Hey COBirders, I’ve been banding at Clear Spring Ranch for 2 weeks, but there hasn’t been much to report. As expected, not much happens until May 1. I did band a Pacific Wren and 2 Rock Wrens last week, but not much else beyond arriving House Wrens, and departing overwintering Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrows (and 1 White-throated Sparrow.) This is all on eBird.
Yesterday saw FOY Northern Waterthrush, an adult, and today FOY MacGillivray’s Warbler, Imm male. Still pretty slow for arriving migrants EXCEPT…. I had only had a handful of Chipping Sparrows, about 20, until yesterday. They were arriving all morning long, strung out in waves of 10-25 at a time, and straight into the nets. Totaling 308 netted yesterday, and another 196 today. I won’t pretend I can (or want to) band all of them, so I band a sampling of the first 10-12, and release the rest. And, boy, was I releasing them. At one point yesterday I cleared 55 from my long line of nets by the road, turned around, went back and released another 50, turned around and release another 15. Today, I opened nets, came back and released 125 before 6:45. They were flowing out of the stubby hay field and into the brush at waist level. In addition, I have been banding a handful of Clay-colored and Brewer’s Sparrows mixed in with the chippers, so I have to pay attention to those little faces before I toss them! So the NUMBERS are huge the last couple days, but the diversity, not so much. Still haven’t seen many Lincoln’s Sparrows, only a few Common Yellowthroats. Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers so far, and no tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings, orioles, empids, or Green-tailed Towhees yet. More soon, Happy Migration, Steve Brown Colo Spgs -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/C8E35377-DB50-4047-9D84-732C56421900%40gmail.com.
