This past week, we had our biggest flight of the fall season so far. On Oct. 18 and 19, we were closed due to weather. When we reopened on Oct. 20, we banded two Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) and one Barred Owl (BDOW). One of the NSWO weighed in at 108 grams, which is our heaviest NSWO of the season! On Oct. 21, we were closed again due to weather. On Oct. 22, we were back open and had our biggest night of the season. We banded 41 NSWO, one BDOW, and one Long-eared Owl. We also had two more encounters — one NSWO and one BDOW. The rain and wind on Oct. 23 and 24 caused us to close again. We hope this upcoming week continues to have great flights!

Season Totals of Banded Owls
Northern Saw-whet Owls: 314
Barred Owls: 16
Long-eared Owls: 5
Boreal Owls: 3
Total Owls: 338

~ Sarah Montalvo
2023 Fall Assistant Owl Bander

Feature photo: Northern Saw-whet Owl. Photo by Sarah Montalvo

You can read the owl banders’ weekly blog posts and follow WPBO’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for owl banding highlights this season.

The fall owl banding season runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 31.

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. For the safety of the owls, flash photography and recording video is prohibited.