Trip Report: Visit to the banding station

The group crowded around the banding table to observe.
Photo credit: Lindsey Sanders

We had a very successful trip to the banding station this past Sunday!  10 Laramie Audubon members and 6 Cheyenne Audubon members ventured out to the LIND banding station to see the station in action.  Libby Megna taught us about the history of the banding station, and the importance of studying breeding birds to get a grasp on demography and survival of local species.

Hatch year Lincoln's Sparrow (left) and Song Sparrow (right).
Photo credit: Libby Megna

We observed many birds being extracted from mist nets and banded--they caught 29 total birds at the station on Sunday!  Species observed in the hand included Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Black-capped Chickadee, and  more.  The two most exciting species of the day were Northern Waterthrush and Rufous Hummingbird!  We got many opportunities to see hatch year birds compared to adults, and to observe the differences between hatch years of the same species, which was a treat.  Along with birds caught in the mist nets, some of our other birding highlights included Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Belted Kingfisher, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Bullock's Oriole, and Williamson's Sapsucker.

The LIND banding station runs every 10 days for the entire breeding season, so we hope to be able to take trips like this again in the future.