Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Chatfield Banding Station, 5/23/24

[meredith]

Fun day today, with 26 new birds.  We caught 2 of the grosbeak species that have been seen recently near the banding station - a female Black-headed and a male Blue.  The Blue Grosbeak is a rarity for us; this was only the second caught at the station, the other being caught in 2015.  But my favorite bird of the day was an American Redstart male that was first banded in 2017 (so hatched in 2016).  I've thought of him as the patriarch of our small but hardy flock of AMREs breeding at the banding station area.  We did not catch him last year and I figured he had passed on, so I was thrilled to find him this morning, alive and still breeding!  Here's today's 26 new birds:

Western Wood-pewee 1

House Wren 1

Swainson's Thrush 1

Gray Catbird 5

Yellow Warbler 6

American Redstart 1 new, 1 banded 2017

Wilson's Warbler 1

Yellow-breasted Chat 2 new, 1 banded 2023

Black-headed Grosbeak 1

Blue Grosbeak 1

Red-winged Blackbird 1

Brown-headed Cowbird 3

We are banding Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays) through May 31, weather permitting.  You can register to visit on the weekends through the Denver Audubon website.  (Some times/days are sold out, so sign up now if you are interested!)

Meredith McBurney
Bander, Chatfield Banding Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies