Rain prevented banding three nights this week, and put an early end to banding another two nights.  Still typically banding a few owls per night:

Sep 7: 1 Northern Saw-whet. I was joined by Lori and Erick Paulsrud and Osi Kaspi.
Sep 10: 3 Northern Saw-whets
Sep 11: 3 Northern Saw-whets. Assistance by Lori and Erick Paulsrud.
Sep 13: 3 Northern Saw-whets.  Assistance by Lori and Erick Paulsrud.

Things are starting to pick up a little bit.
Four new Northern Saw-whet Owls banded (all hatch year).

The season’s first recapture showed up; a Northern Saw-whet Owl banded here on Sep 21, 2012 made a return visit. It was aged as a hatch year last year, and showed the typical 2nd year molt pattern this year.

The first owl banded this season on Aug 18 also showed up again.

I’m not sure what it was about the night’s conditions, but every owl caught was up in the top panel of the mist nets, higher up than has been typical here. It was clear and dark with no wind/rain.

After a couple of rainy nights, nets were opened for a couple of hours on September 3, before rain again forced closing. Two Northern Saw-whets were banded, including the first non-hatch-year bird of the season (a second year bird).

Four Saw-whets were banded on the night of September 4. All four were very large hatch-year females, all over 100g- the largest was 108g. One of these four was trapped again half an hour after release.

Season totals so far:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 18
Boreal Owl: 1

Lots of rainy nights over the last week; nets were not opened due to weather on Aug 28, 29, and Sep 1.

Two Northern Saw-whets were banded on Aug. 31.

2013 totals so far:
12 Northern Saw-whet Owls
1 Boreal Owl

One Saw-whet on the 26th, and two on the 27th.
All owls banded so far this season have been hatch-year birds.

Total so far for Fall 2013:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 10
Boreal Owl: 1

No owls banded on Aug. 23; it was a very clear night with a bright moon.

We banded the season’s first Boreal Owl on Aug. 24. Visitors/assistants included Betsy Rogers, Lori and Erick Paulsrud, and Christina Whiting with her visiting family memebers (Amy Laidlaw from Washington State and daughters Violet (12), Molly (8) and Lily (6) and Grandparents Bea and Mike from Anchorage). Again, it was a clear night with a bright moon.

One Saw-whet Owl was banded on August 25.

Fall 2013 season totals so far:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 7
Boreal Owl: 1

Aug 21: No banding due to rain.
Aug 22: One Saw-whet.

Season total so far: 6 NSWO

No owls banded on the night of Aug 19. Very heavy fog rolled in around 11:00pm, half an hour after opening the nets.

Three Northern Saw-whets were banded on the night of Aug 20; two females and one unknown, all hatch-year birds.
It was cloudy and dark; the rain held off until about 1:30am.

2013 total so far: 5 NSWO, zero BOOW.

Start of 2013 Owl Banding Season:

Nets are set up (at least 3 of them are so far).
Two Northern Saw-whets banded in two nights of operation so far.

The first saw-whet of the season was a very aggressive hatch-year male.

I currently have three 9-meter 60mm mesh nets set up in a semi-triangle around the audio lure.  I should have the 12-meter nets set up within the next few days.

I am going to attempt to resurrect this blog; I’ll be posting owl banding results every couple of days through the banding season.

The last two years have been interesting: lots of owls banded in 2011, and very few in 2012, with similar coverage and effort both years.

Banded in 2011:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 256
Boreal Owl: 54
Recaptures: 2 (both Northern Saw-whets banded here in 2010)

Banded in 2012:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 20
Boreal Owl: 5
Recaptures: 1 (Northern Saw-whet banded here in 2011)

Total owls banded, 2009-2012: