Just a quick update on what has been going on at the owl banding station. After the great night we had during the SAAS field trip last weekend, both Frances and I hoped that this bounty of owls would stay consistent and steady. Here’s a recap of the last three nights:
On September 30th we were open all night and managed to net 7 more Saw-whets, 6 being newly banded and 1 being a foreign recap. This bird was banded as a Hatch Year right here at Point Labarbe last fall. We aged and sexed it as a second year (SY) female. It was cool to see that one bird was taking the same migration route as she did last year!
October 1st, once again we were open all night however due to moderately strong wind from the south east this did not facilitate owl movement of any sort. Luckily we were able to catch 2 Saw-whets early in the morning after the wind had died down a bit. One we newly banded and the other a foreign recap. However the band number for this recap has not yet been submitted so we don’t yet know where it came from!
October 2nd, winds continued from the south east. They were even stronger than on October 1st. There were no owls until early in the morning when the winds died down. We managed to capture 3 more owls. Two of them being caught at 6:30 in the morning! As of today our season total is at 86 Saw-whet owls, stay tuned foe more excitement from the Point !!
(SY) Female
