The first Boreal Owls of the season arrived this week. Lots of owls being banded every night that the nets have been open; no banding for three nights mid-week due to weather.

Total as of Sep 18: 167 Northern Saw-whet Owls, 2 Boreal Owls banded.

Sep 10: 20 Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year birds.
Sep 9: 17 Saw-whets banded, one 2nd year, the rest hatch-year birds.

Both nights were cooler, clear and dark, with later moon rise times. Lots of vocalizations could be heard from owls close to the setup.

As of Sep 10, the 2020 banding total has exceeded that of all of 2019, and this is still early in the season. The typical peak of the season is usually in late September.

No banding tonight (Sep 8) due to a moose and her calf hanging out in the middle of the net area. This last week’s banding included the first adult Saw-whet banded this season. Early-season numbers are way up compared to the last several years.

Over the last week:

Sep 7: 7 Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year
Sep 6: No banding due to rain/wind
Sep 5: 8 Saw-whets banded, one 2nd year bird, the rest hatch-year
Sep 4: 7 Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year
Sep 3: 8 Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year
Sep 2: 3 Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year

Lots of rain/wind over the last week left few good banding nights, but the few banding nights were productive. Still only keeping nets open for a couple of hours per night due to the late starting times.

Sep 1: 9 hatch-year Saw-whets banded
Aug 31: 4 hatch-year Saw-whets banded
Aug 28: 7 hatch-year Saw-whets banded
Aug 23: 5 hatch-year Saw-whets banded

Total for the season as of Sep 2: 38 Northern Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year birds.