Hiya! Things are starting to heat up down here at Chico Basin Ranch (fee area) and unfortunately, I don't mean with migration! Temps peaked around 88F today and are predicted to go over 90F the next two days. Sadly, the combination of high temps and clear skies are not the best for either banding or birding as it was almost eerily quiet and still for most of the day. Despite the weather, we were still fortunate to band 40 new birds, including three 'first of the season' species: *Sharp-shinned Hawk*, *Blue-gray Gnatcatcher*, and *Rock Wren*!
What I find interesting is that every day for the last four days, albeit at different times, a flock of *Common Grackles* and *Red-winged Blackbirds* make a very noisy appearance/entrance into Holmes Grove, which in turn, usually heralds a flurry of activity from other various sized birds as well. This is actually proving to be not only the best time to catch birds but also to see them. There is a group of four* Red-shafted Flickers* that almost always add their own 'antics' to the blackbird commotion in the grove and we have now caught all four of them, although only banded three, as the female keeps freeing herself from the nets. Also, of note, the *Long-eared Owls* made their first appearance today in the back area of Holmes Grove where they like to roost in the winter. They had been seen elsewhere on the ranch but today was the first day that they were spotted by Holmes. The *Prothonotary Warbler *was not seen today nor was it recaptured, although he had a decent amount of fat on him both times that we caught him so hopefully he has found his way back on track. As of today, we have banded 848 new birds and 52 species this fall. We will be open every day until October 1st. Please not that this week there are large school groups on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and they usually start around 9/9:30. Hope to see you out on the ranch! Laura-Marie Koitsch Bird Bander- Chico Basin Ranch Bird Conservancy of the Rockies -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/613e7e03-55fd-46bd-9063-75eca2da149f%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
