A preview of fall banding - Training Days at Barr Lake!

[Meredith McBurney]

Hi CoBirders,

It is almost time for fall banding!  In preparation, we put up a few nets at the feeders near our Barr Lake office and spent a few hours over 4 mornings doing some training/tune-up with our Barr Lake and Chatfield volunteers.  This was the first time we did this in the fall at our Barr Lake office location, and we were very pleased with the results,  both in terms of the number of birds caught but also the diversity.  

In spite of having the feeders full, the majority of the birds caught were insect eaters, led by the Yellow Warblers.  We should expect YEWAs to be our most common species at this time of year, but were pleasantly surprised at how many we caught at this location.  Most of them hatched this year, which is exactly what should happen now.  (Hint: If you are interested in learning about YEWAs, how to tell young from adults, males from females, etc., visit the station during the first week or so.  After that they will be off to their wintering grounds.)

Most interesting birds caught:

A very young Savannah Sparrow - A species rarely caught at Barr Lake.  We did every measurement Pyle suggested in our quest to properly ID this bird.

An Eastern (based on all measurements) Warbling Vireo - It was interesting to see our first likely Eastern WV after our spring at Chatfield, where the 7 we caught all appeared to be Western.

Here's the breakdown of the 76 birds we caught:

Downy Woodpecker 2
Western Wood-pewee 6
Eastern Warbling Vireo 1

Blue Jay 1
Barn Swallow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 2

Northern House Wren 4
Yellow Warbler 39
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird 4

Common Grackle 4
House Finch 4

We will officially open bright and early on Saturday, September 22.  We are thrilled to be returning to our traditional location after two years in a temporary location due to the construction on the dam.  They avoided doing major damage to the habitat where the station is located, so we are very much looking forward to being back "home".  

We are open for visitors starting bright and early the first morning! Please join us; reservations are required and you can sign up on the Bird Conservancy website here.  There are still spots available on the opening weekend and we would love for you to join us as we celebrate our return!

Let me know if you  have questions,

Meredith

Meredith McBurney
Bander
Barr Lake Banding Station

[Meredith McBurney]

Hi Folks, Thanks to the reader who noted that I don't know what MONTH it is!!  The banding station is opening on AUGUST 22!!  Meredith