The season is coming to a close, with tonight potentially being the last night I open as cold rain and snowfall seem to be on the weather’s agenda until November 10, the official end date for owl banding at Point la Barbe.
I’m not expecting to encounter any saw whet owl travelers tonight. For the past week of being open, I caught an average of 1-2 birds per night. Early season, I surmised that many birds were merely delayed due to the frequent storm fronts this fall, but with the lack of late season movement activity, I’m not so sure about that anymore.
It will be with deep reverie that I open and furl the mist-nets for possibly the final time before setting off on my own journey. I don’t plan to head west to California just yet; first, I will sojourn at the Cape May Bird Observatory, NJ. After that, I’ll get to see the east coast, then the west coast following a week of driving; the new perspective will be quite something.
Stay tuned for one last blog post in which I summarize our findings, totals for the season, and juicy tidbits about our foreign retraps as well as tidings of the birds I banded here getting caught elsewhere.
Until next time,
-MH
