Rainy weather does not seem to have brought in more birds, and those at the
station seem to be hunkered down. We've been open briefly and early, before
the mid-morning showers have started, and have supplemented our efforts at
the station nets with the nets at the feeders at the Nature Center.
Our few birds came early in the day, so the early visitors got good looks
at a nice variety before things quieted to nothing by about 9:30 a.m.
Banded 9, plus had some recaps from previous days this season.
Red-shafted Flicker 1
House Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Things continue to be slow at Chatfield. Yesterday (4/30) was so quiet
that we didn't even catch any birds at the nets at the feeders at the
Nature Center. Banded 3 House Wrens total for the day. Today was a little
better, but not great; had hoped for a little more action with the change
in
Finally got back to banding, after 2 days of rain! Another typical early
spring day:
House Wren 5
Spotted Towhee 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 2 (a M and F; caught side-by-side in the net. After we
released him, he waited for her in a nearby tree)
We will be
Number of birds caught has returned to closer to normal for Chatfield; most of
the birds brought in by the storm appear to have moved on. Numbers of new
birds have been in the mid-20s the last 2 days - great for education purposes
because we can take time describing each bird…..good today, as
Hi Birders,
If we just look at summary data - 63 new birds plus some recaptures, lots of
species - then 5/14 looks just like 5/13. But, on Tuesday, Amber and her crew
caught the birds in less than 3 hours, while our pace was a little more
leisurely. There were likely fewer birds around by
Banding activity low; breeding bird activity high. Caught a Gray Catbird
with a brood patch today - a first during spring banding. The Black-chinned
Hummer is on the nest most of the morning; she left only briefly and
returned with some additional nesting material. Banded today:
Western
Interesting to note the differences from day to day - yesterday the majority
of our birds were previously-caught-this-season breeding Yellow Warblers;
today we had more species and no clearly breeding Yellows. Here's the
breakdown:
Downy Woodpecker 1 banded earlier this season; male with
The upside of this early spring for plant life is that we are getting to
experience early breeding among at least some bird species - today we caught
7 female Yellow Warblers (all caught previously this season) with brood
patches. I went back through our old records, and found a few late May YEWA
Spent a very mellow Memorial Day morning, with a handful of cool birds and a
fun mix of RMBO /or ASGD board members, staff, volunteers, and master
birders and other visitors. Yellow Warblers continue to dominate,
particularly since there are so few other species around. We caught 2 of
the many
Three more banding days with lower than normal activity. However, just
checked totals on Yellow Warblers (our most commonly caught species, and a
summer resident at the station) compared to last year, and for this species
we are ahead. They are also breeding earlier - have had a couple of
This unusual season continues...Caught more year-round residents than either
summer residents or migrants today, including the first 2 Downy Woodpeckers,
both males, caught together in the net, both with brood patches. Don't know
where the girls were! Also caught a HY Song Sparrow; I don't
Today's weird weather (windy and warm to start; then cloudy and windy; then
sun, hot and calm by closing) made for a less productive banding session.
15 new birds, 5 returns from prior years, and 7 birds caught previously this
season (not included below):
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Things continue slow at Chatfield. Here are the totals for Tues and Wed:
Tuesday, 5/15:
Least Flycatcher1 return, banded 5/25/11
House Wren 1 new, 1 banded 5/1/07
Gray Catbird 2 new
Yellow Warbler 1 new, 1 banded 5/29/07
Red-winged Blackbird
After our interesting, relatively busy (for this season) Sunday, I hoped the
sunshine today would lead to a good day. But NO, absolutely dead. Caught
only 5 birds in the banding station nets (unless you count the Brown
Thrasher x 3, since it managed to get caught 3 times during the course of
the
A cold, gray day, and, as Hugh Kingery noted when his group came by during
their spring bird count, almost no birds that would be migrating through.
We continue to band a few, plus recapturing several banded by us in years
past:
Warbling Vireo (FOS) 1 banded 5/22/08
House Wren 2
This was the first Yellow Warbler Day in this strange season of
mini-migration. We captured 11 YEWAs (yes, the code for Yellow Warblers has
been changed), almost all in the 7:30 a.m. run, in nets near the big pond.
(So far, there has been a pattern...the activity is in the first or second
run,
Started the day with 2 semi-rarities for the banding station - a Redstart
and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Other cool captures included 4 birds banded
in prior years, including a Yellow Warbler, banded as an adult in 2006, who
we have caught every year. (So, 8 or more years old!) Here's the
A busy couple of days for us.
Friday we banded as usual in the morning, catching 35 birds, and then banded in
the evening for a special event for our partner organizations and some donors,
catching 8 new birds along with a number of repeats (birds already counted this
spring). Total for
With Yellow Warblers and Catbirds in double digits for the first day, there is
finally some hope that our summer residents will come in reasonable numbers.
Yellows and House Wrens so far are well below the numbers we've had in the last
couple of years. Had another good day for late May
Cloudy and cold changed to partly sunny today. A moderate stream of birds all
morning. 36 new, 2 returns:
Willow Flycatcher (FOS) 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Dusky Flycatcher 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Gray Catbird 5
Yellow Warbler 3 new, 2 returns (1 banded 2008, 1 in 2010)
MacGillivray's Warbler 2
We and the Tuesday Birders had a fun if wet day. We caught about 40 birds
before the thunder, lightning and rain started about 9 a.m. We ran around,
pulled the nets closed, and then all huddled under our canopy and looked at
birds! Highlights were male and female Western Tanagers and
A nice, fairly typical day for May 22 or so..a good mix (18 species) of
year-round residents, summer residents, and birds just passing through. Total
of 40 new birds:
Downy Woodpecker 1
Dusky Flycatcher 4
Black-capped Chickadee 1
House Wren 1
Swainson's Thrush 3
Hermit Thrush 1
American
A pretty normal mid-May day at Chatfield, catching 30 birds, mostly our
usuals for this time of the season. Rain/hail as we were closing.
Dusky Flycatcher 2
House Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Swainson's Thrush 2
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 4 new, 1 return (banded 2008)
Yellow Warber 3
Just to summarize our 2011 banding experience to date: Almost 2 1/2 weeks with
mostly single digit days, waiting for the vegetation to green up and the birds
to arrive. Then rained out for 2 days; then 79 birds; then rained out another
day; then 70 birds. Our 2nd and 3rd highest days ever
On this very cold, gray, almost but not quite rainy, birdy Saturday, we had the
second best banding day ever at this station! 73 banded, 6 returns = 79.
Thanks to Andy Doll, DMNS Ornithology Fellow, for his help banding, and the
great crew of volunteers who got birds out of the nets while
After being rained out for 2 days, it was great to be banding again, on a
crisp, cool day that turned sunny after about 8 a.m. Perhaps not as busy as we
were hoping/expecting, it still was our best day this season, catching 30 new
birds. Also the highest number of species this spring, at 17,
For the first time this season, the Catbirds were competing with the Red-winged
Blackbirds for the noisiest birds in the area; we had the first of season in
the net within minutes of opening.
Totals for the day:
House Wren 2 new, 1 return (banded 2009)
Hermit Thrush 1
Gray Catbird (FOS) 2
We had a weekend with over 100 visitors and few birds (single digits both days
if we don't count the Nature Center feeder birds). Total for Saturday and
Sunday (combined):
House Wren 6
American Robin 1 return (Banded 2010)
Yellow Warbler 1 return (Male, banded 2005, recaught 07, 08, 09, 10.
Started to feel like spring migration today. Six warbler species, including
FOS Yellows and a Common Yellowthroat. Lots of Yellow-rumpeds around, but up
high. House Wrens and Spotted Towhees singing like crazy early in the morning.
Just in time for a weekend with lots of visitors expected!
At least got into the double digits in terms of birds before the late morning
thunderstorm dropped snow pellets on us! Here's the totals:
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (FOS) 1
Hermit Thrush 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Myrtle 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon 2
Song Sparrow 1
Red-winged
Continued slow today..in addition to relatively few birds around, we also
had a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks looking for brunch, which kept those birds
that were around in hiding. Finally caught the female mid-morning, and that
kept us and visitors entertained for awhile!
Sharp-shinned
Hi COBirders,
We arrived to a winter wonderland this morning - sunshine, a crystal clear blue
sky, and SNOW (29 degrees). We spent close to 2 hours getting the nets
defrosted and open. Between the Nature Center and the banding station, we
caught 8 new birds (plus a few others that we had
Hi COBirders,
Three days with lots of wind and few birds. Very similar to the same days last
year. A total of 20 birds banded in the 3 days:
Wednesday, 4/27:
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln Sparrow (FOS) 1
Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow 6
Mountain White-crowned
Hi COBirders,
Another quiet early spring day at Chatfield. Finished 2 days of training for
RMBO and Audubon Naturalists; school groups start tomorrow.
We continued to welcome back bird friends from previous seasons (or maybe it's
the other way around.some of our recaps likely never
Hi CoBirders,
Today was opening day at the Chatfield Banding Station and we had a pretty
typical late April day. We caught 9 birds in the banding station nets, 8 new,
plus a return Song Sparrow that was banded in 2007 and has been a regular
visitor ever since. We are trying to get a handle
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
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
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
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)
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
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
Friday was a good day (14 banded; 2 returns from prior years); Saturday was
slow (5 banded). We are catching most of our birds in just a few nets where
the bushes have leafed out and/or are flowering. Most foliage just
beginning to sprout leaves.
We caught one new species for the banding
I'm about 3 or 4 miles north on Wadsworth, and bushtits have been increasing
here. Not seen 10 years ago, now uncommon but regular in my yard. This has
been occurring over the past 3 or 4 years.
Sent from my iPad
Greg pasquariello
Littleton
On May 1, 2010, at 9:34 PM, Meredith McBurney
Hi Birders,
We banded a little today as we finished setting up nets and clearing the
area. Caught 8 birds. First bird of the season was a White-crowned
Sparrow. Then, species came in pairs – American Robins (both males),
Black-capped Chickadees (sex unknown), Downy Woodpeckers (both males),
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