[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, Final Day, October 16

Hi Cobirders, On our final day of fall 2010 banding at Barr, we caught 12 new and 5 recaps: Downy Woodpecker 1 Brown Creeper 2 Spotted Towhee 3 recaps Song Sparrow 1 Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow 4 new, 1 recap Slate-colored Junco 1 new, 1 recap Oregon Junco 1 recap Pink-sided Junco 2 House

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Report, October 14

Hi Cobirders, Continued low numbers…..the birds seem to be telling us that the fall banding season should be over! 11 birds total, 7 of which were new today: Song Sparrow 1 Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow 1 Slate-colored Junco 1 Oregon Junco 1 Pink-sided Junco 3 Open tomorrow and Saturday,

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Report, October 13

Hi Birders, Another slow day…..only 8 birds banded. VERY cold for the first couple of hours, but the home-made scones from volunteer Lucinda Miller were terrific! Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Gamble’s White-crowned Sparrow 5 Slate-colored Junco 1 Pink-sided Junco 1 Only 3 more days – Thurs,

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, October 11

Hi Birders, A perfectly beautiful morning – crisp, calm, sunny. But very few birds – 13, including 5 recaps. But there was surprising diversity - 12 species – enough to keep an enthusiastic and large group of homeschoolers engaged. Two FOS – a Blue Jay and a Common Grackle. One HY female

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Station Report, October 9

Hi Birders, Things continue to be slow at the Barr Banding Station. Banded 11 birds today. We did catch a THIRD Winter Wren, which seems pretty amazing. This one was a hatch year (as was the second one); all 3 likely Easterns. Here are the numbers: Downy Woodpecker 1 Winter Wren 1

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, October 8

Hi Birders, More visitors than birds on this cool and cloudy morning. We waited for the drizzle to stop before opening, then closed early after capturing 5 new birds, 3 banded sometime in the last few days, and 1 (a Song Sparrow) banded last year. Today’s new birds: Hermit Thrush 3 Gray

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, October 7

Hi Birders, Banded 24 birds; caught our FOS Brown Creeper, a Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow that I banded in 2007 and……..another Winter Wren! Had a great time with a group led by Norm Lewis, debating things like age, sex and even species on several sparrows. Here’s the breakdown:

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 10/5

Hi Birders, A pattern is developing……a few mixed flocks early in the morning (often 6-8 birds, all in the same net, and perhaps nothing else in the run), then relative quiet for a couple of hours, then a flurry of primarily Chipping Sparrow activity when we are closing about noon. Today, we

[cobirds] Winter Wren at Barr Lake Banding Station

Hi All, We caught (twice) and banded a Winter Wren (probably Eastern) at the Barr Lake Banding Station today. It was hanging around the nets right next to the road just before you reach the station. Full report for day will follw shortly. Meredith Meredith McBurney Barr Lake Banding

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 10/3

Hi Birders, Activity continues to be slow – new birds banded again in the low teens. After a couple of “sparrow” days, we returned, probably only briefly, to the majority of new birds being warblers. The excitement of the morning was capturing a Winter Wren, probable Eastern by plumage.

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 10/2

Hi Birders, Another slow day at Barr – only 10 birds banded. Luck was with the Colorado Mountain Club’s Birding 101 group, led by Mike Foster, which showed up when we made the run in which we caught 7 of the 10. We all enjoyed the variety: Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 10/1

Hi Birders, 50 new birds one day, 13 the next – Never know quite what to expect at the banding station! Today was just very quiet. Here’s the breakdown: Hermit Thrush 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Chipping Sparrow 3 White-crowned Sparrow-Gambel’s 5 White-crowned Sparrow-Mountain 1 House Finch

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 9/30

Hi Birders, We welcomed the cooler weather, as we banded 50 birds today. More like fall every day – 8 warblers, 29 sparrows. Here’s the breakdown: Rock Wren 1 House Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 Hermit Thrush 6 Gray Catbird 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 5 Wilson’s Warbler 3 Chipping Sparrow 7

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 9/28

Hi Birders, As we all know, the unseasonably warm weather continues, but no wind today, so we had a much better day, banding 47 new birds. The sparrows seem to love the smartweed, which is high and dense this year, so we’ve added 5 nets near trees but out in the open, and these accounted

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 9/27

Hi Birders, We were heading for a pretty good day – a little like yesterday, with a slow start but sparrows and Yellow-rumpeds increasing as the morning progressed - until strong winds kicked in about 9:30, forcing an early closing. Hoping for a calmer day (weatherwise) tomorrow. 19

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 9/26

Hi Birders, A few of us were lazing our way (13 birds in about 3 hours) through the morning. At 10 a.m. the heat was kicking in, so we decided to make a run and close the nets in the sun. Got to Net 2 just in time to see the last of a flock of mostly Audubon’s Warblers fly in – 22 birds in

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, 9/25

Hi Cobirders, The Kingerys were out with Audubon’s Beginning Birder class today. We caught 33 birds of 17 different species, making for a great teaching morning. I remembered that my first trip to the Barr Lake Banding Station was with this class in 1997. Here’s the breakdown: Dusky

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Hi Cobirders, A lovely day at Barr Lake, cool, clear, no wind. Banded 30 birds - enough to keep us busy but slow enough that we had time to enjoy the Philadelphia Vireo that paid us a visit. Here’s the breakdown: Red-shafted Flicker 2 Dusky Flycatcher 1 Philadelphia Vireo 1 Swainson’s

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, 9/22

Hi Birders, A slow (I know, I can’t complain, as Stephanie is giving new meaning to the word…..) day at Barr – 14 banded, 9 species: Willow Flycatcher 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Audubon’s Warbler 2 Wilson’s Warbler 2 Green-tailed Towhee 2 Spotted Towhee 1 Chipping Sparrow 2 Gambel’s

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, 9/21

Hi Birders, A nice cooler day, with moderate activity (the birds just fly past Barr and stop at Chico). We banded 27 birds, and processed another 12 banded previously this seaon. (We have some recaptures every day, but rarely a 1/3rd of our total.) Here’s the break-down on the new ones:

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, 9/20/10

Hi Birders, HOT, muggy, windy, almost no birds, and 60 sixth graders! If we ignore the dozen or so House Sparrows that we caught after we, in desperation, put up nets at the Barr Lake Nature Center feeders, we banded 10 birds: Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 MacGillivray’s Warbler 1 Common

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Report, Sunday, 9/19

Hi Birders, A cool, sunny, windless morning at Barr Lake, perfect for banding. We banded 37 birds, busy enough but with plenty of time to enjoy the first of season (and first in hand for me) Fox Sparrow and two very young Blue Grosbeaks. We continue to catch lots of Wilson’s Warblers, but

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, SAturday, 9/18

Hi Birders, About 15 hardy souls – parents, grandparents, kids, regular Saturday visitors – braved the drizzle/fog/wind to see birds this morning. We opened for a few hours after the drizzle stopped. There was lots of chipping in the bushes but very little movement; we banded 6 plus

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, Wed-Fri, 9/15-17

Hi Birders, I haven’t posted the last couple of days because we’ve been sharing banding responsibilities and I ended the day without the data. So, a brief catch up – Wed was very slow (13 banded), yesterday we were back into the 30s, which seems to be our norm this year. First of season

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Hi Birders, We at Barr are being blown away by the number of birds being banded at the other RMBO stations, but we continue to have sufficient birds and species diversity to make it interesting for school groups and other visitors. Banded 32 today, 12 species: Dusky Flycatcher 2 Rock Wren

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, Monday 9/13

Hi Birders, Banded 40 birds today. As usual, more than half were Wilson’s Warblers, but the balance included a great variety of species: Western Wood-pewee 1 Dusky Flycatcher 1 Plumbeous Vireo 1 (FOS) Black-capped Chickadee 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 House Wren 1 Gray Catbird 1

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station Report, Sunday 9/12

Hi Birders, Very quiet day…..banded only 22 birds: Dusky Flycatcher 1 House Wren 1 Swainson’s Thrush 1 Hermit Thrush 3 Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Yellow Warbler 1 MacGillivray’s Warbler 1 Wilson’s Warbler 12 Open every day this coming week…… Meredith Meredith McBurney Barr Lake Banding

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Station Report, Barr Lake, Saturday

Hi Birders, A large crowd of Barr Lake Fall Fest visitors enjoyed the birds at the banding station this morning. Relatively slow until a flock of Spizella Sparrows hit net 21 about 10 a.m. We banded a total of 44 birds. Many visitors have reminded me how much I whined about the numbers

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Station Report, Barr Lake, Thurs and Fri

Hi Birders, A slower day at Barr Friday; big difference was in the number of Wilson’s. As Glenda Brown commented, we had great diversity – 15 different species that included 28 new birds and 8 repeats: Downy Woodpecker 1 repeat Western Wood-pewee 3 Dusky Flycatcher 2 Black-capped Chickadee

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Banding Station Report, Sunday

Hi Birders, It was great to see the regular Sunday Barr Banding Station crowd out again this year, along with a few newcomers! The birds cooperated – we banded 57: Downy Woodpecker 1 Western Wood-pewee 1 Willow Flycatcher 1 Dusky Flycatcher 2 Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 House Wren 3 Townsend’s

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Station Report, Barr Lake, Saturday

Hi Birders, We started the day with a minor disruption…an immature Red-tailed Hawk decided to seek breakfast out of our nets, and ended up getting himself pretty tangled while destroying at least one net. Biggest bird I’ve caught in a mist net….and the biggest talon I’ve had pierce my

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Station Report, Barr Lake, 9/2 9/3

Hi Birders, Yesterday (Thurs) was windy; we banded 11 Wilson’s, 1 Yellow, and 4 House Wrens and went home early. Today (Fri) was pleasant and busy, banding 48 birds and enjoying a group of students from CU. Here’s today’s breakdown: Downy Woodpecker 1 Western Wood-pewee 6 Gray Flycatcher

[cobirds] RMBO Banding, Barr Lake, 8/31/10

Hi Birders, Happy to have the slightly cooler weather! Banded 31 birds today: Western Wood-pewee 1 Dusky Flycatcher 3 Warbling Vireo 1 House Wren 4 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Yellow Warbler 1 Common Yellowthroat 1 Wilson’s Warbler 18 Song Sparrow 1 We will be open every day through next

[cobirds] RMBO Barr Lake Banding Station, Report and Schedule

Hi Birders, We had more visitors than birds today, the first day of the banding season and the annual RMBO BBQ with the Birds. It is time for the 90 degree weather to end! We banded Thursday and Friday as well (while orienting our banders for our Western Slope and Nebraska stations). The

[cobirds] RMBO Fall Banding at Barr Lake

Hi Birders, RMBO staff and volunteers, with great assistance from the Barr Lake State Park folks, have been hard at work the past week preparing for fall banding at Barr Lake. The official opening is this coming Saturday, August 28. That is also the date of RMBO’s annual BBQ with the

[cobirds] RMBO Banding, Chatfield, 6/2/10 (clean-up day)

Volunteer Michael Kiessig and I went out to the station yesterday to evaluate and take down nets. We decided to open for awhile to see what a few extra hours might bring. Along with the expected Catbirds, Yellow Warblers, Goldfinches, etc., we caught a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, our 61st species

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding, 5/30/10

A day with Waxwings, Orioles and a Tanager...a great banding day! Cool education opportunity - a female Western Tanager, which some visitors guessed was an Oriole, followed almost immediately by a female Bullock's. Then a 2nd year Bullock's. Total for the day was 34 new, 2 returns:

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding, 5/29/10

We had a steady stream of birds for the approximately 50 visitors who came out to enjoy the first day of our last weekend of banding this spring. 29 new, 1 return: Western Wood-pewee 1 Willow Flycatcher 2 House Wren 2 (that makes 54 new, 8 returns for the season) American Robin 2 Gray

[cobirds] RMBO Banding Chatfield, 5/28/10

Hot and slow describes this morning.The birds seemed to know that it was a good day to lay low. We started closing as soon as the breeze picked up, adding windy to hot and slow! Hoping that the forecast is correct and our last weekend will be somewhat cooler and the birds will be out and

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding, 5/24 and 5/25

Hi Birders, Both days, it has been cool and active until about 10 a.m., and then the heat kicks in and the birds take shelter. Ah, yes, and wind. We are in the mid-20s for new birds now, with a few cool first of season and unusual birds each day. Today, we have a first ever at the

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/21 and 5/22

Hi Birders, Friday was another good day; today not so much - hot and windy, and we gave up after about 3 hours, high wind gusts and almost no birds - banded 2 Catbirds, 3 Yellow Warblers and 1 Chat. Here's the Friday breakdown: Dusky Flycatcher 1 Warbling Vireo 1 new, 1 return from

[cobirds] Chatfield Banding Station Closed Sunday 5/22/10

Sorry for this late notification, but the Chatfield Banding Station will be closed Sunday, 5/22. Open again Monday, 5/23, through Memorial Day. Meredith McBurney Chatfield Banding Station Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory 303/329-8091 -- You

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/20/10

Hi Birders, On our first really warm day this spring, we banded 41 new and had 3 returns from prior seasons. Had our first vireo on the season. Lots of likely Chatfield summer residents - Catbirds, Yellow Warblers, Chats. Least Flycatcher 1 Dusky Flycatcher 3 Warbling Vireo 1

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding, 5/18/10

Caught and banded fairly steadily until the rain knocked us out at about noon. Banded 47 birds, 20 species: Dusky Flycatcher 5 Grey Flycatcher 1 House Wren 6 Swainson's Thrush 1 Grey Catbird 1 Orange-crowned Warbler 2 Yellow Warbler 9 new, 3 returns from prior years Ovenbird (FOS,

[cobirds] RMBO Banding, Chatfield, 5/16 and 5/17

Hi Birders, This appears to be the week that our regular summer residents are returning. In the last 2 days, we've caught 17 birds that we banded in prior seasons, including our House Wren that holds the record for the most times caught in our nets - at least 28 times since he was banded

[cobirds] RMBO Banding, Chatfield, 5/11/10

Hi Birders, Got in a decent morning of banding before the cold, wind and rain took over. 18 new birds plus 2 returns from prior years. We particularly enjoyed 3 lovely Violet-green Swallows, 2 males and a female. Breakdown for the day: Dusky Flycatcher 3 Violet-green Swallow 3

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Station, 5/10/10

16 new banded, and 4 returns - 3 Yellow Warblers, 1 Chat, 1 Song Sparrow. We continue to have a nice variety of species. Bird of the day, and likely bird of the week was a Black-throated Grey Warbler. Here's the breakdown: House Wren 4 Hermith Thrush 1 American Robin 1 Grey Catbird

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding, Mother's Day

Lots of moms and their families out visiting today. What a great way to spend Mother's Day! Numbers continue in the low 20's.We banded 20, plus we had a Yellow Warbler return from last year and a Grey Catbird from a place unknown; I'll let you know when I find out where he was

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/8/10

Another modestly solid day - 21 birds banded, plus 2 Grey Catbird returns from prior years. 15 species: Least Flycatcher (FOS) 2 Dusky Flycatcher (FOS) 3 Black-capped Chickadee 1 House Wren 1 American Robin 1 Grey Catbird 3 Orange-crowned Warbler 1 Virginia's Warbler 1 Audubon

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/7/10

Hi All, After a slow-ish day yesterday, we had a good solid day today, with 30 birds banded, including 5 first of season species: Downy Woodpecker 1 Cordilleran Flycatcher (FOS) 1 Black-capped Chickadee 1 House Wren 6 Blue-grey Gnatcatcher (FOS) 1 Hermit Thrush 2 Grey Catbird (FOS)

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/'5/10

Por fin! After 10 mostly dismal days, Jim and Karen Schmoker, Bill Eden, Tom Parchman and I enjoyed what felt like the first real day of spring migration. Banded 32 birds, 13 species, including first of the season Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, and Spizellas. And, for the second time

[cobirds] RMBO Chatfield Banding Station, 5/2 and 5/3

I don't know if the question is When will migration really start? or Is there going to be a migration? I'm pretty sure I've never spent this much time at a banding station with so little action! Sunday, we banded 6 birds - 3 Audubon Warblers, 1 Downy Woodpecker, and 2 Say's Phoebes (first