Not surprisingly, the owl migration has been winding down in recent nights. For the first time since April 16, we did not band any Long-eared Owls on May 21. In fact, we did not band any May 21-23. However, we did band two last night. Hopefully, we’ll get a couple more long-eareds this season, but there’s no guarantee at this point. There are years when the saw-whets remain relatively steady through the end of the spring season, but we’ve banded just 53 this past week, and their numbers have been low the past two nights. To date, we have banded 698 owls and recaptured 41 previously-banded owls. The totals are 432 saw-whets, 12 boreals, 237 long-eareds, and 17 barreds.
A particularly cute Northern Saw-whet Owl from this week.
-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. For the safety of the owls, flash photography and recording video is prohibited.
Support WPBO’s Research During Birdathon on May 28
Our skilled team of bird counters and volunteers at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory will set out on a mission to count as many bird species as possible in one day on May 28, 2022, as part of an annual fundraising event supporting the amazing work happening at WPBO! In 2021, a whopping 152 species were counted and the event brought in $6,826.65! Let’s hope this year is just as successful.
This is where you come in! Because our work is 100% donor-funded, Birdathon provides all of our supporters with an opportunity to make a significant impact on our work by making a pledge or direct donation to Birdathon (even after the event). Any amount is helpful, but have some fun with it and consider letting your donation or pledge be inspired by a per-species amount.
Learn more about Birdathon and find links to donate at wpbo.org/birdathon.
Thank you so much to everyone who supports the work being done at WPBO!
