Banding report- Sunday, January 20-- Note re: Seed Donations

[Rosyfinch]

From the Sandia Rosy-Finch Project Facebook Page--

BANDING UPDATE!

Beautiful day at the crest this morning. The roads are (mostly) ice free and easy to drive. We had nice temperatures and clear skies all day. That made it a great day for the 20 or so folks looking for finches today even if it didn't help much for the banding effort.

We saw several flocks of birds ranging from 10 to over 60 individuals! All three species of Rosy were accounted for including at least one "Hepburn's" Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch. We did not catch any birds :-( but we did have lots of fun!

Lastly, you will notice that there are new signs posted on the feeders with information regarding seed donations [note below] . Make sure to read them before filling the feeders or donating seed!

Cheers and happy Rosy-Finches!

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Just a friendly reminder about bringing seed to the Sandia Crest feeders.

DO NOT LEAVE OUT SEED THAT HAS SHELLS! If are not sure if your seed has shells or not, don't leave it at the crest. The US Forest Service will only allow us to use hulled (without shells) seed in the feeder. So if you plan on donating seed make sure it does not have shells! This will help prevent the spread of non-native plants on the mountain!

Thanks!

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January 6 ROSY-FINCH UPDATE!!

Raymond and Jason were up at the crest to fill the feeders yesterday. The finches were in full force!!!! They saw 60+ rosy-finches of all three species. There were about 45 Blacks, 10 Brown-capped, and 5 Gray-crowned (including one Hepburn's)!

Other good news... One of the Brown-capped Rosy-Finches was color-banded!! The researchers are working to figure out who this little guy might be.

The feeders ARE filled and we have a system in place to keep them full. We are still looking for volunteers who would like to pitch-in and help out! If you want to get involved please send an email to Raymond: [e-mail] or Michael: [e-mail].

Thanks again, to Fran and Dave for their enthusiasm and help with this project over the years. It wouldn't have been possible without you guys!

We're all wishing Dave a ROSY RECOVERY!

Cheers and Good Birding,
The Rosy-Finch Banders