Banding has slowed down over the last week, with 2-3 owls banded per night. Temperatures are going below freezing at night, and the nets have been frosted up by about 11pm on several nights.

The 300th owl for the season was banded tonight. So far, the total (301) includes 289 Northern Saw-whet Owls and 12 Boreal Owls.

This season’s 265th Northern Saw-whet Owl was banded last night. This makes 2020 my best banding season yet for Saw-whets; the previous top season was Fall 2011, with 261 Saw-whets banded.

It remains to be seen whether or not 2011’s overall total of 317 banded owls will be surpassed. 2011 was also a good year for Boreal Owls, with 56 banded. Only 9 Boreals have been banded so far during 2020, but there are still a couple of weeks left in this season (I usually close things up at the end of October).

Continuing rainy weather has made banding slower during the last week. I’ve typically been banding 5-10 owls per night when it wasn’t raining.

The 2000th owl banded during 12 banding seasons at this location arrived tonight. Owl #2000 was a hatch-year Boreal Owl.

Seven Saw-whets and two Boreals were banded tonight after a relatively slow week- I only banded during a few nights over the last week due to near-constant rain. Totals for the season at this point: 233 Northern Saw-whets and 7 Boreals banded, plus three returning Saw-whets banded in previous years.

Although the Saw-whets seem to be slowing down, Boreals seem to be picking up- 4 of the season’s 7 were banded in the last 3 days. Another was seen watching the proceedings as the nets were being closed tonight:

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.

The 2020 banding season started off here last night with nine Northern Saw-whet Owls banded. All were hatch-year birds.

The nets were only open for two hours; it’s still not dark enough to to open nets until around 10:45pm. Opening time will get earlier fairly quickly through the next month.

The net arrangement is the same as last year, with three 9m nets surrounding the audio lure, and an additional 12m net south of the lure, along the edge of the spruce stand there. Two new nets were purchased this year to replace the two lost to moose towards the end of last season.