Owls everywhere!
Great Horned Owl in hand: showing the beautiful underside of the wing.
The owl banding this past week proved to be very productive. Over the last six nights, we banded 227 owls and recaptured eight more that were previously banded. The most productive night was April 26, when we banded 62 owls: 43 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), one Boreal Owl (BOOW), 17 Long-eared Owls (LEOW) and the season’s first Barred Owl (BAOW). We also caught four NSWO and one LEOW that already had bands that night. Although that was the most productive night, a quick push we experienced at the end of the night on April 23 was more intense. That night started with a series of impressive thunderstorms rolling through the Point, keeping us closed until 2AM. The owls made a big push, moving behind the T-storms and ahead of some strong, cooler winds that hit the Point at sunrise. In the four hours we were open we banded 40 NSWO and 18 LEOW (58 total) and captured two previously banded NSWO. Another highlight of the week was the season’s first Great Horned Owl. Great horneds are always impressive, but at 1760 grams this was one of the heaviest owls we have ever caught during the spring banding at Whitefish Point.
Great Horned Owl feet
We always love finding previously banded owls in our nets. It’s exciting to find out where they came from and when they were banded. Long-eared recaptures are notoriously uncommon, so we were particularly excited to get a LEOW recapture this week. Although it was 2AM Nova texted our friend Tim Baerwald, who is currently banding on Manitou Island. He texted right back that it was one he banded on Manitou last spring. An hour or so later, we caught a NSWO that he banded in Copper Harbor last spring.
In addition to all of this owl news, we want to thank Holly Erickson for her help this week. Holly has been getting as much experience as possible at various banding sites as she is starting her banding career and attending college at the same time. She was a great help during a couple busy periods this week. Thanks Holly!
Spring Banding Totals:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 374
Boreal Owl: 4
Long-eared Owl: 137
Barred Owl: 1
Great Horned Owl: 1
First Barred Owl of the season
**Birdathon update: The deadline for t-shirt orders is coming up fast- all orders must be placed by May 1st so that we can send our order to Field Crafts for printing. If you've been thinking about one of these great limited edition shirts, now is a good time to go for it, and support the Friends of Whitefish Point at the same time! Here we are showing the blue shirt, but there are 4 color choices and you can either pick it up in Paradise or Traverse City, or have it shipped to you after May 18th. Just scroll down on the birdathon signup page and buying a shirt is one of the last options.
Finally, if you have stuck with us until the end of this long blog, the owl banding visitation has begun! This past weekend we had a larger group, including one young man (pictured lying in the snowbank in true yooper kid fashion) who was doing some research for a class presentation about owls. Despite the chilly weather, there were some owls banded and everyone stayed warm. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, check out this link for dates and availability: https://www.friendsofwp.org/visitowlbanding