April owl showers
The excitement we have continued to feel this past week is honestly hard to put into words. We’re still falling more and more in love with the new owl banding station as we continue to customize it to be more functional. We’ve also been able to start making changes in the new banding area to improve our captures as we become more familiar with it and as the snow levels recede. Despite less-than-ideal weather conditions recently, we banded 139 owls over the last five nights and recaptured nine that were previously banded. Long-eareds have really started to move, which always makes us feel like migration is really happening. Saturday, April 19, was the best night of the season so far, with a total of 56 owls banded that night - 36 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) and 20 Long-eared Owls (LEOW). Last night, April 20, we banded the second Boreal Owl of the season. I’ve admittedly been whiny recently, frequently voicing my disappointment over the low number of boreals this spring. I didn’t realize my whining had been getting the better of Nova until I heard her thanking last night’s Boreal Owl for finally shutting me up, at least temporarily. The forecast for the coming nights doesn’t predict any particularly favorable conditions, but hopefully the owls will continue to exceed our expectations relative to the weather conditions.
Chris checking the molt pattern on a Boreal Owl in the new banding station.
Although we have gone into each and every one of our previous twenty spring owl banding seasons together at Whitefish Point with excitement, being able to do so with our new organization has been incredibly rewarding. Every single night we find ourselves walking the woods in the middle of the night talking about how amazing this new experience is. Thank you all for making this possible!
Boreal Owl in hand. All birds are handled for the purpose of scientific research under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey and in accordance with all state permitting requirements.
Random Nature Notes:
We’re curious how our new site will compare with our old one for amphibians. We still don’t know the answer, but we’ve been happy to see blue-spotted salamanders the last few nights, along with our first spring peeper of the spring last night.
Spring Banding Totals:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 245
Boreal Owl: 2
Long-eared Owl: 43
Don’t forget, we have two events going on this spring:
**Birdathon- our first annual spring Birdathon! You can participate at various levels, details here: https://www.friendsofwp.org/birdathon
**Visit the owl banding on Friday and Saturday nights between now and the last weekend in May. Spaces are limited, so register early: https://www.friendsofwp.org/visitowlbanding