The mix of rain and wind continue to persist here in St.Ignance in varying degrees each day. Therefore it is has not been great for owls but we have managed to catch some over the last few days. Since the 23rd we have banded 22 new Saw-Whets, 15 of these were banded on the 24th. And one was banded on the 26th. From the 26th to the 31st it has been slow but we still managed to bring in another 6. Frances and I have also started seeing small flocks of Snow buntings and Dark-eyed juncos which usually signals the onset of winter because these birds migrate down from their summering grounds in northern Canada and the arctic to lower warmer latitudes for the winter. Their arrival also is also a good indicator that the migration season is coming to a close … We still are hopeful to break 300 owl captures though before we are done.
Stay tuned for information on the diurnal raptor trapping that took place at the station along with some end of the season updates. Happy Halloween Everyone!
Season totals:
NSWO: 270
LEOW: 1
BDOW: 1
Total owls: 272
