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 season

Totals for the last few days:

• Sep 24: 8 Northern Saw-whet Owls and 1 Boreal Owl
• Sep 23: 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl
• Sep 22: 6 new and 1 recaptured Northern Saw-whet Owls.  The recaptured bird was originally banded here on Oct 1, 2013.

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.