Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Chatfield Banding Station - Week One Report

[Meredith McBurney]

Hi Birders!

This is my first report on spring banding at Chatfield – We started banding on Tuesday, April 25; this report covers our first week.  I’ll be reporting on a daily basis moving forward, for the next four weeks.

This first week, as usual, was fairly slow; migration is just getting started.   We caught some early migrants that are coming through right on schedule – House Wrens, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Lincoln’s Sparrows, even a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Then there were White-crowned Sparrows that most likely wintered at Chatfield and had lots of fat stored up for their relatively short migration back to their breeding grounds.  The balance were birds that likely live at Chatfield year-round.

Our one rarish bird of the week was an Eastern Phoebe; we’ve only caught three others in the history of the station, but it is becoming a regular in the Chatfield-Waterton area. 

Here’s the break-down for the 69 new and 7 returns caught in Week One:

Eastern Phoebe 1
Black-capped Chickadee 9 new, 3 banded 2022, 1 banded 2021, 1 banded 2019 as an adult, so at least 5 years old.
Bushtit 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2 (caught together)
House Wren 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Myrtle 13
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon’s 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler, Intergrade 2 (Adult male with strong Myrtle face pattern but yellow throat)
Spotted Towhee 5 new, 1 banded 2022
Green-tailed Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 4 new, 1 banded 2018
Lincoln’s Sparrow 5
White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel’s 9
American Goldfinch 1

We will be banding mornings Tuesday through Sunday (closed on Mondays) through May 31.  Denver Audubon has scheduled one-hour time slots at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 for visitors on weekends; visit here to register.  (I believe many time slots are already sold out, so register soon if you would like to visit.)

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Chatfield Banding Station
Bird Conservancy of the Rockies