Although the pace has slowed since we had an 88 owl night on April 6, the owls have been surprisingly consistent this past week. We say surprisingly because we’ve experienced varying weather conditions recently, including some that are typically not productive for us. We banded another 143 owls and caught 12 more previously banded owls since our last post despite the weather. Included in the 12 recaptures was the spring’s first long-eared encounter. This brings the season’s banding totals to 419 Northern Saw-whet Owls, seven Boreal Owls, and 141 Long-eared Owls. We have also now caught 36 previously banded saw-whets. We discussed the declining number of Boreal Owls here in recent years in our last post. Unfortunately, we did not band any this week.
This week’s Long-eared Owl (LEOW) encounter was particularly exciting. Long-eareds are notorious for generating very few banding encounters. We have had a few exchanges with Hilliardton March in Ontario, Hawk Ridge in Duluth, and Mackinac Straits in the past. We have also received reports back from a few LEOW that were unfortunately found dead; most recently, one was found stuck in a barbed-wire fence in central Texas. We have not received the full details about this week’s LEOW encounter yet, but from the general information we have received, we know that it was banded as an adult in the fall of 2018 in the Toronto area. This is the owl pictured in the banner at the top of the post. It is not uncommon for us to have internet glitches here, huge surprise, and right now, it is not allowing me to upload any more photos. I’ll try again in a while, but additional photos might just have to wait until next week.
2021 Spring Owl Banders
Chris Neri & Nova Mackentley
You can read Chris and Nova’s weekly blog post and follow WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for owl banding highlights this season.
Owl Banding Presentations — We apologize, but live education demonstrations of our owl banding program will not be offered in 2021 due to COVID-related risks and restrictions.
If you visit WPBO, please practice social distancing while doing so. Although not required, we encourage you to wear masks if you are in close proximity to other people, even if outdoors. You may read the full 2021 COVID-19 Updates for Michigan Audubon and Whitefish Point Bird Observatory here.
