Harvest Moon
Week four of the fall season left us with a bit to be desired but plenty to be thankful for. The weather has been a little patchy (some wind, some rain, the usual) so we closed early or didn't open at all a few times. The nights that we did open we didn't quite get the numbers we were expecting.
With the Harvest/Super Moon looming overhead our nets have been empty more often than not. Of course, all is not lost; we did still have a trickle of Northern Saw-whet Owls coming through, giving us hope and joy when we really needed it. The pedestrian pace, while sometimes frustrating, has allowed us to fully appreciate the birds that have made it to the station. Though it was our slowest week, it was also our best week so far in terms of diversity. In addition to a handful of NSWO we banded our fourth Long-eared Owl of the Season and our first Barred Owl. Still awaiting the ever elusive Boreal Owl, stay tuned in the coming weeks to see if our manifestations amount to anything.
Checking the age on a Long-eared Owl.
It's hard to believe that we're over halfway through the season. Many folks who do field work will tell you that the days (or nights, in our case) go by slowly but the weeks tend to fly. That being said, there is still plenty of time left to have some exciting nights and band some beautiful birds. We are looking forward to the latter half of October and anticipating many lovely migrants.
- Liv Ridley, Fall 2025 Lead Owl Bander
Season Totals
Northern Saw-whet Owls - 106
Long-eared Owls - 4
Barred Owls - 1
Other News:
Grant for Fall Owl Banding!
We recently recieved a grant from Indiana Audubon- $2500 for the fall owl banding program! This is incredibly exciting, because this along with other fundraising events (benefit concert and birding tours) has helped us to fully fund the fall owl banding program this year- thank you all for your support for the fall season!
This past week we welcomed a visit from the co-founder of Friends of Whitefish Point and head of Project Owlnet and Project Snowstorm, Dave Brinker! Above is a photo of Dave with the very first owl we captured in the U.P. together for Project Snowstorm back in 2015. We were so excited to have the chance to show him the new banding station and brainstorm more about the future of FOWP. He also had the chance to re-connect with our Lead Bander Liv, who used to work at his owl banding station in Maine (https://mainenaturalhistory.org/owl-monitoring/) before he recommended her to us two years ago. We had a great time talking about owl molt, net locations and ways to secure and grow our organization in the next few years. Without his leadership this whole enterprise would not have existed. Thank you Dave, and we hope to see you again in the spring!
Purple Gallinule- first record for Whitefish Point
Whitefish Point's first Purple Gallinule was found at the harbor on the evening of October 3rd by Frank Fabbro. It was ridiculous to see its huge feet that are meant to help it walk on floating vegetation trying to grip rocks on the Lake Superior shoreline. This bird typically occurs in the southeastern US and further south through much of Central and South America.