Banding has been slower than it seems it should be this time of year. Rain and a bright full moon this week haven’t helped.

Sep 25:
5 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded (all hatch-year)
1 Boreal Owl banded (after second-year)

Sep 24:
1 Northern Saw-whet banded

Sep 23:
Rained out

Sep 22: 
6 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded 
1 Boreal Owl banded

Sep 21:
Rained out

Sep 20:
5 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded

Sep 19:
3 Northern Saw-whets banded, all hatch-year birds.

Sep 18:
2 Northern Saw-whets banded, both hatch-year birds.  Thanks to Osi Kaspi for the help and company.

Sep 17:
7 Northern Saw-whets banded; one second-year, the rest hatch-year.

After a solid week of great weather, we were rained out last night (Sep 15) after an hour of effort.  Owls have been banded every night over the last week, with larger numbers showing up over the last few days.  On the 12th, three moose decided to bed down in the middle of the banding setup, bringing things to a halt until they decided to move on a few hours later.

Sep 15: 
1 Northern Saw-whet (hatch-year) banded before closing due to rain.

Sep 14:
8 Northern Saw-whets banded: 6 hatch-year, one second-year, and one after-second-year.

Thanks to visitors from Anchorage for their participation: Andrew and Liz Fisher, Eric and Christy Youngblood, and Enric and Myra Fernandez.

Sep 13: 
8 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded
1 Boreal Owl banded

Sep 12: 
2 Northern Saw-whets banded
1 Boreal Owl banded

Sep 11: 
1 Northern Saw-whet banded
1 Boreal Owl banded

Sep 10:
1 Northen Saw-whet Owl banded

The first Boreal Owls of the season showed up over the last couple of nights.  Last night brought the 200th Boreal Owl banded and the 1500th owl banded for the station.   The first recapture also showed up: a Saw-whet banded here in August 2017 as a hatch-year bird made a return visit.

Sep 9: 
1 Boreal Owl (hatch-year);
7 Northern Saw-whet Owls (6 hatch-year, one 2nd year)

Sep 8:
2 Boreal Owls (both hatch-year);
5 Northern Saw-whets (all hatch-year except one 2nd year recapture)

Sep 7: 
2 Northern Saw-whets (both hatch-year

The owl banding program here is up and running for the Fall 2018 season.
I’m starting later than usual due to being out of town for a couple of weeks.

Nets were set up on Sep 2, and have been opened on two nights since then.

Sep 4: 6 Northern Saw-whet Owls were banded, all hatch-year birds.

Seep 2: 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl was banded (a hatch-year bird).

We saw our first snow over the last couple of days as things warmed up after several days of below-freezing temperatures; 4-5 inches of snow fell on the 23rd/24th.

The season’s 200th owl was caught on the 22nd.

Oct 24: No owls banded.
Oct 23: No owls banded.

Oct 22:

• 3 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded
• 1 Boreal Owl banded

Oct 21:

• 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl banded
• 1 Boreal Owl banded

Oct 20: No owls banded

Oct 19:

• 2 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded
• 4 Boreal Owls banded

Things have slowed down over the last couple of nights as the temperatures dropped below freezing.  This follows several good banding nights that seem to have come later in the season than usual.

Oct 18: 

• 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl (and one returning Saw-whet first banded 4 days ago)
• 2 Boreal Owls

Oct 17:   No owls banded; nets only open for a couple of hours.  Opened late due to other commitments.

Oct 16:   

• 6 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded

Oct 15: 

• 9 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded
• 3 Boreal Owls banded

The last couple of nights have been ideal for banding- no rain, no strong wind, and dark.  The next few nights look like they’ll be more of the same.  On Oct 14, I banded the largest number of Boreal Owls for a single night at this location since the project started in 2009.

Oct 14:

• 6 Northern Saw-whet Owls plus one return visit from an owl banded in late August (3rd time this individual has been trapped); one of the new Saw-whets was a 2nd year bird, the rest were hatch-year birds.
• 8 Boreal Owls, all hatch-year birds

Oct 13:

• 1 Northern Saw-whet Owl
• 1 Boreal Owl

Not many good nights for banding over the last week; lots of rain and/or wind.  A few owls were banded on the nights that nets were opened:

Oct 11: 7 Northern Saw-whets banded; one was a second-year bird, the rest were hatch-year birds.

Oct 9: 1 Northern Saw-whet banded.  Thanks to Erick and Veronica for the help and company.

Oct 8: 2 Northern Saw-whets banded. Thanks to the Kachemak Bay Birders and trip leader Gary Lyon for visiting.

We finally had a good night for owl banding last night (Oct 6), after nearly a week of very little opportunity.  Rain, wind, and rutting moose kept the nets closed most nights.

Oct 6:

• 8 new Northern Saw-whets were banded; an additional Saw-whet originally banded in 2015 made a return visit.
• 2 Boreal Owls were also banded.