I wish.
On two separate net checks last night, I discovered a lump of something at the far end of the LEOW audio lure net. It was enough to get me excited for a moment, but both times the mysterious lump turned out to be an Eastern Cottontail mowing the vegetation directly under the net. Luckily, I learned my lesson last fall about the dangers of having the nets open just above the ground when I caught a snowshoe hare. As some of you might remember, said hare did quite a number on the net, so I’ve since kept the net about a foot above the ground to avoid catching small mammals.
NCMC biology professor (and longtime friend), Kathy Germain, stopped out last night with two bio students. The first six net checks were empty and I was beginning to wonder of it would be another night of no-shows. However, we were all pretty excited to finally have one NSWO in the net at the 11:30 pm net check.
It’s always a delight to show someone their first-ever Northern Saw-whet Owl and I’m so happy I could be a part of the students’ experience–just one of many reasons why I love doing what I do.
The second year female NSWO was the only owl of the night.
The weather tonight is more of the same. Winds are predicted to be east until after midnight at which point they should switch over to south winds.
