Spring Owl Banding Wrap Up
Despite having written dozens of owl banding summaries in the past, I have been failing miserably at writing this one. It’s not summarizing the banding season that is defeating me, it is finding the proper words to express our immense gratitude for the support that you have all provided us with. If I was still using pen & paper to write this, there would be a trash can filled will crumpled paper of failed attempts next to my desk right now. We felt so much uncertainty and went through periods of self-doubt that were overwhelming at times. The steady stream of support and encouragement that you all provided us with is what kept us working towards the goal of keeping the owl banding at Whitefish Point going, and what made it possible. I struggle to properly express how much your support has meant to us. So simply, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Although it was the 21st spring Nova and I have owl banded together at the Point, it was one that will always provide us with special memories. We were still waiting on the banding trailer when the season began, so we started the season banding out of our basement. Our neighbors are certainly used to our unusual nighttime activities, but we had never done full nocturnal owl banding in our yard before last fall. We contacted them to let them know what we were doing so that they wouldn’t be alarmed by the increased nocturnal activity in the neighborhood. Not only did they all respond with their support, but many offered us the use of their properties for banding. Yeah, we have cool neighbors. It was pretty surreal to just walk out our basement door to check the nets scattered through our little neighborhood for the first few weeks of the season.
The trailer that has become our banding station arrived on April 9 and we moved to our new banding location that night. We really weren’t sure what the best option would be, but the trailer has proven to be way better than we had anticipated. Nova and I are proud of the fact that it is actually the best banding station we have ever worked out of. We also have always wondered what it would be like to band at this location, so it was an incredibly exciting time for us. As much as we have learned about the owl migration here over the last couple of decades, learning what the owls are doing at the new net locations has greatly increased our knowledge in a very short time.
Nova in the new banding station submitting recapture data to the Bird Banding Lab.
We documented 918 individual owls of five species this spring- northern saw-whet, boreal, long-eared, barred and great horned. Of these, 874 were new birds that we banded this season, and 45 were recaptures of previously banded birds. We’ll be doing at least one more post with more details of the recaptures this season in a week or so, once we get all the information from the Bird Banding Lab. The peak night occurred on April 26 when we caught 67 owls – 47 saw-whets, one boreal, 18 long-eareds and a barred. Although that was the highest nightly total, the most impressive push of owls occurred on the night of April 23. We opened at the start of that night, but were quickly shut down by rain. The rain stopped at about 2 AM, so we rushed back up and opened the nets. In the four hours between the rain and sunrise we caught 60 owls - 42 saw-whets and 18 long-eareds. It is truly amazing to witness the times when the owl migration flood gates open, and is one of the reasons that Whitefish Point is such a special place.
Nova preparing to band the final owl of the season, a saw-whet.
There can be a decent amount of color variation among saw-whets. The bird on the left had beautiful buffy tones.
Forming the Friends of Whitefish Point organization has at times felt overwhelming. Our first official banding season was a success, and we are now looking forward to the summer. It’s been a lot of work, but it has also been extremely rewarding. There were many times this spring when we would be out in the woods in the middle of the night and just stop and look at each other and express our amazement that it was actually happening. As rewarding as the owl banding itself was, the support that has been provided to the Friends Group has been equally so, and in many ways even more so. Thank you all for believing in our research and making it possible to continue this work. Whether it was a financial donation, reacting to our social media posts, attending Birdathon or visiting the owl banding, each and every one of these actions has provided us with encouragement. Thank you!
A quick shoutout to all of you who have volunteered as part of this new organization- we couldn’t have done all this without you! From fundraising to sorting t-shirts and checking people in at Birdathon, to helping us run the educational owl programs and checking nest boxes, your help is precious to us and we really really appreciate you. Special thanks to Steve for all his help with the trailer, to Jan & Curt who provided an entire season of hosting for our owl banding visitors, and to Susan & Mike for all their fundraising efforts. We feel incredibly lucky to live in a community with so many people who really care about the natural world and are willing to put time and effort into caring for it.
Spring Banding Totals:
Northern Saw-whet Owl: 612
Boreal Owl: 9
Long-eared Owl: 243
Barred Owl: 8
Great Horned Owl: 1
Just a final note, or confession. I have also been struggling with this summary because I have become addicted to a Great Gray Owl nest cam that I have kept open on the side of my screen. It was put up in a collaboration between the Owl Research Institute (ORI) and explore.org. A while back, ORI founder Denver Holt invited us to come out to Montana and join him for some winter Long-eared Owl banding. We spent an amazing few days with him in his research area in the Flathead Valley of western MT. Here’s a link to the nest cam, but be warned, don’t start watching when you need to be focused on something else…
Nova taking the opportunity to take a close look at the western subspecies of Long-eared Owl with Denver Holt and one of his staff.
Nova ready to release the long-eared.