[cobirds] CSR, El Paso Co, Spring Wrap-up

Hey COBirders,

I closed my Clear Spring Ranch banding site yesterday (6/2/24) as well. I stayed open longer just-to-see what the Birdcast predictions of medium to heavy migration flights might mean for birds banded at CSR. It meant nothing. Friday I caught just 10 birds, Saturday - 10, Sunday - 5, almost all recaps. In fact, the last two weeks have been pretty abysmal for banding numbers. 10 of the last 14 days I recorded my lowest number caught on that date over the last 11 years. Sigh.

So like Meredith just reported, I looked at my averages to see where the different species sat this spring, compared to my 11-year average. I keep daily numbers for several species that are the common ones I get, and it looked like this:

Species with above average numbers for 2024 - N Waterthrush; Yellow Warbler; Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler; MacGillivray's Warbler; and totals of flycatchers.
Species right about average - Warbling Vireo; RC Kinglet; Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush; Gray Catbird; Com Yellowthroat; Wilson's Warbler; Spotted Towhee; Green-tailed Towhee; Song Sparrow; White-crowned Sparrow.
Species well-below average - House Wren; Yellow-breasted Chat; Lincoln's Sparrow; Chipping Sparrow (!). (Actually almost all sparrows - I didn't catch a single Vesper, Lark, Brewer's, or Savannah Sparrow - and only one Clay-colored Sparrow.)

Especially Chipping Sparrow. 2024 I caught 8 - 2023 I caught 993. My 11 year average is 171, with a range from 1 (!) to 993. This has affected my total numbers on average as well. 2024 I caught 393 birds, and my 11-year average is 778 birds (low 302, high 1736). For me, as Chipping Sparrow go, so go my numbers, and this year they didn't stop here. I talked to the local farmer who leases the CSR land, and he, too, noticed a lack of sparrow flocks when driving around. I regularly saw small flocks of 10-20 birds, but not near the net area, and not every day - nothing like the days where I would net 150-300 CHSP in a morning!

So that's my story. Despite Birdcast showing an above average number of birds migrating over El Paso County 2024, it seems they did just that - migrate over, and keep going!

Life is like a box of chocolates…

Steve Brown
Colo Spgs

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