It's 7 or 8 p.m., and I'm listening to the sound of my hiking boots crunch against the rocks and sand with every step. The sky is showing its characteristic amber glow, a trait which the slowly churning lake water reflects eagerly, creating the illusion of a softly glowing Lake Superior. Though this short walk [...]
Although we are still catching the occasional adult Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO), the juveniles have effectively taken over. Since our last post, we have banded 107 juvenile NSWO and just three adults. We had two severe storm fronts come through this past week, and the juveniles were really moving between those two systems. During [...]
Unfortunately, this will be my last "quick-update style" blog of the season. This is because, as much as it pains me to admit it, my next blog will be my last one. At the beginning of next month, I will start my long journey back to the West Coast. For this reason, next week's [...]
The transition we often see at this time of the year, when juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) numbers increase and adult NSWO numbers decrease, took place this past week. Since our last post, we have banded 59 juvenile and 12 adult NSWO. Tonight the total number of juveniles banded this summer surpassed the number [...]
This week Whitefish Point has been graced with warm weather (albeit with some rain) and an astounding lack of biting insects. I assume these factors could help explain why the Point has been the busiest I've ever seen it this summer — even outpacing the 4th of July weekend. Yet, the influx of crowds [...]
Although the recent nights did not produce more surprises this week, the owls have remained relatively steady. We've been able to open all 13 nights of the season so far and have banded one Great Horned Owl, three Long-eared Owls, and 100 Northern Saw-whet Owls. We're starting to see the juvenile saw-whet numbers pick [...]
Surprise! Our two remaining Piping Plover nests have hatched early! In addition to the arrival of wild crowds and star-spangled banners, Whitefish Point had a few new fluffy visitors on Independence Day. While the first of the Piping Plover nests hatched earlier this summer, the other two nests were not predicted to hatch until [...]
It has been an eventful start to the summer owl banding season. Most notably, we banded a Great Horned Owl on July 3. Not only is this the first great horned to be banded during the summer research, we had not even seen or heard one during the summer since we started in 2006. [...]
Exciting news! This week new life has entered this world in the form of three downy fluffballs — yes, I am talking about our resident Piping Plovers! Just a few days ago, our first Piping Plover hatch of the summer happened successfully under the careful watch of our Piping Plover Intern Alec Olivier and [...]
