Upcoming events & other news
Sunset over the North Shore at Whitefish Point.
Now that we have finished the spring banding season, we would like to simply thank you all so much for being part of this new organization. The genesis of the Friends of Whitefish Point and the transfer of the owl banding only occurred last November, and everything that we have accomplished in these last several months has been such a collective effort. Accomplishments this year include:
-raising enough to run the spring banding program
-starting a website
-starting a facebook group that has grown to over 1200 members
-successfully coordinating a matching campaign in March to raise $10,000 for the spring banding season
-checking over 100 small owl nest boxes
-receiving two grants: $3000 from Paradise Area Community Foundation for the banding station trailer, and $5000 from the Community Foundation of the Upper Peninsula for banding station equipment and supplies.
-hosting Friday & Saturday “Visit the Owl Banding Station” events: educating a total of 80 visitors this spring.
-hosting our first community event- the First Annual Spring Birdathon! Very successfully bringing people together and raising $6500 towards the summer owl banding program.
We are now looking towards funding the summer banding. The full cost for the summer banding is $10,000 and we have already raised $7,000! With just $3000 to go, please help us get the word out. Donation link is: https://www.friendsofwp.org/donate or you can send a check to Friends of Whitefish Point, PO Box 92, Paradise, MI 49768. Thank you!
The summer owl banding is unique to Whitefish Point. This is the only place in North America that captures large numbers of juvenile plumage saw-whet owls. These are very striking little birds, called chocolate teddy bears by some serious researchers. Saw-whets are not known to have a movement pattern in the middle of summer, way before fall migration. However, it seems that the young birds do just that. The main questions continue to be: Where are they going? and Where did they come from? These are great questions and we are hoping to continue to put the puzzle pieces together by using a combination of nanotagging and the nest box program. Over the years we have also documented their molt into adult plumage during the summer period, something not done before. Please help us to continue this research that is so key to understanding more about this small owl's breeding biology.
We are giving a presentation in Traverse City on June 19th all about the magic of the owl migration at Whitefish Point. If you would like to attend, details are below and it is free to the public!
This spring there were two newspaper articles written about the Friends of Whitefish Point. One is from the Mining Journal in Marquette, and the other from the Drummond Island Digest about our presentation at the Snowy Owl Festival in January. We are trying hard to get the word out there and educate people about the value of the owl research here at Whitefish Point!
Here is a link to the Mining Journal article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MsLUE0nb1mwmipdmRnSrieljawa3uA0t/view?usp=sharing