May 31, the last day of our spring season, was another slow day; 16 new birds, all likely year-round or summer residents except for a couple of late Lincoln's Sparrows. Caught our third Western Wood-Pewee in as many days, the only three of the season - they arrived late. Major disappointment was not re-catching the "king" of the small Red-eyed Vireo clan who was banded in 2017; he was seen around the river nets on several occasions but seemed to be fully aware of their locations. Here's the break-down of the final 16 birds banded:
Western Wood-pewee 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
House Wren 1
Gray Catbird 1
Yellow Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
American Goldfinch 1
Key words describing the season - Weather, water, wildlife (think bobcat), wildfires and wind
We were rained out more than usual - 5 days total. The trail from the station to the river became a stream and 2 of the 4 river nets were closed most of the season. The bobcat, which first showed up on May 9, plagued us for the balance of the season, leading to the permanent closure of 2 other nets. My heartfelt thanks to all those who volunteered extra hours to strategically guard the nets so that we could continue to run the station. And then there were the wildfires in Canada and the north winds that brought the smoke down to all of us on the front range - a health hazard for birds (and humans), and which likely delayed the migration of birds continuing north and may impact the breeding season for those that breed in western Canada.
Our total of 641 individual birds caught was about average; it will probably be slightly above average when we take into account the number of nets and days open. Flycatcher and warbler numbers appear to continue to be below normal (perhaps not having fully recovered from the heat/fires/storms/etc. of 2020). More info to follow as data is processed!
It is always great to see many of you at the station and to get your e-mails responding to these posts! We are already looking forward to fall at Barr Lake - we will be open for visitors starting Friday, August 25 - check here for info about registering to visit!
Meredith McBurney
Bander, Chatfield Banding Station
Bander, Chatfield Banding Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
-- --
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/a5a7b2bd-fc43-4e94-a35e-05b5fecf65ebn%40googlegroups.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment