Fall Owl Banding Wrap-up

Our season is officially finished here at the Point, and we are sad to see it end.

The last week of banding really saw things slow down. Honestly, though, this is kind of how you want it. It is tough to close nets when you are still catching a lot of birds. In total, we were able to band 15 birds this week. All of these birds were Northern Saw-whet Owls except for one. On the closing night, we were lucky to catch another Long-eared Owl. We felt fortunate to be able to band another one of these cool owls before the season ended.

Long-eared Owl.

Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Finally, we were treated with a visitor and fellow owl bander for a few days. Some of our readers may remember Tim Baerwald. Tim has been around for a few seasons as an owl bander here at the Point (both in the summer and fall banding seasons). It’s always nice to have WPBO alums around.

Tim with a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Okay, now for a quick season wrap-up. Overall we had a really good fall owl banding season here at WPBO. We did have to deal with some crazy weather events (most notably the storm that came in the second week of October), but even with this weather, we were able to band a slightly above-average number of birds. We both feel very blessed to be able to do this job and add to the overall knowledge of North American owls.

We want to thank Michigan Audubon for coordinating the work being done at WPBO. Also, a big thank you to Chris Neri and Nova Mackentley for their vast knowledge of the owls. Finally, and most importantly, a huge thank you to all the people who continue to support the work being done here at the Point and the visitors who came to say hello this season. We could not do this work without your help.

Season Totals
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 209
Long-eared Owls: 4
Barred Owls: 7
Total owls banded: 220

~ Tori Steely and Dana Reid
2022 Fall Owl Banders

The Northern Saw-whet Owl that was the last bird banded during the fall owl banding season of 2022.