Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Chatfield Banding Report, 5/24/24

[meredith]

The Chatfield version of Julie's Chico report today:

Chatfield is a very different station - our numbers are always much lower, and we catch a higher percentage of birds for whom Chatfield is their destination rather than a stopover.  But it has been a very slow season for us as well.  We have caught most of the 52 species on our list of "regulars" (catch almost every year), and most have arrived more or less on time; there are just fewer of them.  Of our 10 most commonly caught species, only the Gray Catbirds, Lincoln's Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats have come through in normal numbers.  The most striking absence - so far not a single Hermit Thrush.  We expect to end the season well below our average, but it won't be our worst season - today we passed the total for 2021, which will continue to hold that distinction. 

Today we banded 17 new birds, listed below.  (We also caught 13 birds that had been previously caught this season, which were mostly birds that will spend the summer at Chatfield.):

Western Wood-pewee 1

Least Flycatcher 1

Willow Flycatcher 1

White-breasted Nuthatch 1

Swainson's Thrush 1

Gray Catbird 4

Yellow Warbler 3

American Redstart 1

MacGillivray's Warbler 1

Common Yellowthroat 1

Lincoln's Sparrow 2

This is our last weekend of the season.  Closed Monday and then open Tuesday through Friday.  We will take down the station after banding on Friday.

Meredith McBurney

Bander

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies