The recent weather patterns have had a significant impact on our nightly efforts, shutting us down some nights, but producing some nice little pushes during the breaks in the wind. The most exciting news is that shortly after posting our last update, we banded a Great Gray Owl, a male that hatched last year. The last time we went through the irruptive cycle for Northern Hawk Owls, Boreal Owls, and great grays, their numbers were lower than those we have experienced in the past. If this spring proves to be the peak of their cycle, which it may, we are once again experiencing low numbers of the northern forest owls. It’s always amazing to have the opportunity to see a great gray up close. Waking the crew in the middle of the night and sharing it with them added to the enjoyment.
Great Gray Owl
The Long-eared Owls have begun to wind down a bit, and we’re catching a higher percentage of young birds. Thankfully, it looks like we may get the late May spike that we often see in Northern Saw-whet Owl numbers. We caught 24 on Monday night, which is actually the highest nightly total for saw-whets this season. It’s never a good sign for overall saw-whet numbers when the most productive nights of the season occur in late May. That said, we’re glad to see them pick up a bit, and hope they continue to do so. We’ve also had a few recaptures lately, including one that Tori Steely banded in July 2015. We know from the original banding data that this saw-whet hatched in 2014, so she will be turning six years old this summer. To date, we have banded 228 saw-whets, 19 boreals, 225 long-eareds, five barreds, one great gray, and two great horneds.
On another note, the entire staff is ready for it to warm up. Wearing all the same gear in mid-May that we were using in mid-March, aside from snowshoes, is no good.
Chris Neri & Nova Mackentley
WPBO Spring Owl Banders
If you are considering visiting the Point, please read this important message from Michigan Audubon and WPBO Field Staff.
Maneuvering the ever-changing implications of COVID-19 has necessitated constant adaptation and evaluation for us all. Michigan Audubon and WPBO have been proactive in taking measures that protect our staff, our physical community in Paradise, and the Michigan birding community, and we have found American Birding Association’s recent guidelines on birding and social distancing a useful resource for guiding bird-related travel decisions. While there are hopeful signs that we are rounding the corner with this virus, Michigan Audubon does not want to sow precocious optimism that encourages long-distance travel. Please take a minute to read these ABA guidelines, and to imagine them through the lens of the eastern Upper Peninsula, which does not have the medical resources of Michigan’s more-developed areas. Chippewa County and its adjacent counties have just three hospitals, and only one of these has more than 100 beds; they all are at least an hour’s drive from the Point. WPBO appreciates and requests your continued conscientiousness as the season’s migration begins to ramp up, and does not condone birding travel that is not local. Keep in mind that the Owl’s Roost Gift Shop and public observation of owl banding are currently closed. In the meantime, we will virtually share the Point with you as best we can until it is safe for all parties to enjoy it together. We hope that will be soon.
