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.

The last few nights have been slower, with a few owls banded each night.

Sep 30:

• 3 Northern Saw-whet Owls (all hatch-year)
• 1 Boreal Owl (hatch-year)

Sep 29:

• 2 new Northern Saw-whet Owls banded and one recapture of a bird banded last year.

Thanks to Kara, Erick, and 7 other visitors this night.

Sep 28:

• 4 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded (all hatch-year)
• 1 Boreal Owl (hatch-year)

Banded Boreal Owl after release, Sep 30, 2017

Another productive night of banding:

• 10 new Northern Saw-whet Owls banded, plus one returning owl originally banded 2 weeks ago
• 3 new Boreal Owls banded; one was an after-second-year bird.

Rain started at around 1am and nets were closed despite the activity.  Looks like rain is likely for the next couple of nights.

This season’s Boreal Owl total so far (18 banded birds) makes it the best season for Boreals here since 2011 (56 Boreals banded that year).

Six owls were banded last night:

• 3 Northern Saw-whet Owls
• 3 Boreal Owls

It’s turning into a better year for Boreals- more banded this season than during the last couple of seasons.

No banding was done from Sep 21-23 due to rain, which ended on the evening of the 24th.

On the night of the 24th, two new hatch-year Northern Saw-whets were banded.

The next few nights look like good weather for banding.

Sep 19-20 were a little slower than the previous several nights.  Banding ended early on the 20th due to rain moving into the area.

Sep 20:

5 new Northern Saw-whet Owls banded.  Nets were only open for two hours before rain closed things down.

Sep 19:

• 5 new Northern Saw-whet Owls banded; all were hatch-year birds.
• 2 new Boreal Owls banded.

Saw-whet’s feet

Last night was another good night; fourth night in a row with 10 or more owls banded.

Ten Northern Saw-whets were banded; all were hatch-year birds.

No new Boreal Owls were banded, but one from the previous night paid a return visit.

Thanks again to Andrew Fisher for the help!

Another great night last night; ideal weather conditions and a good number of owls.

Fifteen owls were banded last night:

• 10 Northern Saw-whet Owls
• 5 Boreal Owls

All owls banded last night were hatch-year birds.

This tied the largest number of Boreals banded in a night here.

Nets were open for 5 hours.

Thanks to Andrew Fisher from Anchorage for the help!

Photos to be added soon…

Last night was a great night for banding- no rain (finally), calm, clear, a bit cold, and dark (close to new moon).

Thirteen owls were banded:

• 12 Northern Saw-whet Owls (one second-year bird, the rest hatch-year)
• 1 Boreal Owl

Nets were open from 9pm to 2:30am.

Boreal Owl banded Sep 16