woodpeckers, catbirds, chats, towhees, Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Com Grackles.
I don't imagine I'll ever see these kinds of numbers again. With a productive spring here as well, I banded about 4000 birds at CSR in 2020!
Hopefully if 2021 is finally COVID safe I can have visitors or groups again. Sure hope things improve by April!
Thanks for your indulgence, good birding,
Steve Brown
Colorado Springs
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