Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Chico Basin Ranch banding 4/25/22

[Colin Woolley]

Today was our 'soft-opening' for the spring season at Chico, we set up the nets early and ran them for a few hours in the late morning. Overall it was fairly quiet, but nice to see a few early spring migrants. Highlights were an Ash-throated Flycatcher, which may be the only one we get all year, and a recaptured Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow. The sparrow was first banded in October 2019, so it has likely returned to overwinter here each year since; we don't get overwintering recaps very often so that was a nice surprise. Tomorrow will be our first full day of the season.

Here are the totals from our partial day:

Wilson's Warbler - 1

'Audubon's' Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2

Hermit Thrush - 1

Gambel's White crowned Sparrow - 3 new, 1 recap

Ash-throated Flycatcher - 1

American Robin - 1

We'll be open 6 days a week through May 27th, closed on Sundays (with the exception of being open on May 15th and closed on May 16th). We'll be returning from the first net run at about 6:30am and closing around 11am this week. Our bander Julie Shieldcastle will be running the station this spring, keep an eye out for her reports and come visit!

Colin Woolley

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies