Ugh. Being part of the spring field staff at WPBO in March, you have to be prepared for the return of winter, assuming that winter has even shown any signs of leaving. After some signs of spring during the first week of the season, the weather this past week has been pretty brutal. Weather shut us down completely on three nights this week and limited our efforts on three additional nights. The forecast for the next couple of nights is even worse than what we have just gone through. That said, we were able to get some time in and banded another 18 Northern Saw-whet Owls this week.
Given the lack of owl news this week, we figured we’d share some other aspects of our experiences at the Point. This week, there were two nights when nighttime visitors blared chamber music from their vehicles. On the second night of their visit, our best guess is that they had some longhorns they were blowing. Our best description of the sound they were producing is that of a wounded elk. Our immediate response was to open the Owl’s Roost’s front door to see what was going on in the world. As you can see in the below photo, there is a lot of snow remaining at the front of the building.
We have begun digging out one section of the net lanes. The snow there is two to three feet deep. The recent weather system only produced a few inches of snow, but the high winds completely filled the path we previously dug out. Yay…
As much as we look towards the arrival of birds and other wildlife as signs of spring, the start of the shipping season is another undeniable harbinger of spring. We live just south of the Point along Whitefish Bay, and we have not seen open water for months. A few days ago, I stepped out onto our deck with my “morning” coffee when I got up in the evening, and for the first time since December, I heard the sound of a boat on the lake. It was the first ice breaker of the season. I knew it was opening a path for the first freighters to make their way through this year, but in my mind, it was opening water for Alison Vilag’s return for the start of the waterbird count.
~ Chris Neri & Nova Mackentley
2022 WPBO Spring Owl Banders
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 — Visitors may observe owls that have been banded on Friday and Saturday evenings from dusk until midnight. Please note that banding is weather dependent and it is at the banders’ discretion to cancel banding accordingly. Observation will be limited to outdoors only and we encourage participants to wear masks and continue to practice social distancing whenever possible.
