CBR, El Paso Co, Tuesday

[Steve Brown]

Hi COBirders,

After four busy days we kind of expected a drop in numbers today. With the new front, a lot of wind, and a little moisture, we did have a turnover in birds. Early on we had lots of Wilson's Warblers, and several Swainson's THRUSHES, and FOS Hermit Thrush and Townsend's Solitaire. So we had a semi-leisurely morning, and about 40 birds by 1030.

Well, it happened again.

After only banding 2-3 sparrows all morning, we got slammed again, with about 45 sparrows at 1030, and another 35 elsewhere at 1100, almost entirely Brewer's Sparrows. Total new birds today about 120. Wow. I think we have now seen THREE adult BRSP, meaning the rest have been hatch-year birds.

For those keeping score, that is over 600 birds in our first 5 days. No remarkable birds, except the remarkable numbers of BRSP. As said before, we had only had about 25 BRSP total for spring and fall seasons in the previous 10 years. We have banded about 150 this week.

Nancy Gobris' full report to follow.
Happy Migration!

Steve Brown
Colorado Springs,
Biologist, RMBO Volunteer

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