Meredith McBurney (c) Bird Conservancy of the Rockies
Twelve of us enjoyed a delightful morning – first checking out the birds at the feeders at the Denver Audubon Nature Center, and then visiting with Meredith McBurney as she banded a few birds at the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies’ banding station. The Conservancy has been banding birds at Chatfield in the spring and at Barr Lake in the fall for almost thirty years, and Meredith has played a major role in that endeavor. She is not only accomplished at what she does, but she has a multitude of interesting facts and stories to relate.
Common Yellowthroat (c) Bill Schmoker
These two banding stations, at Chatfield and Barr, have been located in places where migratory birds tend to congregate. Using mist nets, birds are harmlessly trapped, they’re removed from the nets, data is collected on them, a small, numbered band is placed on a leg, and then they’re released. Each of these bands has a unique number on it so that if the bird is recaptured somewhere else we can know where and when it was banded, thus learning a bit about the timing and route of that species’ migration. Here’s a link to a video of Meredith banding birds – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTXpVL_XjD4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (c) John Hoogerheide
Beyond our great visit with Meredith we ended up tallying 26 species (see list below). The morning was easily dominated by House Wrens everywhere. A few of our best sightings were of a singing Common Yellowthroat and, we also had great looks at a Green-tailed Towhee, an American Goldfinch, and a Lazuli Bunting. The real highlight though was a beautiful male Rose-breasted Grosbeak at the feeder at the Denver Audubon Nature Center. This is a rare to uncommon spring migrant on the eastern plains of Colorado, with only a couple of confirmed breeding records for the state.
Lazuli Bunting (c) Bill Schmoker
Chatfield Bird Banding Station, May 5
26 species
Mallard 2
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Bald Eagle 1
Mourning Dove 5
Broad-tailed Hummingbird 2
Say’s Phoebe 1
Tree Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 14
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 6
European Starling 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 4
Green-tailed Towhee 1
Spotted Towhee 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Lazuli Bunting 1
Western Meadowlark 3
Red-winged Blackbird 18
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 2
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