Another rainy, windy week in Mackinaw City, but that doesn’t stop the birds! The temperature has been hanging around the mid 40s to low 50s this week with a lot of cloud cover, losing one night of banding to heavy rain. Despite the weather, we had a total of 9 captures this week.
Left: A second-year female NWSO with an interesting variation in the iris/pupil. Right: A second-year female NWSO stretching after release.
In the last two weeks, I’ve noticed I have been capturing mostly second-year birds, and I’m curious to see if this pattern continues as their migratory season comes to a close. I have also noticed more birds having brood patches as the season has progressed, meaning there are eggs in nests somewhere!
Left: A second-year female NWSO. Right: The underside of a second-year NWSO wing, the pink pigment implies new feathers.
Three NWSO banded with MSRW have been recaptured at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory! All three were originally banded at Point LaBarbe in October of 2022 and were recaptured in April of 2024. This week was also the first non-NWSO catch! A Barred Owl (BDOW) finally appeared in the net at my final check of the night, and what a different experience from a Northern Saw-whet – that is one strong bird!
Left: BDOW in profile showing the flat face with dark eyes and yellow bill. Right: Me and the BDOW, notice the horizontal markings on the chest compared to the vertical markings on the belly.
With 9 captures this week, we are at 64 NWSO and 1 BDOW as of week 5! Fingers crossed week 6 is just as interesting!
