After an above average first week, our second week of the owl season has concluded well, if perhaps a tad less strikingly. We started out on a strong note with our first three owl night of the season on Monday, but then for much of the week the weather proceeded to shift. Winds dropped to next to nothing, or continued weakly from the east and southeast. This being the opposite direction of travel for fall migration, they carried few birds, although we continued to catch the odd individual here and there.
The moon waxed full this week, and while the added light is often conjectured to dampen movement of darkness adapted hunters like Northern Saw-whets (or expose them to higher predation risks from larger owls) it did bathe the lake in a pleasant shimmering sliver glow. Shadows crisp and well cut danced across the dewy ground as we moved between the nets.
Another thing illuminated by the moon was a Barred Owl. While we have yet to catch one of these larger owls this fall we saw our first of the season, hunting on foot for frogs along the roadside a good three-quarters of a mile from the nearest net lane. Unusually undeterred by our presence it hopped dramatically, wings raised above its head then lowered slowly again with each bounce as it comically stalked its equally convulsive amphibious prey leaping from the wet ditch to cross the road.
Towards the end of the week things picked back up as the winds, still very faint, shifted more to the north and northwest and birds once again began to flow forth. Small honking flocks of Canada Geese and the various zeeps of nocturnal passerine flight calls filled the dark skies. We once again had birds in nets.
Despite the few days of bland weather, we managed to more than triple the amount of birds caught during the first week! Our season total now stands at 23 birds, represented by 16 females, 2 males, and 5 birds of indeterminate sex.
Most interestingly of all, we caught a remarkable 17 of our 18 birds this week in the 4 nights with at least some faint breath of winds from the north, with just one HY female moving on a calm SSE night. This is impressive given overall winds speeds were very low to virtually dead calm (under 2 mph, often under 0.5 mph) across all nights regardless of direction, and other factors such as moon brightness, temperature, and cloud cover remained largely the same as well. Birds were more likely roused to action by some overall weather front patterns associated with northerly winds, rather than purely acting on the minimal flight boost benefits of a 0.5 mph or lower wind.
As the warm and fickle conditions of September harden into the crisp cold nights of October and peak NSWO flights begin we expect things to pick up substantially, and will be back next week with an update on the excitement and data it may bring.
Species totals to date: NSWO 23, SSHA 1, AMRO 1, WTSP 1.