It’s unusual that I am able to band this many nights in a row with no bad weather; tonight will be the 21st straight night. The last few nights’ results:
Oct 4: 5 Northern Saw-whet Owls, one Boreal Owl.
Oct 3: 1 Boreal Owl. Poppy Benson brought her group of Girl Scouts for their third attempt at seeing an owl; we finally succeeded.
Oct 2: 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls
Oct 1: 5 Northern Saw-whet Owls.
Sep 30: Three Northern Saw-whet Owls and one Boreal.
Martin sent a few photos of his ornithology class during their owl banding visit:
Last night was the 15th straight night of good banding weather, and the 15th straight night that owls have been banded. Tonight looks good too.
Results for the last few nights:
Sep 29: 3 Northern Saw-whets banded. Thanks to Martin Renner and his ornithology class for participating!
Sep 28: 7 Saw-whets and 1 Boreal Owl. Visitors: Rebekah, Brad, and Michele- thanks for the help!
Sep 27: 5 Saw-whets
Sep 26: 6 Saw-whets and 1 Boreal Owl
Sep 25: 4 Saw-whets and 1 Boreal Owl
The 100th owl of the season was banded on Wed. night (Sep 24). This is the first triple-digit season since 2011.
100th owl banded this seasonTotals for the last few days:
Season totals so far: 92 Saw-whets, 8 Boreals, 1 recapture.
Last night was the busiest night so far this season with 22 owls banded: 18 Norther Saw-whets and 4 Boreals. All but one of the Saw-whets were hatch-year birds. There were still owls vocalizing in the area when I closed up the nets at 3am. Tonight may be another good night.
The last few days have brought a slow, steady trickle of owls. Based on previous years, this week should see the largest number of owls passing through the area.
Sep 18: Six Northern Saw-whets, all hatch-year birds.
Sep 19: Six Northern Saw-whets, all but one hatch-year; one second-year.
Sep 20: Seven Northern Saw-whets (6 hatch-year and 1 second-year), and one Boreal.
Boreal owl numbers seem low compared to previous years. Usually I end up with a 5-to-1 or 6-to-1 ratio of Northern Saw-whets to Boreals; this year I’ve only banded three Boreals so far out of 62 birds banded.
The night of Sep 17 was mostly clear, calm, no rain, no full moon- good conditions for owl banding (this has been rare lately).
Ten Northern Saw-whet Owls were banded. All ten were hatch-year birds. This brings the season total to 40 Saw-whets and 2 Boreals.
A few good nights during this last week, and a few rained-out nights.
Sep 11: 1 Boreal owl, 1 Saw-whet.
Sep 15: 8 Saw-whets.
Sep 16: 1 Saw-whet; closed early due to wind.
Nine owls banded tonight, all saw-whets. All but one were hatch year birds. The single adult was a second year bird.
Also banded the season’s first Boreal on Sunday night (Sep 7).
Season totals so far: 20 Northern Saw-whets and 1 Boreal owl.
Nets were put up for the season during the weekend of Aug. 23.
We’ve opened nets a few nights since then. Eight NSWO have been banded
so far on nights that weren’t too rainy or windy.
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