Wow, what a week! We started the night of the 21st by catching a sharp-shinned hawk just after all the nets were opened. A beautiful adult female! Even though she was not a species of owl, it was still important for us to band her, take measurements of her wing and tail, and know her age, and gender.
Collecting data on other raptor species will help MSRW, and other raptor banding stations, individually identify the history of each bird. This data makes it possible to study things such as dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, life-span and survival rate, reproductive success, and population growth.
The night of the 22nd was also successful! The winds were calm and the sky was clear, perfect conditions for owl migration. We managed to catch 4 more northern saw-whet owls. But then things started to slow down for the next 6 nights. Point LaBarbe was hit night after night with rain and wind. We would set the nets up when conditions calm down between rain clouds. We were able to capture a saw-whet on the night of the 25th and the morning of the 27th.
Then the night of the 28th came and the stormy conditions finally broke. On top of that, it was the peak of fall migration for Michigan. Many bird species would be traveling at night as they make their way south for the winter. The night started early, catching our first saw-whet owl at 9 pm. A young female still in her juvenile plumage. It continued to be busy throughout the night as we captured a total of 13 saw-whets! Bringing our season’s total to 25 northern saw-whet owls and 1 sharp-shinned hawk.
