Happy October! I was much more of a fan of today's weather than I was of the last few days', with overcast skies and seasonably mild temps. Too bad it wasn't the most ideal for getting a high volume of migrant, and for the 3rd straight banding day we had under 20 new captures: 15 birds of 11 species, to be precise. We also had the most recaptures of any day by far this season, with 8 birds, all banded this season. We're still waiting on recaptures from previous years this season.
Despite the low volume, there was still a good variety of birds, both in and around the nets. We were especially pleased by a lovely male *Black-and-white Warbler *in our first net on our first net run! That would be just the 8th fall record for this species, and first since 2015. There was also good vireo diversity (both *Cassin's *and *Plumbeous*). As far as our common small migrants go, Wilson's Warblers have pretty much slowed to a trickle and now seem to be handily outnumbered by Ruby-crowned Kinglets at the banding site. Today's summary: Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 + 3 recaptures Wilson's Warbler 1 + 1 recapture Black-and-white Warbler 1 (FOS) Pink-sided Junco 1 Plumbeous Vireo 1 Cassin's Vireo 1 Hermit Thrush 2 + 2 recaptures Gray Catbird 2 + 1 recapture Spotted Towhee 1 Green-tailed Towhee 1 Blue Jay 1 Brown Thrasher 1 recapture We band 6 days a week at Chico Basin, closed Sundays. Visitors are welcome at our banding stations. Registration is required for groups. For more information and hours of operation, visit birdconservancy.org/birdbanding. For the remainder of the week, we'll be opening nets at 7:00 AM and closing at noon, weather permitting. Come visit! Robert Snowden Bander, Chico Basin Ranch Bird Conservancy of the Rockies -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/811ee3b3-cfda-4521-9ef1-a3d5a4062ca9%40googlegroups.com.
