RMBO Banding at Chico Basin Ranch, El Paso Co.
Nancy Gobris
Fall migration banding at Chico Basin Ranch continues, with new arrivals this past week that included Least Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, and Audubon’s Warbler. Also, we caught a Summer Tanager on Monday (9/15), only the third ever captured here. Both previous birds were in the spring, 2009 and 2012. The first juncos arrived on Saturday.
Wilson’s Warblers continue to dominate the catch, though no where near the numbers as the Barr Lake station. We had caught no Empidonax flycatchers or Western Wood-Pewees since Monday, then a single Dusky Flycatcher showed up in a net on Saturday. Thus far for the season, we have banded 568 birds of 41 species.
Nancy Gobris and Diane Luck
Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory
Nancy Gobris
We’re off to a good start in our third week of fall banding at Chico Basin Ranch. Daily totals and species follow. New species captured so far this week include White-breasted Nuthatch, Nashville Warbler, and Black-and-white Warbler on Monday. The Nashville was only the sixth individual ever banded here. Wednesday brought in our first Northern Waterthrush.
Mon. Sep. 22 – Total 58
Hammond’s Flycatcher – 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
House Wren – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 5
Swainson’s Thrush – 1
Brown Thrasher – 2
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Nashville Warbler – 1
Black-and-White Warbler – 1
Wilson’s Warbler – 33
Yellow-breasted Chat – 1
Western Tanager – 2
Green-tailed Towhee – 1
Clay-colored Sparrow – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 1
Tues. Sep. 23 – Total 58
Dusky Flycatcher – 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch -1
House Wren – 2
Hermit Thrush – 3
Northern Mockingbird – 4
Brown Thrasher – 1
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Myrtle Warbler – 1
Wilson’s Warbler – 13
Western Tanager – 2
Blue Grosbeak – 1
Green-tailed Towhee – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 5
Gambel’s Sparrow – 9
Song Sparrow – 3
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 7
Oregon Junco – 1
Pink-sided Junco – 1
Wed. Sep. 24 – Total 48
Red-breasted Nuthatch -1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 5
American Robin – 1
Swainson’s Thrush – 1
Hermit Thrush – 5
Northern Mockingbird – 2
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Wilson’s Warbler – 16
Western Tanager – 1
Spotted Towhee – 1
Green-tailed Towhee – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 4
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 1
Oregon Junco – 2
Pink-sided Junco - 1
Nancy Gobris
Total captures declined during the last half of our third week of banding at Chico Basin Ranch. By Friday, Wilson’s Warblers had finally dropped out of first place in daily numbers. We caught our first Townsend’s Solitaire on Thursday and our first Brown Creeper on Friday.
Thurs. Sep. 25 – Total: 51
Red-shafted Flicker – 1
House Wren – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 5
Townsend’s Solitaire – 1
Hermit Thrush – 1
Gray Catbird – 2
Northern Mockingbird – 1
Orange-crowned Warbler – 7
Wilson’s Warbler – 14
Clay-colored Sparrow – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 8
Song Sparrow – 3
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 5
Fri. Sep. 26 – Total: 39
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
Brown Creeper – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 5
American Robin – 1
Hermit Thrush – 5
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Wilson’s Warbler – 2
Spotted Towhee – 1
Green-tailed Towhee – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 8
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 5
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 6
Oregon Junco – 1
Sat. Sep. 27 – Total: 19
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 1
Swainson’s Thrush – 1
Hermit Thrush – 2
Northern Mockingbird – 2
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Wilson’s Warbler – 2
Yellow-breasted Chat – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 3
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow – 2
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
Oregon Junco – 1