Chatfield Banding Station - Bird Conservancy of the Rockies 5/3/25

[meredith]

After the 7th day of what felt like incredibly low numbers, I decided to take a look at the first 7 days from the past 4 seasons (since Covid, when we didn't run the station).  We are pretty typical of 3 of those 4 years (2023 was much better).  So, this is not new (as many of our visitors have reminded us - "It was like this last year when we were here"), but it isn't a good sign for the season as a whole......the years that started slower had lower overall numbers.

The good news is that species are arriving on schedule this year, which has not been the case in recent years for many of our most common species. Today was a big day in this regard - pretty much the last day we could claim that our first Yellow Warbler capture occurred "on time".  He was caught at 11 a.m. this morning, an adult male who had been banded last year (the early arrivals in the spring tend to be adult males).

We banded just one bird today - a Northern House Wren, and the Yellow Warbler was the only previously banded bird that we caught for the first time (we recaught 4 Song Sparrows banded earlier this season).  Hoping things start to pick up soon!

We are banding Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays) through May 31, weather permitting.  There are opportunities for the public to visit on weekends and occasional weekdays through the Denver Audubon website.  (Some days are already sold out, so sign up now if you are interested!)

Meredith McBurney

Bander

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies