Connected Lakes State Park Banding Update

[Adam Cupito]

Hi everyone, I've just wrapped up the third week of banding at Connected Lakes State Park in Grand Junction. Storms played a large role in determining the net hours for the week, as rain and wind played a factor nearly every day. Although the weather wasn't always cooperative, this was the busiest week yet in terms of bird activity. I banded 81 birds of 15 species over the past 5 days, including 2 returning Black-capped Chickadees from 2017 and a White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) from 2017. We also had some unexpected species, including a Black Phoebe and a Nashville Warbler! The following species account represents the effort of 175.5 net hours at this site.

White-crowned Sparow (Gambel’s): 30

Bushtit: 12

Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 9

Wilson's Warbler: 7

Spotted Towhee: 5

Orange-crowned Warbler: 5

White-crowned Sparrow (Mountain): 5

Black Phoebe: 1

Nashville Warbler: 1

Hammond's Flycatcher: 1

Bewick's Wren: 1

Audubon's Warbler: 1

Dark-eyed Junco: 1

Song Sparrow: 1

House Finch: 1

Black-capped Chickadee: 2 returns from 2017

White-crowned Sparow (Gambel’s): 1 return from 2017

This coming week is my last week of banding at Connected Lakes State Park, it is open to the public and I hope to see you there!

Adam Cupito

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies