The past two weeks of owl banding at Mill Creek have gone smoothly, although precipitation has continued to prevent sampling on many nights. Fortunately, the netting location is sheltered from the wind, so wind has not been an issue. The snow has now mostly melted, although the forested location of the nets translates to snow sticking around longer than much of the surrounding area. When netting, the catch has been relatively consistent, with 27 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) banded, one recapture NSWO, and one Long-eared Owl (LEOW).
The highlight of the past two weeks for me was this adult female (AHY) LEOW, a first banding record for the MSRW effort at Mill Creek! It was captured on the last net run, 30 minutes before sunrise, which translated to good lighting for photos before release.
The recapture NSWO was originally banded at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory in April 5th, 2019 as a second year (SY) and was recaptured as an after second year (ASY) bird on April 6th 2022. Since it was a SY in 2019, it hatched in 2018, making it nearly four years old at the time of recapture!
-Evan Buck, spring 2022 owl bander
Breakdown of each night’s catch:
| Date | Newly Banded NSWO | Recaptured NSWO | Newly Banded LEOW |
| 3/30 | WEATHER | WEATHER | WEATHER |
| 3/31 | WEATHER | WEATHER | WEATHER |
| 4/1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/2 | WEATHER | WEATHER | WEATHER |
| 4/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/6 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 4/7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/8 | WEATHER | WEATHER | WEATHER |
| 4/9 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 4/10 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/11 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/12 | WEATHER | WEATHER | WEATHER |
Note: recaptures originally banded spring 2022 at Mill Creek Historic Park are not included.
