We experienced a wide variety of weather conditions this past week. Although periods of rain and high winds shut us down frequently, we also had periods of good weather that had us hoping that the owls would pick up again. Unfortunately, things have remained slow, with nightly totals ranging from one to seven owls banded. Our efforts this past week resulted in the banding of 19 juvenile Northern Saw-whet Owls, one adult NSWO, and two Long-eared Owls.
We band very few adult saw-whets at this time of the year, but the vast majority of those we see in August are actively molting their flight feathers. This adult saw-whet that we banded last night had completely dropped its tail, along with its inner secondary wing feathers. The white feathers where the tail should be are the undertail coverts.
A Northern Saw-whet Owl molting its tail.
We’ve seen far fewer amphibians than we have in recent summers. Below is the only eastern newt we’ve seen this season.
Eastern newt.
-Chris Neri & Cory Gregory
WPBO 2022 Summer Owl Banders
You can read Chris and Cory’s weekly blog posts 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.
